“For
God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of
Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and
more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve
what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of
Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through
Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.”
-Philippians 1:8-11 (ESV).
This
prayer of Paul (and Timothy) to the Christians at Philippi is given
early in his letter, in the paragraph beginning with verse 3 where
Paul states, “I thank
God in all my remembrance of you,” and
continues in verse 4 with “always
in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy.”
Having
been a minister’s wife, and working in partnership with my husband
to teach and lead in churches in which we had the blessed privilege
to serve, I think I know something of the depth of Paul’s prayer
for believers, maybe many of whom he personally had led to belief in
the Lord. The Christian mentor does not forget the wonderful
experiences with those whom he introduced to the Lord and led them to
deeper commitment to His purposes.
In
this age of modern communication, we have remarkable ability to keep
in touch, to yield a positive influence for good on people we might
otherwise not remember unless we see their names on screens.
Furthermore, we can invite, through Facebook, to be “friend” to
these whom we can now contact easily.
I
thank God that even in my “old” age, I have the internet as a
means of communication. Six years ago, God led me to study and write
daily a devotional which I have shared through e-mail since with many
people and more recently on Facebook where persons can read it and
have opportunity to comment. To be sure, I take seriously the
message I send out and pray that I will be true to the Bible’s
teachings and that God will give insight and inspiration to those who
take time to read what I write. Because it is by the Lord’s
direction that I study, seek His insight and write.
Paul
said in his love note to the believers in Philippi (and subsequently
to many since as Paul’s letter has been lovingly read from our
Bible), “I yearn for
you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” He
follows this expression of love for them with a prayer that they be
fruit-bearing Christians, filled with knowledge and discernment, and
blameless before the Lord Christ. How very much he prayed for in
this notification of his prayers for the faithful at Philippi.
Likewise, we ought also to pray for each other. I take seriously the
requests from those I know who say, “Pray for me.” Even this
morning, I have written the names of those requesting prayer and have
paused to seek the Lord’s blessings for those mentioned and their
specific needs. Let us be faithful in praying. God hears and
answers our prayers according to His gracious will.
Within
the past week, it has been my happy privilege to talk with four
delightful college students who strongly feel a call of God upon
their lives. They are now in the period of preparation and study,
but each of the four has expressed to me their willingness to study
hard, to prepare and to be willing to go where God leads them. I was
able to share my own testimony of God’s faithfulness and leadership
in my life and assured them that patience is needed as well as the
sincere desire to follow God. In retrospect, I can look back on my
life and know assuredly that God opened doors and gave opportunities
that I could not even anticipate. I encouraged these fine young
people to seek God’s will, to pray for discernment, to be cognizant
of opportunities offered, and to trust Him that He will open the way.
Living within God’s purposes in the present and preparing by
studying lays a foundation for future accomplishments. We often fret
when we cannot see the full picture. But we trust God and wait. He
will reveal His plan systematically. One opportunity faithfully
assimilated leads to others with which He trusts us.
Prayer:
Lord, give us fortitude “to be filled with the fruit of
righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and
praise of God.” Amen. - Ethelene Dyer Jones 10.02.2016
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