I thank my God in all my remembrance of you always offering prayer with you in my every prayer for you all…And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernement, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. ~ Philippians 1: ; 9

Now that’s a prayer! I know that aunt Thelma has an ingrown toe nail and needs relief from her pain. Or does she? Is that what Paul prayed for when he was being pelted with rocks, or wading in the Mediterranean Sea after a ship wreak, or hiding from thieves in alley ways while preaching the Gospel? I would say that Paul’s prayer for Ol’ Thelma would be that the toe would lead her to praise God for a future reality that her body won’t experience pain with the redemption of our bodies, and that she would be more bold to tell others of Christs sufferings instead of her own.

When we read the bible, it’s convicting power (through the Holy Spirit) demands conformity. The purpose of reading the scriptures, is so that we will change more and more into that precious image that it points to in most of its pages, Jesus Christ.

When we read a passage such as this one, it is hard not to scratch my head and say, “I don’t pray this way for others.” What would be a more Christ like prayer than to pray for people to be more like Him. A good start is to pray this verse with Paul’s verb-age in mind.

Praying for other Saints and their walk to be more like Christ

Praying for continued illumination of what the true Gospel is in order that we not be deceived by false teachers

Praying for continued sanctification (progressive) by the Spirit until the day when we will be glorified

As we continue to grow to be more like Him, our prayers should reflect our desire to be like that precious image. That of our Lord and Savior Jesus. As one pastor I heard say, “Christianity is the most violent of all ‘religions’. We are at war. Unlike those who bloody the streets with the blood of others for their cause; we are at war against our own selves.”

Our violence is against our own flesh. A war against our old nature as we read in Matthew 18:9, “If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away…” Prayers that focus our attention to what battle we face will hurry our minds to that reality.