Connection: Lessons from Paul on Prayer
Transformation of Prayer
February 13,2005
Intro: Today we are wrapping up our series on the prayers of the apostle Paul for the churches he was ministering to. We have looked at the priority of prayer that focuses on Christ and places him in the place of preeminence. We looked last week at the purpose of prayer to help shape the practices of our lives.
Today we are going to look at Paul’s prayer for the church at Philippi and what we can learn about the transforming prayer Paul prayed for that church.
While we have not been looking at specific ways to pray, we want to try and find the meanings behind the prayers of Paul and how those prayers may affect our lives in our daily walk with Christ.
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11(NIV)
What are the main thoughts of Paul’s prayer and what do they mean for us today?
I. Love may abound
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.” Philippians 1:9
Paul’s prayer begins with an encouragement for the love that they have to grow more and more.
The love Paul speaks of is a love originating in God.
This is not just a sentimental love, but it is a love that has its birth in the heart of God and is passed on into the lives of his children.
This is the type of love Paul described to the church at Corinth:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps not record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” I Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)
Paul desires for us to know Gods love not human love.
Human love is almost always opposite of Gods. It’s impatient, desiring to have its own needs met and to serve it own interests.
The love Paul talks about is a love that flows from the character of God.
Love in the life of a believer is to overflow into every area of life.
The image of love abounding is that of a river overflowing its banks and flooding the plain. It saturates everything that it comes into contact with and floods it with the heart of God.
**Picture of Red River Flooding
The photo above is taken on April 10, 2001 shows flooding of the Red River of the North, near Fargo, North Dakota. It must be an awful feeling to have to surround your home with sand bags and hope that the river doesn’t continue to rise. The Red River of the North is prone to flooding in the spring, especially during snowmelt. The floodplain is extremely flat, and when the river overflows its banks, the flood-waters can spread out for miles. Rainfall coinciding with the melting snow is a sure recipe for flooding along the Red River of the North. Also, because the river flows from south to north, the downstream (more northern sections) of the river may still be frozen when floodwaters move north. As a result, the frozen river acts as an ice dam, and the flood-waters spread out even further. The flooding this year is the worst since the terrible floods of 1997, which were the worst ever recorded in the Red River valley.
“Knowledge” in this passage refers to the experience of the love of God.
As we experience his love and grasp it into our lives, we have a deeper understanding and insight of the heart of God.
The more our lives are filled with the love of God, the more we are able to pass it on toward others.
**Samuel Brengle
Samuel Logan Brengle (died 1932) was a Salvation Army commissioner. Among Salvationists, he has always been appreciated as one of their greatest evangelists. When a young man, Brengle was converted to Jesus one night through the preaching of the Army’s founder, William Booth, when the general visited Boston at the turn of the 20th century.
“I walked over Boston Commons before breakfast,” Brengle wrote, “weeping for joy and praising God… in that hour I knew Jesus, and I loved Him till it seemed my heart would break with love… I was filled with love for all His creatures… I heard the little sparrows chattering; I loved them… I loved the dogs, I loved the horses, I loved the little urchins in the street. I love the strangers who hurried past me, I loved the heathen-- loved the whole world.”
Christianity Today.com
Love experienced becomes love reflected.
II. Discern what is best
“so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ” Philippians 1:10
Paul desires that the love and understanding of God that changes our lives would help us as we make decisions on the actions of our lives.
God’s love motivates us to express his love toward others.
“If you are a follower of Christ Jesus, it makes no difference whether you are circumcised of not. All that matters is your faith that makes you love others.” Galatians 5:6 (Contemporary English Version)
Paul points out that it is the inner condition of your soul, not the external condition of your body that should motivate you to love.
It should not be religion that motivates our action but a relational experience with God.
Paul’s desire is for us to be pure and blameless before God and others.
The term pure is the same word used for unmixed substances or oils. They would be held up toward the sun and examined for their purity.
The image is that our lives can be held up to Christ and found pure because of the love he has for us.
**Mix oil and vinegar in glass bottle
When our love for God is mixed with affection for the things of this world, we cease to be pure and blameless.
God’s love motivates us to be without offense toward God and others.
III. Filled with righteousness
“filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1: 11
God’s love abounds in our lives, changing the way we think and act. It produces in us a desire to live righteous lives.
Righteousness is the action and positive result of a sound relationship between God and man.
These actions are a direct result of our relationship with Christ.
It is Christ in us that allows God’s love to flow from us into the lives of others.
The desired goal is that people would see Christ in us and would give glory to God.
“Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.”
Philippians 1:10-11 (The Message)
The more we honor God, the more we experience his love.
This becomes a cyclical pattern of growth in our lives.
God’s desire for us is to overflow with his love, pour it out into others, and honor and glorify him in our lives.
If we live according to these principles our lives will be transformed.
Think of this as a flow chart:
God’s love_______We experience---
abounds the depth
In us of his love
--It is passed on from----Others see
us to others Jesus
In us
----God is
given
Honor and glory ------then back to
God’s love
abounds in us
