BIBLE PASSAGE:
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. 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. 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 1:3-11)
MEDITATION:
Privilege is defined as:
honor, treat, pleasure, joy and opportunity.
When reading this devotional, think about this:
We have been given the honor, opportunity,
joy and pleasure of praying for others.
Paul understood what is expected of all believers. He had a love
for other believers and he knew the importance of intercessory
praying.
Sometimes when others are in the midst of a crisis, they have every
intention of praying, but the effects of their ‘moment of despair’
will keep them distracted. This is why other brothers and sisters
in the family of the Lord can (and should) communicate to the
Lord for them.
When we consider the needs of others above our own needs, we are
following in Christ’s footsteps. He set aside His own desires so He
could provide salvation for those He loves (everyone: good and bad).
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
not looking to your own interests but each of you
to the interests of the others. In your relationships
with one another, have the same mindset as Christ
Jesus.
(Philippians 2:3-5)
When Paul said,
“I have you in my heart”
he knew something about the love Jesus talked about. There may
be times when the Lord causes us to think about someone and we
feel the need to pray for them. We may not know exactly how or
what to pray for them, but we should pray right then and not put
it off for later.
If we are in doubt about how to pray, we should pray as Paul prayed
for others. He prayed that:
– they would have a deeper love for others
(which would make them more like Jesus)
– their insight of right and wrong would increase
(they would learn to see sin as it is, and hate it as God hates it)
– their discernment (not judgment) would improve
(basically, he was praying for them to have Godly wisdom)
– their purity would increase
(by default, he was also praying that their sin would decrease)
– they would receive the ‘fruits of righteousness’
(listed in Galatians)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Against such things there is no law
(Galatians 5:22-23)
– they would glorify the Lord (in all they do, think and say)
ACTION:
Question to consider:
– Have I considered what an awesome privilege it is to pray for others?
– How often do I pray intercessory prayers for others?
Praying for others is not a ‘one and done’ action.
We should pray for others throughout
the difficulty they are experiencing.
– Do I pray for others even when I need others praying for me?
– In addition to praying for others, do I encourage them as well?
In addition to praying for brothers and sisters in Jesus who have needs
or have drifted away from the Lord and are in a sinful lifestyle, we need
to also pray continually for those who don’t know the Lord.
If we allow him to, Satan can create anger and frustration in our hearts
and cause us to ‘write off’ those sinking into sin, but that’s not what the
Lord expects of us (He didn’t write us off – He continued to love us).
One of the greatest needs of those who are on a self-destructive path is
to know that they are still loved; how can they know unless we show them?
And now these three remain: faith, hope
and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:13)
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching me about intercessory
prayer. Thank You for those You have encouraged to pray for me
during my difficult times. Thank You Jesus for Your prayers to the
Father for me. Teach me to become more sensitive to the needs of
others and less focused on myself. I know that when I do that,
selfishness will become less a part of my life. When You pierce my
mind with someone, help me to develop a habit of praying for them
at that moment. Help me to realize that You brought them to my mind
because they need intercessory prayers. I may not know what is going
on in their life, but You do.”
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