Is That Your Prayer?

In the opening of his letter to the Christians in Philippi, Paul shared with them his prayer for them. “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 1:9-11). Within this prayer, the apostle mentions three specific areas of concern: 1) that their love would abound more and more, 2) that they may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless, and 3) that they may be filled with the fruit of righteousness.

So, what exactly does Paul mean by the elements of this prayer? Paul is praying that they would have an intelligent love that would increase more and more. He is praying that they would have greater love among themselves that would express itself in a discerningly moral manner. This is the same kind of love Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 13. Paul is praying that they would have deep moral and spiritual perception and perspective. He is praying that they might see a wonderful harvest of spiritual fruit. He doesn’t want them to be unfruitful in their spiritual journey. His prayer is that they would respond to God in such a way that would result in their abundance of spiritual fruit.

This ought to be our prayer today: that God would increase our love, help us to be pure, and fill us with righteousness. Is that your prayer?