{"id":2680,"date":"2011-11-22T17:52:54","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T22:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?p=2680"},"modified":"2014-07-21T10:14:40","modified_gmt":"2014-07-21T14:14:40","slug":"praying-like-an-apostle-joy-love-and-what-is-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/praying-like-an-apostle-joy-love-and-what-is-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Praying Like An Apostle: Joy, Love and What is Best"},"content":{"rendered":"

In our last post, we identified a number of excuses that we often use when prayer has not been a consistent habit<\/a>. We addressed those individually, but it is helpful to have a big picture view that puts all of our excuses into\u00a0perspective…even the new ones we haven’t yet developed.<\/p>\n

Paul is a master at focusing on the big picture. He guides his readers to his source of joy, where his confidence lies, describing clearly his mindset to pray faithfully.<\/p>\n

Philippians 1:1\u201311 (NIV)<\/p>\n

1<\/sup> Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all God\u2019s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: 2<\/sup> Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3<\/sup> I thank my God every time I remember you. 4<\/sup> In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy<\/strong> 5<\/sup> because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6<\/sup> being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n

Paul, as he usually does, thanks God for the Phillipians, but he especially highlights that he prays with joy<\/em>. When Paul thinks of his friends, he is driven to prayer, and specifically joyful prayer, \u00a0but why?<\/p>\n

Why Paul Was Driven to Joyful Prayer<\/h2>\n

Paul was driven to joyful prayer by the Philippians because they have partnered with him in the Gospel. The big picture is that these people have come to know Christ, and they have faithfully supported Paul as he preaches the gospel over time.\u00a0Paul\u00a0says they have been with Him, ‘from\u00a0the\u00a0first day until now’.<\/p>\n

Paul is not just excited about\u00a0their\u00a0past\u00a0faithfulness, but also that God is\u00a0going\u00a0to continually work in their lives, until Jesus comes back. Here we see Paul’s joy being localized on the continual growth of God’s people with a focus on the big picture, Christ’s return. How else could one write with so much joy while being imprisoned?<\/p>\n

Later, in\u00a0Philippians, we learn that the people are suffering for the sake of the gospel, just\u00a0like\u00a0Paul. Even though Paul is slandered and imprisoned, they refuse to break fellowship with him, refuse to abandon the Gospel which is the bond of\u00a0their\u00a0partnership.<\/p>\n

Praying with Joy…<\/h2>\n

People like that should drive us to our knees before God because they are few and far between, and they are a joy to partner with. Paul gushes about how much the\u00a0Philippians\u00a0mean to him.<\/p>\n

7<\/sup> It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God\u2019s grace with me. 8<\/sup> God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n

Remember the big picture. People who share in God’s grace with us<\/strong>\u00a0is where our affections should come from, and that is the basis by which we develop our most\u00a0meaningful\u00a0relationships.<\/strong> Paul then prays for them.<\/p>\n

9<\/sup> And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10<\/sup> so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11<\/sup> filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ\u2014to the glory and praise of God.<\/em><\/p>\n

What Paul prays for…<\/h2>\n

From this affection for their\u00a0partnership\u00a0in the Gospel, Paul then tells the\u00a0Philippians\u00a0what he is\u00a0praying\u00a0for:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. That their love may abound more and more<\/li>\n
  2. That they would be able to discern what is best<\/li>\n
  3. That they may be pure, blameless and filled with\u00a0the\u00a0fruit of righteousness<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Each piece of Paul’s prayer build’s on each other. Paul wants the\u00a0Philippians\u00a0to be able to discern what is best, or what is excellent. How can they decide to spend\u00a0their\u00a0time,\u00a0their\u00a0energy and their\u00a0resources\u00a0pursuing\u00a0what is excellent? What is best?<\/p>\n

    The Necessity of Love<\/h2>\n

    Paul’s prayer reveals that in order to discern what is best, they need love.<\/p>\n

    This is a bit\u00a0counter\u00a0intuitive. One might think I need a\u00a0college\u00a0education, or an expert guide in a certain field, or a list of pro’s and con’s to figure out what is best. Paul prays that the\u00a0Philippians\u00a0would abound in love more and more in order to determine what is best.<\/p>\n

    So, as I ask the question what is best, the only way I am going to be able to answer that question accurately is if I have been growing in love. Not just unbridled love mind you, but love that is growing; constrained and focused by knowledge and insight.<\/p>\n

    In other words we need wisdom of how best to show love. That is going to come from a knowledge of God’s word, how He shows love, how He gives sacrificially and how He cares about people’s long term eternal well being, rather than short term solutions. In other words, love that abounds more and more but that is focused by the gospel.<\/p>\n

    So, love is the foundation that enables one to discern what is best, which, in turn, steps us up to the next goal – being pure, blameless and filled with the fruit of righteousness. In other words, as I discern what is best, it has a real impact on how I will stand before Christ on the last day.<\/p>\n

    The big picture…<\/h2>\n

    Again, Paul\u00a0focuses the attention on the big picture. After all, standing before Christ one day is what this life is all about, what\u00a0everything\u00a0is moving towards.<\/p>\n

    As we make wise\u00a0decisions, based on love, we will be in the best position to stand before Christ as pure, blameless and with fruitful lives that would be\u00a0characterized\u00a0by\u00a0righteousness….and all this\u00a0because Christ began a good work in us! When the work in us is brought to completion…God is glorified, and He is to be praised.<\/p>\n

    Do you need to pray more for an abounding love that is focused on\u00a0the\u00a0gospel, thereby\u00a0enabling\u00a0you to determine what is best? I know I do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In our last post, we identified a number of excuses that we often use when prayer has not been a consistent habit. We addressed those individually, but it is helpful to have a big picture view that puts all of our excuses into\u00a0perspective…even the new ones we haven’t yet developed. Paul is a master at… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[7296,110,117],"yoast_head":"\nPraying Like An Apostle: Joy, Love and What is Best - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/praying-like-an-apostle-joy-love-and-what-is-best\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Praying Like An Apostle: Joy, Love and What is Best - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In our last post, we identified a number of excuses that we often use when prayer has not been a consistent habit. 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