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W2W Blog: Praying like Paul

Praying like Paul

Do you ever feel like you just don’t know what to pray for someone? Maybe it’s because you don’t know them too well - a missionary perhaps – or someone at prayer meeting or homegroup you haven’t known long. Or perhaps you find it hard because the situation they are in is so desperate you just don’t know what God’s will is for them - it’s hard to know what to ask for in such circumstances.

Paul’s prayers are a great way of praying for people, knowing confidently that you are praying in line with God’s will. The incredible fact is, as you pray scripture for them, God’s word will nourish your own heart too. There was Paul in prison after all, his circumstances were not looking good but his mind and heart are far from his own situation as he lifted up his brothers and sisters in Philippi. Paul’s prayers so often focus on knowing God more intimately, and becoming like Christ. There is often a note of rejoicing in what God has done and in what God will do as he brings to completion his plan of salvation for mankind. Such a focus in our prayer life helps us remember the bigger picture doesn't it?

In Philippians 1:8 Paul says, as he prays for the church, that he “long(s) for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

What did Paul mean when he said he longed for the Philippian Christians with the affection of Christ Jesus? I don’t think it was that he knew each person intimately in the way we might know family or close friends… I think this longing had more to do with the way God had helped Paul develop a heart like His own; seeing the Philippian believers as brothers and sisters, precious family members, all growing and reflecting God's glory.

This was one of the things we explored together as we met last time at Women to Women… Eilidh took us to a few passages that talked about the heart Jesus had for people… his compassion, his sacrificial love, his care for the people’s physical as well as their spiritual needs. And Jesus' love and affection is abundantly on offer to each one of us too. Even the fact that he lived on earth and experienced things like pain, emotion, temptation, frustration means that as well as dying for us, he is completely able to empathise with us as he intercedes at God’s right hand side.

As we pray for others, we'll be reflecting God's own heart as we lift them up, and through our prayers will grow to know Jesus more intimately.

Why not catch up with Eilidh’s talk from Philippians 1:1-11 (click here)

I’d also thoroughly recommend a book which has profoundly helped me think about Prayer. It’s Don Carson’s “Call to Spiritual Reformation” which looks at each of Paul’s prayers in turn.


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