Slices
Prepare
Who are the people who ‘share in God’s grace’ with you (v 7)? Give thanks for their partnership with you in the Christian life of grace and gospel service.
Bible passage
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.
Explore
When Paul prays, he prays strategically. He focuses on believers’ spiritual growth, rather than bodily illnesses or socio-economic circumstances. His first concern is how they live in their situation. He longs for them to know God better and love God more with heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). He asks for a growing love (v 9), which – like everything he prays for – comes through Jesus (v 11). This is not mere emotion: it overflows in understanding, which enables them to recognise the right way to live and to carry it out (vs 9,10).
The combination of love and knowledge is vital. Without love – for God and people – we are shadows of God’s purposes for us. Love without discernment produces ethical relativism which leaves us as we are, rather than being transformed to be ‘pure and blameless’ (v 10). God’s love is like that: God loves us as we are, but not to stay as we are, for he has better things in store!
Paul doesn’t just pray these things: he tells his hearers (they heard the letter read aloud) that he is praying for them. There’s power in telling people what we are praying for them – then they can look expectantly to God for these things.
Respond
Pray verses 9–11 over the next few days for those you thought of earlier and let them know that you’re praying in this way.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Isaiah 47,48; Hebrews 7
Pray for Scripture Union
Over the summer, many young people who have responded to Jesus will have received the booklet So, What Next?. Pray that this will help them as they set out on their journey with Jesus and discover who God is, who they are and who they can become.
