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Thanksgiving & Prayer for Love to

 Abound in Knowledge & Depth of Insight

Philippians 1:3-6, 9-11

On Monday April 14th, I wrote about the Apostle Paul's prayer for the believers in Ephesus. He prayed for their spiritual strength to comprehend God's love for them. This is one of the ways that I am to pray for fellow believers. In today's blog, I am looking at the Paul's prayers for believers in Philippi. 

What I notice, first, is that Paul gives thanks for them (vs. 3) with joy because they partnered with him in the gospel. Paul is confident that God who began a good work in them will be faithful to complete it (vs. 6). For me, I am to give thanks other believers like my pastor, those who teach and preach the gospel, and my friends. I am to trust God to finish what He began.

Second, Paul prayed that their love would abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight (vs.9) so that they would be able to discern the best and be blameless until the day of Christ (vs. 10). He desired for them to be filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Christ (Vs. 11). Paul had a heart for believers to grow in the knowledge of Christ so much so that it was reflected in their love for one another. I especially like how it reads in the Amplified version (see link above).

In conclusion, I have gathered from what I have studied so far is that my attitude toward prayer needs to be of a humble spirit. I am to pray for the spiritual strength of fellow believers and friends in Christ. I am also to give thanks for them and pray that their love would abound more and more from a knowledge of Christ to overflowing and to be filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes from Christ. With this knowledge, I can no longer say that I do not know what to pray for or how to pray. There is power in prayer just read James 5:16. From this verse we are encouraged to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another.

I hope that this knowledge helps you also to know how to pray for fellow believers in Christ.

My Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I give thanks to You for the many friends that I am blessed to know and for those who read my blog. Father, may they grow in knowledge of You so that they are blameless til Jesus' return. Increase their spiritual strength to be able to fully comprehend You amazing love for them. Amen.