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The Apostle Paul was a prayer warrior. He gets a lot of credit as an evangelist and a writer, a church planter and a theologian. But he was more than that. The Apostle Paul had the heart of a pastor and he was a serious prayer warrior.
Paul prayed for himself and he sought the prayers of others. The Letter to the Ephesians closes with this request: "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."
Paul prayed for individuals. When Paul wrote to his friend Philemon to plead the case of the runaway slave Onesimus, he included these words: "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."
Paul prayed for churches. He prayed for churches that he had planted-like the church in Ephesus and the church in Corinth. He prayed for churches that members of his team had planted-like the church in Colosse. He prayed for other churches-like the church in Rome.
To the believers in Ephesus, Paul wrote: "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe."
In the same Letter, Paul wrote: "I pray that out of (the Father's) glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
To the believers in Philippi, Paul wrote: "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. … 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."
To the believers in Thessalonica, Paul wrote: "We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."
To the believers in Colosse, Paul wrote: "Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way."
Do you notice a recurring theme here?
Luke writes about the ministry of Paul in the Acts of the Apostles. It is clear that Paul prayed for the sick to receive healing, for those oppressed by demons to be set free, and for the frightened to be encouraged. I have no doubt that Paul prayed for the hungry to be filled and for the lost to be found. But Paul himself, when he was writing to communities of believers, emphasized four things.
Paul prayed that God would grant believers the grace to grow in knowledge of the amazing love of God in Jesus Christ.
Paul prayed that God would grant believers the grace to grow in the hope inspired by the amazing love of God in Jesus Christ.
Paul prayed that God would grant believers the grace to grow in knowledge of the will and purpose of God.
Paul prayed that God would grant believers the grace to live a life worthy of the Lord as they grow in love and in hope and in knowledge of his will.
Notice that there is no presumption in Paul's prayers that once someone becomes a believer they have arrived. Entering into relationship with Jesus Christ is just the beginning. The journey continues.
Believers never out-grow the need to grow in Jesus. No matter how deep we go into the love of God, God's love is always deeper still. No matter how much hope has overflowed in a believer's life, we always need that hope to be renewed. No matter how God has worked to align the trajectory of our lives with his plans and his purpose, he will continue to work to shape and to guide, to pick us up when we fall, to open our hearts to his truth that is always deeper and fuller than we can possibly imagine.
It all starts with love. It all starts with God's love.
On the last night of his life on earth, Jesus told his disciples: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. … I have called you friends."
Love inspires hope.
Love and hope together make possible knowledge of the will and purpose of God and desire to enter into the will and purpose of God.
Because God loves us, because we have hope in Jesus Christ, because he invites us into his plan and purpose, then…we have the privilege-by his grace-of living lives worthy of the Lord and pleasing in his sight.
It's worth remembering the order in which this all happens. God loves us. God gives us hope. God invites us into his will and purpose. God shapes our lives into something pleasing.
There's no reason to hold back! We don't have to get our lives together before we come to God! We don't have to figure out how to live lives that are pleasing to him so that he will love us! We don't have to search for hope in our own goodness or our own ability or our own resources!
It all starts with God's love. He knows where we're coming from. He's the one who sent his Son to rescue us from the dominion of darkness. He's the one who brought us into the kingdom of the Son. He's the one who takes full responsibility for turning us into kingdom people.
What does that look like?
By a pure act of love and grace, through faith, God transfers broken people from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of his Son. God pours out forgiveness and declares believers to be kingdom people. God continues to pour out forgiveness and love so that believers are built up in hope. God keeps pouring out forgiveness and love so that believers can grow in knowledge of his will and purpose and in desire to enter into his will and purpose. The forgiveness and love keep coming, and believers are shaped into the kingdom people that God has already declared them to be, and more and more they are equipped to live lives that are pleasing to God in every way.
Love really is amazing.
But again, what does that look like?
In his prayer for the believers in Colosse, Paul spells out four characteristics of a life pleasing to the Lord. Paul says it has to do with bearing fruit in every good work. He says it has to do with growing in the knowledge of God. He says it has to do with being strengthened by God to have great endurance and patience. He says it has to do with joyfully giving thanks to the Father.
Listen again, in reverse order.
4) A life pleasing to God is characterized by an attitude of joyful thanksgiving.
Why joyful? Because we have been rescued! Darkness and death have lost their hold on us. Even our own guilt no longer can hold us captive.
Why thankful? Because the One who loved us so much he was willing to die rather than lose us still loves us. Because he counts us worthy to be bearers of his amazing love in the world.
3) A life pleasing to God is strengthened by God's own power to have great endurance and patience.
Why endurance and patience? Because we are not shaped into kingdom people overnight-it takes a lifetime of living amidst the overflowing love and forgiveness of God to be shaped according to his will and purpose-we need endurance and patience to let God take his time with us. Why else? Because the darkness of this world remains-though utterly defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus, darkness lingers and battles on-the fullness of the victory is yet to come-we need endurance and patience to continue to love this world as God continues to love this world.
Why strengthened by God's own power? Because the endurance and patience we can conjure up from within ourselves is never going to be enough. We will grow disappointed with ourselves and despairing of others. We need a share in God's own endurance and patience.
2) A life pleasing to God is always growing in the knowledge of God.
Note the preposition-knowledge of God, not merely knowledge about God. God, who knows us fully, desires us to know him-to fall deeper and deeper in love with him, to grow into fuller and fuller relationship with him. Jesus said that eternal life (and abundant life) was all about relationship: This is eternal life, to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
1) A life pleasing to God bears fruit in every good work.
The God who loved us so much he was willing to die rather than lose us is the God who loves all people so much he was willing to die rather than lose them. He pours out his love upon believers so that he might pour out his love through believers to the whole world. By grace, through faith, he declares believers to be kingdom people and he goes to work shaping believers into kingdom people, so that the light of his kingdom might shine in the darkness.
"You are the light of the world," Jesus said. "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
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