Paul’s Prayer (Philippians 1:3-11)

It is common knowledge among those who are aware of them that Paul’s prayers are very worthy of study and imitation. We can see that he regarded it as important that his readers should be aware of his prayerful interest in them and their circumstances. Usually his petitions were connected to what he knew of their situations and that is the case here. At the same time, his petitions are expressions of doctrines connected to prayer.

The comfort of a praying person

Paul here reveals some details of his prayer methods. One detail seems to be than whenever he thought of someone he prayed for him or her. As far as the Philippians were concerned, he rejoiced whenever he recalled them. This is no doubt a very challenging reality of the Christian life – do we provide others with good memories that enable their prayer lives to be marked by joy?

The activity of the Philippians which caused Paul such joy was the ways in which they supported his work in the gospel. He regarded it as a conscious expression of fellowship. The word translated as partnership is the usual word for fellowship. Here we have a reminder that all true fellowship involves faith in the Lord. Often we assume that we have to be together physically to have fellowship, but if faith is absent from that type of togetherness it is not fellowship in a Christian sense. No doubt, the faith involvement of the Philippians would have included prayer for Paul in his work. The apostle also mentions how consistent their involvement had been – they had been engaged in it since they first heard the gospel and believed in Jesus. They had remained constant in their support.

Paul also refers to God completing this work. Often, this idea is taken to mean that God will complete an individual’s personal salvation when Jesus returns, and before then he works in them the process of sanctification. No doubt, that is a doctrine that should be deduced from Paul’s words, but we should not so focus on it in general that we forget how Paul is using it here. How does Paul know they were experiencing this divine work? He knew it was happening in them because of the commitment they had as a group of believers to spread the gospel. The evidence of them having changed hearts was what they did for the gospel.

This is a challenging statement regarding what we look for with regard to evidence of salvation. The proof that the Philippians provided was their involvement by prayer and by practical means in helping Paul spread the faith. Both aspects go hand in hand, and as far as the Philippians were concerned they were consistent. What can we say about them? They were marked by gratitude to God for bringing the gospel to them, they wanted others to experience its blessings, and therefore this became the priority in their lives.

The heart of a praying person

Paul obviously had a great love for the Philippians. He uses the illustration of how lovers hold each other, except to say that what he uses is not his arms but his heart. Obviously Paul had a big heart. In this verse, he tells us why he had such love for them and how he had such love for them.

Why did he have such love for them? He tells us that the reason for his affection was their gracious actions towards him in his imprisonment which was taking place because he was determined to defend the gospel. In a certain sense, we can see that Christian behaviour stimulates brotherly love in those to whom we show such consistent behaviour.

How he was he able to love like this? Paul uses a very striking term – literally, he means ‘bowels’. We all know what it is like to have sensations in our physical body when something we desire takes place. Often, our stomachs or our bowels will flutter. Of course, the love that Paul is describing is spiritual, produced by the Holy Spirit within him.

It is obvious from the way that Paul describes this love is that it is a consequence of spiritual union with Jesus Christ. One could not say that their love was the affections of Jesus if there was not a living union with him. So if a Christian does not have this kind of love it means that he or she has grieved the Holy Spirit, the one who brings about this kind of spiritual affection.

What can be said about this way of loving believers? First, we can say that this love was surprising because Paul is expressing it towards those whom he once would have hated. Paul was a Jew and many in the church in Philippi were Gentiles (there was not a synagogue in Philippi, which indicates that many Jews did not live there). Before his conversion Paul would not have expressed love for Gentiles. The presence of such love is clear evidence of a change of life.

The kind of love that Paul describes here is a strong one. He yearned for them. The word would be used for someone longing for his homeland. Paul is indicating that he missed family members, except the family he had in his heart was the family of God. In the same way in which an emigrant thinks of the places where he once lived, Paul thought affectionately of his fellow believers in Philippi.

In addition, Paul’s love for the believers in Philippi was not selective – he did not say that he only had this love for some of them. There is something strange when a family member in an earthly family does not love the other members. And there is something very strange when Christians don’t love other believers. It is not a sign of spiritual health when that happens. After all, which of the Philippians did Jesus not love? And when we have the affections of Jesus we will love all his people.

What was the love of Jesus like for his disciples when he was here on earth? I would suggest that one reason for the incidents we have in the Gospels is to enable us to read about the love of Jesus for his disciples. How did he interact with them? Sometimes he had to rebuke them for their faults, but he never did so unlovingly. We can say that his expressions of love can be seen in three ways – he loved being with them, he loved to teach them, and he loved to pray for them. And we can see Paul expressing similar habits even in this letter. We can spend time with one another, we can teach one another (even by repeating truths we already know), and we can pray for one another. When we do so, we can say that we have the affections of Jesus in our own hearts.

Paul’s words here are a call to self-examination. We can ask ourselves how we see ourselves. How did Paul see himself? He regarded himself as a spiritual channel through which the affection of Jesus would be expressed and which would go through him to other people. Jesus had turned the man marked by entrenched hatred into a man marked by incredible love.

The desire of a praying man

We can see from verses 9-11 that Paul wanted them to grow in love. But what does it mean for believers to be marked by a growing love? How would we recognise such love in action? The apostle mentions two features of spiritual love. First, it is informed, which means that it is marked by knowledge of the truth that comes to them because of the gospel. Second, it is able to use the knowledge to make correct decisions – it discerns the right way to go, even in situations where there are two good options. 

Of what kind of things does such love approve? The best (excellent things). So we can see that Paul wanted them to have a kind of love that consistently chose the best option in every situation. It is impossible to make right choices if we do not have the love that is based on knowing the gospel and its life-changing effects, as they are described in the Bible.

What will be the outcome of such a life of love? They will anticipate the day of Christ as holy people, without any wrong attitudes or actions against their names. Instead, they will be marked by righteous living. We might be prone to think that is impossible, yet we can see that it was the matter that Paul prayed for. Paul is certain that such a prayer will be heard because he says that the outcome will be endless praise of God.

Paul’s petition here is an example of being able to discern the best thing to pray for the Philippians. He had knowledge of them and therefore he prayed for them according to what he knew about them. While they were not perfect, they were in good spiritual health and he prayed for that to increase.

Healthy Christianity

Healthy Christians love one another deeply. This love is not based on their age, or on their status in society, or on how much they know about doctrines, or on whether they have some shared interests or hobbies. Instead, it flows from the Holy Spirit who lives within them and is changing them for the better throughout life. They experience joy as they observe how the Lord works in the lives of other believers. The fact is, a healthy church is composed of people who love one another. If a person does not love, there is something far wrong with that individual.

Healthy Christians want the kingdom to expand everywhere. They are gospel people. While there are many areas of concern in life, they don’t get distracted away from the fact that they want to remain passionate about the growth of the kingdom. No doubt, there are many reasons for this desire. They want the name of Jesus to be honoured, they love their fellowmen and women and desire that they too would discover the blessings of the gospel. When they hear about gospel progress, they rejoice.

Healthy Christians realise the need for ongoing prayer. How is the gospel going to expand? They know that it only will do so through the blessing of God. Therefore, they pray for that to happen, and they pray together for that to happen, and they pray together often for that to happen. Paul mentions how he had been able to influence many in Rome about the gospel even although he was imprisoned to some extent. I wonder how much that growth had to do with the prayers of the faithful Philippians for his work in that faraway city. We should pray for others and value highly those who pray for us.

Healthy Christians keep an eye on the return of Christ. Paul mentions the Day of Christ more than once in this set of verses. What do we want Jesus to say about us on that day? Surely, we want him to say that despite our failings we were passionate for the gospel and prayed for its success. In the long run, the only verdict that will matter about anything is what Jesus will say about it on that Day.

Healthy Christians know that all their spiritual experience and progress comes because they are united in a living relationship with Jesus Christ. From him and through him comes the grace that enables them to be righteous. Therefore, they depend upon him all the way. They look to him for the grace that they need, and they look expectantly because they know who he is.