PRAYING FOR GREAT RESULTS

 

While very ill, John Knox the founder of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland called to his wife and said “read me that scripture where I first cast my anchor”. After he listened to the beautiful prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17 he seemed to forget his weakness. He began to pray for the ungodly who had thus far rejected the gospel. He pleaded on behalf of the people who had been recently converted.

He requested protection for the Lord’s servants, many of whom were facing persecution. As Knox prayed, his spirit went home to be with the Lord. The man of whom Queen Mary had said “I fear his prayers more than I do the armies of my enemies” ministered through prayer until the moment of his death (our daily bread April 11).

Paul’s prayers for the Philippians (1:9-11) end in verse 11 in a God-focused way. As their love becomes limitless and their discernment deepens, they would become fully sincere and fruitful. They would develop a godly character and abound in good deeds. God would be exalted in and through them, so that both they and others would praise Him for his grace and power. The ultimate goal of the Christian life is to glorify God (made to look good as He truly is) forever.

Paul prayed that their lives would bring glory and praise to God; that all they did and said would glorify him. He knew this was their purpose in life; he wanted the church to have a proper perspective and maintain the right focus. Fruit glorifies God, In John 15:8, Jesus made it clear that spiritual fruit gives glory to God: he said “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

This idea is also stated in Matthew 5:16: “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. When people look at you, do they naturally think about God? Are you a person who makes believing in Jesus easy?When people watch you, they should give glory to God. At the end of the day, bringing glory and praise to God is our primary obligation as believers!

Prayer is ultimately not about us; it’s about God. It’s not about us getting something; it’s about God getting glory; “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:36). When your prayers result in much fruit be careful not draw attention to yourselves; do not take the glory that is reserved for God alone. As Psalm 115:1 declares, “Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory.”

Remember what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 he started bragging about all that he had done: “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” These words were still on his lips when God answered in a voice from heaven: “Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle”

Paul asked that God would give the Philippians three overlapping things: deepening discernment, Christ-like character and a life filled with fruit. He made the overriding reason of his prayer that God Himself would get all the glory. We are living in dark and difficult times. The world around us is seeking something to provide a little ray of hope in the midst of this darkness. They are watching our lives in hope of seeing something that is different.

In Isaiah 60:1-3 we read “arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.  See thick darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the people, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn”. May our fellowships be a place that is recognized for its love and devotion! May our lights shine in the world around us and attract all those who see it from distant places.

The prayer Paul offered for the church in Philippi serves as a challenge for all believers. Not only should we be willing to pray for the church, but we should use this prayer to examine our lives. Are the elements Paul desired for the church evident in our lives? Are we living in a way that edifies the church, reaches out with the Gospel and brings honor to the Lord? If not, our lives are lacking spiritually.

Paul’s prayers express passion for the continued spiritual progress of believers; his commitment was to “present everyone perfect in Christ” (Col. 1:28). That Jesus would say of them what he said about Nathaniel in John 1:47 “Here is a true Israelite (Christian), in whom there is nothing false”. In Galatians 4:19 he wrote “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” He prayed for the Colossians to live a life worthy of the Lord and pleasing him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God (Col. 1:10).

God says “ I have posted watchmen on your walls Oh Jerusalem, they will never be silent day or night , they will get no rest or give the lord no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a place of praise on earth (Isa. 62:6-7). Watchmen are there for the sake of others. Paul prayed for the Philippians all the time, in all prayers, he prayed for Thessalonians night and day. A believer named Epaphras was “always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured (Col. 4:12).

 Much of our prayers are too generic. We must care enough to take the necessary time to identify specific needs and pray about them. They should have fervency, a frequency and a focus that Paul’s prayers had.  We should ceaselessly lift up our prayers for the person we love, to Him who is able to keep them from stumbling and to make them stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy (Jude 24). What a delight will be in heaven, to see how much we owe our presence there to the prayers of others; and how our prayers for others impacted their lives and destiny.