Love Those for Who You Pray

Paul begins the book of Philippians by praying that God would give the leaders and believers at Philippi grace and peace from the Father and the Son.

Paul uses three thoughts in Philippians 1:1-11 that describe true Christian fellowship.

Philippians 1:3-6

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 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.

I Have You in My Mind

Paul has them in his mind because they share as a partner in his work of spreading the gospel.

These believers are a joy to Paul because of their faith in Jesus and their willingness to share with him in the work of gospel.

God has begun a good work in them and in us and He will carry it out or complete it. God does not ever begin something that He does not finish.

These verses can be applied to salvation. Salvation is the first good work that Jesus does in our lives.

Salvation is a threefold work:

The work Jesus does for us – salvation.

The work Jesus does in us – sanctification.

The work Jesus does through us – service.

This work will continue until we see Jesus, and then it will be fulfilled.

This is the real basis for joyful Christian fellowship, to have Jesus at work in our lives day by day.

Paul remembered or had the Philippian believers in his mind.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is keeping our brothers and sisters in our minds.

Philippians 1:7-8

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Keeping other believers in our minds then leads to the second thought.

I Have You in My Heart

Paul loves these Philippian believers and thus has them in his heart.

Love is the “tie that binds.”

Love is the evidence of salvation.

1 John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brothers.”

The evidence that we love others is:

(1)  We are willing to suffer for others.

In Jesus, love is a verb.

In Jesus, love is not something we work up to but something He does through us.

(2)  We are concerned and care for others.

1John 3:18 says, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”

(3)  We are willing to forgive others.

Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Christians who love others, holding them in their hearts, will experience joy.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is holding others in our hearts: suffering for them, serving them, and forgiving them.

Holding others in our minds and in our hearts should move us to the third thought.

Philippians 1:9-11

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 God.

I Have You in My Prayers

There are three aspects of intercession in this prayer.

(1)  A Prayer for Maturity

He prays they will know love.

He prays their love will abound.

He prays they will have spiritual knowledge.

He prays they will have spiritual discernment.

A sure mark of maturity is discerning love.

(2)  A Prayer for Character

The first characteristic that Paul prays for is sincerity.

The word sincerity here means to be tested by sunlight.

The idea is that we as followers of Jesus will be authentic, open, and transparent.

We are to be clear display cases of God’s glory.

(3)  A Prayer for Service

We are to be filled and fruitful.

God wants us filled with His Spirit so we can produce fruit.

What fruit is this passage referring to?

Fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5:22-23.

New believers as Jesus tells us in Luke 10:2 that the harvest is ripe and we are to pray for labors.

Good works as described in Colossians 1:10 where we are told to bear fruit in every good work.

Praise as we are told in Hebrews 13:5 is the fruit of our lips.

It is God’s desire that we produce fruit and we can only do that as we stay connected to Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is praying and interceding for others.

Christian fellowship is having you in my mind, having you in my heart, and having you in my prayers. When we have that kind of fellowship we will experience joy.

With Mind, Heart, and Prayer Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls

                                                  Joe