Seven
Lessons on Prayer from Paul
“I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord
Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by
praying to God for me. Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers
in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favourably
received by the Lord’s people there, so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s
will, and in your company be refreshed. The God of peace be with you all. Amen.” (Romans
15:30-33)
1. We should expect prayer to require at
least as much from us as an exhausting fight with a large, sweaty mammoth of a
man.
‘I urge, brother and sisters…join
in my struggle…’
‘Urge’ is call to arms. It means graft and effort and striving for a
difficult task requiring grit and determination. Like Paul uses it in 12:1 (“I urge you,
brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living
sacrifice…”), and 16:17 (“I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for
those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way...”)
Struggle means to wrestle,
brawl, or scrap. That is how prayer
feels to Paul and he calls us to take up arms and join him in that fight.
2. We need to cultivate the dual
motivations of awe at Jesus’ supremacy and love for Jesus’ people if we hope to
see that battle through.
“…by our Lord Jesus Christ
and by the love of the Spirit…”
It is driven equally by a
vertical awe (Jesus is our Lord) and a horizontal love for those around. A supernatural love of the Spirit.
3. We starve our lives of vital nutrients if
we are too proud to ask for prayer for ourselves.
Paul asks them to pray very
practically for himself. The great
missionary hero and divinely called Apostle lives up to his self-given name
Paul, which means small, tiny, the little man.
He is not too proud. If Paul
knows he needs prayer can we imagine, for a moment, we don’t?
Why might we not be asking
for prayer?
·
We think our struggles are just a flesh wound
and it is more faithful to battle on alone.
·
We are too embarrassed to ask.
·
We have no one to ask.
·
We ourselves don’t pray so we assume other
people don’t.
·
We’ve shared something in the past that has
been misused by another.
·
It shows an underlining uncertainty about God
and our faith.
Find a friend; ask a pastor;
tell your spouse.
4. We should be practical & explicit
with our requests, not vague and ambiguous.
Real life should trump spiritual fluffiness.
“Pray that I may be kept
safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to
Jerusalem may be favourably received by the Lord’s people there, so that I
may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed.” (Romans
15:31-32)
Paul makes three practical
and specific requests.
·
Kept safe from angry unbelievers
·
Favourably received by the church
·
Arrive in Rome with joy
There is no crisis or
disaster. It’s normal life – please pray
for me he asks.
5. We save ourselves a whole lot of anguish
by knowing God answers our prayers in the way he sovereignly sees and not always
in the limited perspective we have.
Of the three requests, one is
answered as Paul requested and two not.
Paul is not especially ‘rescued from unbelievers’ and he arrives in Rome
but as a prisoner (so potentially not with the joy he hoped)! The church welcome him though.
God is sovereign – pray details
then trust him.
6. We will find our prayers more aligned to
God’s answers the closer we saturate ourselves in the Bible and therefore pray
his will.
The essence of all Paul’s
requests are answered, though not in the detail he envisaged, because they are
prayers aligned to God’s will.
·
The gospel is not stopped by the unbeliever’s
anger.
·
Paul is received well by the church.
·
He arrives in Rome.
He knew God’s will because
he knew God’s words. Jesus says the same
– the more we remain in his word the more our prayers, aligned to that word
will be answered.
“If you remain in me and my
words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John
15:7)
God speaks to us in the
Bible, and we repeat back to him his own words made specific to our situation,
in prayer.
7. We should say thank you when people have
prayed for us.
“The God of peace be with
you all” is a polite way of saying thanks!
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