AN APOSTLES PRAYER
PHILIPPIANS 1:3-5
10/13/94
Today we will continue our look into the book of Philippians. If you recall this was a very personal letter from the apostle to those saints in Philippi. As with many of the letters which Paul writes he begins the letters with a greeting and then lets the people know that he is praying for them. Many times as with this letter, as well as other letters, Colossians, Ephesians, Romans, for example, Paul shares with his readers what exactly he is thanking God for, as well as what he is praying for.
Paul is a great believer in intercessory prayers. Looking at the books of the New Testament authored by Paul this becomes quite clear. I think there is a great example to follow in the prayer life of Paul. What we also need to realize is that we see God at work in mighty way in that first century, we see him at work in these church’s which Paul founded. I firmly believe that the reason these church grew as they did in that time was because of the prayer which was going up to God on their behalf. I also firmly the reason this church here at Milford Center as seen growth as it has over the past year is because of the prayer which has gone up on it’s behalf. Not only for within this local body of believers, but also from Christians in other areas. We have people praying for us in Maryland, Maine, Florida, Conn., Penn. all over.
My point is that if we all learned to Pray as Paul prayed, we would see the church grow just as it did in the first century. We would see God working in such a way what would be in awe. In looking at the prayers Paul prayed for these churches, you see how he took time to learn their needs, to know of their situations, to know of the weaknesses, and give thanks for the strengths. Paul is specific when he prays for these churches. And we to need to be specific in our prayers.
I think I may be getting a little ahead of myself here. Today we will look at the beginning of one of those prayers which Paul prays for the church at Philippi. Please turn with me to Phil. chapter 1 verses 3 through 5;
Paul writes; "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,"
There are several interesting thing in which Paul notes here. In verse three Paul thanks the Lord whenever he remembers these people. As I stated in the introduction Paul remembers those who he brought to the Lord. He does not win someone over for Christ, and then leave and forget about them, something that is so common in our society, no Paul remembers his converts, he prays for his converts. I think in scripture we can see three reasons why Paul prays for his converts. And these three reason are the same reason why we should be as Paul and pray for other believers, not only here, but in church’s which are far away, churches and areas where are missionaries serve for example.
The first reason we see why Paul is so adamant about lifting up these churches in prayer is because he really cares about. He has a deep concern for these people. I think of how sometimes we pray, and I know I am guilty of this very thing, like when we pray for Dorothy Kircher. We pray that God would use her to win people the Christ. But do we really care in our hearts if any one in Brazil is won for Christ. I know we say we do, but do we really. We month the words in our prayers but do we really care. And can we see we care about the people in Brazil when we really don’t care if the guy next door, whom we know very personally, goes to hell or not. What I am getting at is do we really care about people as Paul cared about people, do we care about people as Jesus did.
Paul stated in 2 Cor. 11:28; "besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches."
Paul had a deep concern for all the churches, and the work they were doing for the Lord. We also need a deep concern for all the churches where the work of Christ is performed, for the church workers who do that work, and a deep concern for those who have not trusted in Jesus as their personal Saviour.
I think the song Lisa sang this morning fits in well with the thought here, "Don’t tell them Jesus loves them, until your ready to love them to". We need to have the Concern Paul had and that concern needs to be put into prayer.
Another reason Paul prays for his convert is that along with the deep concern he has for them, he has a deep love for them. Look at verse 8;
"For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ." Paul had for these people the love which Jesus Christ had for them. These people were very special to Paul. These people were the first people in Europe to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Paul showed them how much he cared and loved them by praying for them. There is no greater way to show someone how much you love them then to pray for them.
What about you. Do you pray for those you love. Do we pray for the very special people in our lives. Those people we say we love as Jesus loves them, do we pray for them as Paul prays for those he loved. We say we love our spouse but do we pray for him or her as we should. If we loved them we would pray for them. We say we love our children, but do we pray for them as we should? Do we ask God to be at work in their life. If we don’t pray for them how can we say we love. Do we pray for our friend’s in such a way as to show we love them? Do pray for our church family in such a way to show that we love them. Do we pray for the pastor and his family in such a way that shows we love them.
Only God can give the greatest gift of love to man, and that of course is salvation. But we can give a gift that also shows a great love, and this the greatest give of love man can give, and that gift is what Paul give here, the gift of praying for someone.
The third reason why Paul prays for his converts is that they were faced with danger no only from outside the church but also from within. Paul speaks in this letter of the people suffering persecution, and also in chapter 3 makes mention of those within the church who wanted to mix law with grace.
Paul prays that God would be with them during these trials and tests. And the people are comforted by the fact that Paul is lifting them up in pray. It is only nature for Paul who has great concern, and great love for these people to want to protect them from these dangers.
And I again look to us and see how measure up. When those whom we have great concern and a great love, are faced with danger do we go to prayer. Do we give them worldly advice or do we pray for God to be at work. When people we love are faced with hardship, in whatever form, are we quick to go prayer. Again I think our prayer for those we love is a measure of how much we really love them in comparison of how much Christ loves us and the love Paul had for these people.
So Paul writes that he thanks his God whenever he remembers this group of believers. Now I want you to look at verse 4. And I want you to note how Paul remembers his converts at Philippi.
First he remembers them always. Were in verse 3 we may get the impression that Paul only prayed for the them we they came to mind, in verse 4 Paul lets them know that he remembered them always. They were on Paul’s mind when ever he prayed. Again he does not win people over to Christ and forget about them, Paul remembers them always.
He also states that He remembers them in "every prayer". Every prayer Paul prayed he states he remembers these people. What an example of the dedication to prayer which Paul as for these people. How often do we, and again I will admit guilt in this, do we tell people, well I will be in prayer for you, them we get caught up in something or another, and we kind of forget to pray.
Well Paul was not like that. He remembered to pray always, and in every prayer for these people. He did not tell them yes I will prayer for you, and then kind of forget. And look were Paul was in jail. His mind was not so wrapped up in his own problems, as ours so often is, that he forgot to pray for others, no he prays always and in every prayer for those in Philippi.
I know I will never be as Jesus on this earth, but I would love to be as Paul. What a prayer warrior he was. To how many people, be they our spouses, children, family, friends, can we say, I pray for always and in every prayer. I will tell how many, far to few.
Another way in verse 4 in which we can see Paul remembers to pray for these people is that he prays with joy. No joy is a central theme found throughout this letter. Something which we noted last week was that even though Paul is in jail at this time, facing possible death, he finds joy in the Lord. He teaches us that joy in the Lord transcends our circumstances and no matter where we are we can have joy in the Lord.
Now the word joy in it’s various forms, is found 18 times in this short letter. It is translated joy, rejoice, and glad, all basically mean the same thing. Now Paul states when he remembers this group of people it brings him joy. Again it shows how Paul finds joy in all circumstances. If you look back to the time when Paul was in Philippi there are things which happen that were not exactly cause for rejoicing. Look with be back into chapter 16 of the book of Acts.
Their arrival into the city of Philippi begin in verse 12 and continues to verse 40. Now there is no synagogue, probably due to the fact that there was very few Jews in the area. They go to the river side to a place of prayer, there they present the gospel, people are saved and thous begins the church at Philippi. But then things go a little heywire. Paul cast a demon from a girl who told fortunes for her masters. This upsets the masters, who then have Paul & Silas arrested. They are them stripped of their cloths, I’m at verse 22, they are beaten with rods and thrown in jail. We then have the wonderful story of the Philippian jailer and his coming to know Christ. The city leaders find out that they are Roman citizens, so they let them go asking them to leave the city. I recommend you take time to read over that portion of scripture a little slower then that, to get a better picture of what happen to Paul in Philippi, but that is it in a nut shell.
These are the things which Paul states in Philippians gave him joy when he remembered them. Again I think of how much unlike Paul we tend to be. Our letter would go something like this. I still remember the pain of the beating I took from the official their in your town. I remember how they through me in jail for no reason.
Paul however does not focus on the bad things which happened there but on the things that brought him joy. Think such as how the gospel was received by first by Lydia and then others. How God how opened up the prison doors and used this to bring the jailer and his house hold into the Kingdom of God, these are the things which brought joy to Paul as he looked back to the church at Philippi.
Paul also remembers them with joy because of how dear they were to Paul. We have already seen how much Paul loves these people and how special they were to him. Paul in chapter 4 verse 1 calls there people his "joy and crown".
Paul also remembers them with joy because of how dear Paul was to them. We can see from scripture that not only did Paul have a great concern and love for them, but they to had a great concern and love for Paul. They were mindful of the needs of Paul. In chapter 4 Paul speaks of the gifts that these people continually send to Paul, meetings his needs.
Verses 15-16 tell us; "Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica (thes’ uh-luh-ni’kuh) you sent aid once and again for my necessities."
What these people had done was to show Paul that they cared. They did not simply say hey thanks Paul for sharing the gospel with us, "See Ya" They wanted to be a part in the continued sharing of the gospel through Paul. They wanted to show they cared about Paul by supporting him not only with their prayers as we shall we later on, but also by providing for his needs.
Paul remembered them with Joy because of the love they had shown to Paul through there giving to his needs.
The third and final as to why Paul remembered them with joy is that they had grown in the grace of God. They had grown spiritually. They not remain as babes in Christ, but had grown up in the Lord. Thou as we shall see as we get more into the book of Philippians that they were not perfect, that they did in fact face some problems, they had grown in the Lord. Paul states that while they had grown, he prays that their love would grow even more, that there knowledge of the Lord would grow even more, and that their discernment would grow even more.
The Lord had begun a work in the church and Paul promises them that the Lord would complete
that work. So their growth had given Paul a sense of joy when they were brought to his mind.
So now I want to ask you are the type of Christians that the Philippians were. They brought joy to Paul, who was in a sense their pastor, when he remembered them. I think it is worth asking yourself, "Am I the type of Christian who brings joy to my pastor when he thinks of me?" "What does he think of when he thinks of me?"
I think we have wonderful examples here of not only what type of Christians you should be, but what type of Pastor I should be. I can honestly say that I have prayed for each person who is a part of this church. Can you all say that you have at sometime prayed for me. I pray for this church on a daily basis, do you?
I challenge you today to be as Paul was, to be as those Christian in Philippi were. They were people of prayer, people who cared for one another, and lifted up one another. Let us do the same. Let us all act towards one another so that when we think of one another we are filled with joy.
SHALL WE PRAY
