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How to Pray for Anyone about Anything
Philippians 1:9-11
How would you rate your own prayer life? If
you had to give yourself a grade, would it be A … B … C
… D … or F? Or as someone suggested, how about the word
“Incomplete”? Before you decide on an answer, let’s try
the question another way. Is your prayer life A) Excellent, B) Above
average, C) Average, D) Below average, or E) “I need big help!” Probably many of us would choose E simply
because we feel like our prayer life truly does need help.
In this message I
hope I can give you some very practical advice that could energize your
prayer life. As we begin moving in that direction, here are three opening
observations to think about:
A) Prayer is both
the easiest and hardest discipline of the Christian life. It is the
easiest in that the youngest child and the newest Christian can learn to
pray. Even the slightest motion of the soul toward God is a form of
genuine prayer. If a person says “Lord, have mercy,” they are
truly praying. But prayer is also the hardest discipline because it is
the most difficult to maintain over a long period of time. In a sense it
is easy to enroll in the School
of Prayer but hard
to get a graduate degree.
B) Almost everyone
prays—believer and non-believer alike—and almost everyone
feels they could improve in this area. Even in our best moments, we still
must admit that we have barely touched the hem of the Master’s
garment in the arena of prayer.
C) Prayer presents
us with problems both theological and practical. On one level, we are
faced with difficult questions regarding the sovereignty of God and human
free will. While those questions are important, I do not propose to
address them in this sermon. I would rather tackle the challenge of
prayer on a purely practical level. When we pray, what should we pray
for? I am much more interested in the “what” and “how”
of prayer because this is where most of us live every day.
“Prayer is the very sword
of the saints,” said Francis Thompson. Lee Roberson called prayer
“the Christian’s secret weapon, forged in the realms of
glory.” Why, then, do we not use it more effectively?
Often we simply don’t know what to say when we pray…and so
often we just ask God to bless: “Lord, uh … uh … uh
… bless Sally.” and “Lord, uh … uh … uh
… please bless Bill.” and: “Lord, uh … uh …
uh …Aunt Ruth. I ask you to
really bless our missionaries in Ghana.”
While I believe it is perfectly appropriate to ask God to bless
people, I think we can move far beyond that, and in so doing,
dramatically increase the effectiveness of our prayers. We can use
Paul’s prayer for the Philippians in verses 9-11 of Philippians 1
as a blueprint for powerful praying. Here is a prayer that fits virtually
every situation we may face. If we understand the meaning of Paul’s
words, we can truly pray for anyone about anything.
This is a case where we do not have to wonder about the theme of
Paul’s prayer. Verse 10 makes it absolutely clear because Paul
spells it out. The heart of his prayer is his request “that you may
be able to discern what is best.” This is a prayer for spiritual
discernment.
Here is my version of Paul’s prayer: “I pray that you will
know …
The good from the bad,
The better from the good, and
The best from the better.
I. Three Requests
Paul’s prayer begins with three requests for the
Philippian believers. As we pray for others, we
should feel perfectly free to include these three requests as our own.
A)
Abounding Love
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and
more” (Philippians 1:9a). Almost all of Paul’s prayers in the
New Testament begin with a petition for love….and it’s easy
to understand why.
We live in a fallen world and we will often find ourselves surrounded by
irritable, petulant, cranky, annoying, aggravating, frustrating, crabby,
unreasonable, cantankerous people. And that’s on a good day!
Sometimes people will say foolish things or do things to deliberately
irritate us. And let’s face it, some
people are just very hard to love. What do we do then?
There are many answers to that question, but our text
suggests one very practical answer: We should pray for our love to
increase. It’s one thing to pray, “Lord, get this fool away
from me before I say something I shouldn’t,” and it’s
another thing to pray, “Lord, please change this person so they
won’t be so obnoxious.” But it’s something else
entirely to pray, “Lord, I really don’t care for this person.
I don’t like this person. He gets on my nerves. He’s a total
jerk. He’s a bossy, dominating, opinionated fool. I don’t
even want to love him or like him and I prefer not to be around this
person at all. I now ask you to overlook my feelings and do whatever it
takes to increase my love. I’m low on love, Lord, and I ask you to
fill me up.” That’s a prayer God will be glad to answer.
On more than one occasion I have had to pray out my
frustrations about people, “Lord, do a work of
healing in my heart so that I can love as I ought.”
B)
Growing Knowledge
“In knowledge and depth of insight” (Philippians 1:9b).
Paul’s prayer continues with a request that the Philippians might
grow in their knowledge of God. The particular word for
“knowledge” means knowledge based on a deep, personal, and
intimate relationship. In context, Paul is asking that their love express
itself in an intimate knowledge of who God is. The word for
“insight” speaks of moral discrimination, the ability to look
at various options and to say, “This one is good. That’s not
so good. This one is better. That one is best.”
Sometimes we say, “Love is blind.” God says, “No, love
needs clear vision.” Our love needs the guidance of knowledge and
deep insight or else we will end up loving things we ought not to
love—and entering into relationships that are not good for us.
While love is supreme, it is never enough.
Not every relationship is a good relationship.
Not every choice is a good choice.
Not every friendship is good for us.
Not every job is a wise career move.
Not every purchase is a wise use of our money.
We make our choices and then our choices turn around and make us. As a
massive ship is guided by a tiny rudder, our lives often turn on small
decisions and unexpected events. An unplanned phone call, a chance
conversation in the hallway, a friend we “happened” to meet
while shopping and every day we make thousands of decisions, most of them
made either by habit or on the spur of the moment.
Will I get up in the morning?
Will I eat breakfast?
When will I leave for work today? Early or barely enough time to be on
time?
What will I listen on the car radio as I travel today?
Who will I greet at work?
Who will I meet for lunch? Will I
eat lunch alone today?
If I have lunch with someone what will we talk about?
What will I do when I get home?
What T.V. shows will I watch tonight…or
What books will I read? While I
read my bible before I go to bed?
How much time will I make today for my children, spouse for my
grandchildren?
On and on the questions go. Thousands of questions, one after another,
little decisions made on the fly every day. We like to think those
decisions don’t matter but they do. Each decision is connected to
every other decision like so many links in the chain of life itself.
There is a profound sense in which you are nothing but the sum total of
all the choices you have made stretching back to your childhood. Each little
decision joins you to the past and leads inexorably into the future. And
each decision either leads us toward the light of God or toward the
darkness of despair. So we need insight from to make wise choices.
Where do we find this kind of insight? First, we get it from the Word of
God with the aid of the Holy Spirit. As we study the Bible, the Holy
Spirit takes the Word of God and reveals to us the things of God (I
Corinthians 2:6-16). Let a man bury himself in the Bible with an open
heart and very soon his whole life will begin to change. In essence, Paul
wants the Philippians to learn how to think “Christianly” in
every situation. Second, we get it from the Lord in answer to our
prayers. So if you are confused, or if you find yourself in a deep hole
because of wrong choices made over and over again, humbly ask God for the
insight to make the right choices in life.
That leads directly to the third petition, which is the heart of the
prayer.
C)
Increasing Discernment
“So that you may be able to discern what is best”
(Philippians 1:10a) Eugene Peterson (The Message) offers this colorful
paraphrase, “You need to use your head and test your feelings so
that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush.”
The NLT offers this translation: “I want you to understand what
really matters.” That’s an excellent translation because the
Greek word for “discern” was used for testing
metals—like gold ore or coins—to find out what they are
worth. There is gold and then there is “Fool’s Gold.”
It looks like gold to the naked eye, but it isn’t, and it’s
not worth anything. Too many Christians settle for “Fool’s
Gold” in the choices they make.
Paul prays that the Philippians would have such love and insight that
they would continually make wise choices in life. He is praying that they
would not be satisfied with the status quo or with spiritual mediocrity
but would push on to true spiritual excellence. In a sense he is asking
God for the gift of spiritual discrimination.
I define this kind of discrimination as the ability to
make wise choices under pressure. God’s people need to learn
discernment so that under pressure they can make wise choices. By the
way, I think this is an important prayer request for parents to offer on
behalf of their children. You should pray that your children learn to
make wise choices under pressure.
There are really two parts to making wise choices: First, you must know
what is right. Second, you must have the courage to choose what you know
to be right. True discernment gives you vision to see what is right and
then the courage to choose to do it.
II. Three Results
Paul’s prayer continues with the results that
flow from the three requests just mentioned—love, knowledge, and
discernment.
A) A
Blameless Life
“And may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ”
(Philippians 1:10b). Note two key words in this phrase: The word
“pure” comes from two other words that mean
“judgment” and “sunlight.” In the first century
the shops were often dimly lit which meant that prospective customers
would have trouble viewing the wares. When they took the pottery or the
fabric into the sunlight, they could see it as it really was. The
sunlight revealed the truth. To be pure means to live in such a way that
the truth about who we are is clear. It means that people don’t
have to wonder about what you are doing in the darkness because you have
nothing to hide.
You are the same in the darkness as you are in the light.
You are the same at midnight as you are at high noon.
You are the same on the job or at school as you are in church on Sunday
morning.
You are the same behind closed doors as you are in public.
To be “pure” means to be a “sunlight”
Christian. Your life is consistent no matter where you happen to be or
who happens to be with you.
The word “blameless” comes from the Greek word family from
which we get the English word “scandal.” It originally
referred to the bait in a trap that would catch unsuspecting animals. It
came to mean a lifestyle that caused others to fall into sin. A
“blameless” person is free from moral scandal. It means you
don’t stumble into sin and you don’t cause others to stumble
by your behavior.
B) A
Fruitful Life
“Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus
Christ” (Philippians 1:11a). The Bible often uses the metaphor of a
fruit tree to describe both the life of the righteous and the life of the
wicked. Regarding false prophets, Jesus declared that by their fruit you
shall know them (Matthew 7:20). That’s precisely what Paul is
praying for—the fruit of visible Christian character. A fruitful
life is one that is distinctively Christian in every aspect.
Note that this fruit comes “through Jesus
Christ.” As we are rooted deeply in him, and as we draw our
strength from him, his power flows through us and produces the
“fruit of righteousness” in us. He is the root and his power
produces the fruit.
C) A
Theo-Doxic Life
“To the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11b).
Don’t look for the word “theo-doxic”
in your dictionary because I made it up. “Theo” means
“God” and “doxic” means
“glory” (as in the word Doxology). A “theo-doxic” life is one that brings glory or
praise to God. Such a person actually enhances God’s reputation in
the world.
When people see you, do they naturally think about God? We who bear
God’s name must live so that others can see Jesus in us. Have you
ever heard Ruth Bell Graham’s definition of a saint? A saint is a
person who makes it easy to believe in Jesus. When this prayer is
answered in us, we’ll be saints who make it easy for others to
believe in Jesus.
Before we finish, let’s step back and consider how great this
prayer is. In some ways it covers the whole range of what God wants to do
in us and through us.
1. It starts with abounding love
2. That manifests itself in knowledge and discernment
3. Resulting in the ability to make wise choices under pressure
4. And the visible fruit of a righteous life
5. That comes from a living relationship with Jesus Christ
6. So that God alone gets the glory.
What a fantastic prayer. Here is the application.
Pray this prayer for yourself.
Pray this prayer for others.
Who are you praying for today? Remember that prayer is not a ritual but a
matter of the heart. To pray for someone else is an act of hidden
kindness that only God sees. And because God alone sees your heart, he
will hear your prayer and reward you in secret. We can touch people
through prayer that we couldn’t touch any other way. Prayer is the
secret sword of the saints. Use it! God gave you a secret weapon so that
by your prayer in secret you can change the world.
When you boil it all down to the essentials, Paul prayed that the
Philippians would have the wisdom to choose the best things in life. And
he didn’t mean “the best things” in general; he meant
God’s best for them. This is an inspiring thought and a good way to
organize our prayers.
Do you want God’s best for others? Pray this prayer!
Do you want God’s best in your own life? Pray this prayer!
Do you want God’s best in your family? Pray this prayer!
Do you want God’s best in your church? Pray this prayer!
May God deliver us from “second-best” Christianity!
May God deliver us from spiritual mediocrity!
Lord Jesus, grant that our love may overflow so that we will love even
the irritating people we meet every day. Give us the knowledge that comes
from knowing you and the sight on the inside (insight) to see what really
matters so that we can make wise choices under pressure. Make us
“sunlight” Christians who bring forth good fruit and bring
glory to God. We long to be people who make it easy for others to believe
in Jesus. O Lord, teach us to pray like this! And make this prayer come
true in us and through us. Amen.
Return to First
Baptist Sermon page.
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