Key Text: Philippians 1:9-11
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may 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.
Imagine someone is praying for you – as indeed they might be.
What are they praying for?
- That God bring you healing and comfort?
- That you find the answer to some difficult question with which you are struggling?
- That you find new direction for your life?
- That you come to a deeper faith in God?
They might be praying for any number of things.
When Paul prayed for the Philippian church he asked that their love of God “may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,” so that they might be “able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ…”
What a wonderful prayer!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all grow this way?
- In our love of God
- In our understanding and insight
- Filled with the fruit of righteousness
- All to the glory and praise of God
We all need others to pray for us – and we need to be in prayer for others.
Maybe this week, we can all pray as Paul did for the Philippian believers.
And may God graciously answer that prayer.
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By Paul Simrell
The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. “Elpis” is the Greek word for “expectant hope.” He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors, and a member of Spiritual Directors International. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
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