is the authoritative word of God. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have towards the Lord Jesus Christ and towards all the saints. And I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake. For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother. Amen. Beloved Christian, I know that when we go through hardships and trials and difficulties, and when we are struggling with faith or struggling with matters of obedience, We tend to feel all alone, don't we? And the result of that is that we can become self-centered, introspective, perhaps even defeated in our sense of isolation. Now, what we need to realize is that we are not alone, and the Lord does stand with you. In fact, the whole body of Christ is with you. And therefore, as Paul wrote to the Romans, that none of us can live to himself, and no man dies to himself. Now we know that, don't we? At least intellectually we know it. The problem is, oftentimes, that our emotions and our faith is not always where our knowledge is. And Paul realized that. He realized just how easy it was, or it is, to feel isolated in the war. He understood how easy it is to feel defeated in the Christian walk. And so he almost always makes it his first intention to inform the recipient of his letter that he is praying for them. They are not standing alone. But he is standing with them in prayer, asking God to bless them and to keep them. Now, of course, Paul could have kept that information to himself, but the news that someone is praying for you is very comforting. It's encouraging, isn't it? Well, we know that prayer is important, too. But I think that we all would confess that prayer is difficult. It's hard to pray, isn't it? I know that prayer is something that we all struggle with. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why so many churches don't have prayer meetings, or if they do, why those church prayer meetings are the least attended service of the church. Perhaps we don't know how to pray as we ought, and so we get frustrated and we just give up. Maybe it's because our mind is one or two easily in prayer that we give up. Maybe it's because we get too busy to pray. Or maybe we think that we can handle the situation all on our own and we don't feel like we need to pray. But whatever the reason is, and even if you are a good prayer warrior, we can all be encouraged to grow in this marvelous privilege of prayer. To help aid us this morning, I want to draw your attention to several things of Paul's statement here to Philemon. And the first thing I want us to look at is our relationship to God in prayer. Our relationship to God in prayer. Our prayer life really is founded upon the facts of verse 3. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't think it's an accident in Paul's mind that he declares he's praying for Philemon just after he gives him God's greetings to him. You see, we can pray because God's grace has been extended to us. And because that grace has been extended to us, it enables us then to pray, and to pray with confidence. Now certainly, you and I know that we're not worthy to go to God on our own. We don't even pretend to be, at least I hope we don't. But His grace does give us confidence that He will hear us. Because Jesus Christ has come and clothed us with His righteousness. That grace that's extended to us was first demonstrated to us, as we mentioned, in the gift of His Son Jesus Christ. And so based on that fact, Paul says in Romans chapter 8 verse 32, He who did not spare his own son but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? See, Paul is using an argument from the greater to the lesser. He's saying that because God gave us the greatest thing that he could give us, and salvation through Him, that's the greatest thing that God can give us. Because God gave us that, is He going to withhold anything lesser from you? He's already given you the greatest gift. Everything else is nothing in comparison. So with that kind of confidence, that kind of grace, as we pray, God's peace is also extended to us. Paul makes mention of that, doesn't he, in Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and 7. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. Don't worry, pray. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ. Again, we see God's grace assures us that He's interested in us. The fact that He sent Jesus Christ shows that He not only loves us, but He's interested in your lives. He's interested in those things that trouble you. He knows all about them. You know that He knows the number of hair on your head. He knows your needs even before you ask Him. He's interested in you. And so as we pray, we have the assurance of God's Word. We can rest upon God's attributes. We can rest upon God's love. And so our faith is increased through prayer. And that's what gives us peace. Can you imagine God fretting about anything? God in heaven, wringing his hands, worrying about the state of affairs of the world? Can you imagine God being like that? Of course not. God is all-powerful. He's in control. He's not worried about anything. And neither should you be. Because in prayer, we are in communion with God, our Heavenly Father. Now going back to the salutation, we have a reminder that something monumental occurred with the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Prayer has also been transformed. I want you to understand that Christian prayer is rather unique. Christian prayer is first off addressed to God our Father. Now the Old Testament describes God as being clothed with majesty, girded in strength, When He arises, the earth trembles and His enemies are scattered. The foundations of the earth were laid bare at the blast of His nostrils, we're told. Holiness and majesty are His. Power and glory are God's. And so when He appeared on Mount Sinai in thick cloud and lightning, the people feared. So great was His power. But in the New Testament, when Jesus introduces us to pray to God, He teaches us to pray, Our Father, which art in heaven. A title of intimacy and love. Now this is not to give you the idea that the God of the Old Testament is suddenly different than the God of the New Testament. No, there is only but one God. The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. There is no change in God's nature. But what this does mean is that the same God who is full of power and of majesty and of holiness in the Old Testament now becomes your Father. If God is for you, beloved, who can be against you? God is tender. He is a loving Father with whom we have an intimate access. And so Paul tells us again, going back to Romans 8, you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Father. So when we go to God in prayer, We don't go as slaves. We don't go as servants with no rights or no privilege. We go as His adopted children. And with God as our Father, we also have come to be heirs with the promises of God. Joint heirs with Jesus Christ Himself. Doesn't that give you a new sense to Jesus' Word when He said, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give you? This means that all that is Christ, is also yours. All that is Christ is yours. But again, the fatherhood of God, as it concerns us in redemption, is connected also to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Again, if you were with us last week, you might remember that Jesus Christ became Lord. He was made Lord in a new way. When He fought with the forces of evil, when He battled with death and the devil, And in his wound he conquered, he conquered these things, his enemies, forever. So as Lord, all authority now has been given to him, both in heaven and on earth. And when we pray in his name, we are praying in the light of his victory over all things. So let us remember that as a risen High Priest, He is able to also save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for you. Christ's prayers are no less victorious than His death and resurrection. Let me say that again. Christ's prayers are no less victorious than His death and resurrection. And as Christ lives forever to make intercession for you, He prays perfectly for you at the Father's right hand. So you can delight in prayer. For He also declares, until now you have asked for nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be full. This should give you boldness. This should give you encouragement to prayer, beloved. Not only do you have the ready ear of a loving Father, you have all the power of a great Lord, who has no equal, who demonstrated, proved His love by dying for you, who was raised for you, who is now constantly praying for you. Do you see now why Paul considered it so powerful a thing to inform others that he was praying for them? There's power in prayer. There's power in prayer. Well, secondly, let's look and see how prayer is a means of grace. Now, the power of prayer also lies in the fact that we, you and I, as Christians, are in union with Christ. That His resurrected life, the power of the resurrection now flows through you, enabling you to pray with an effectual power of boldness. Now, in our union with Christ, We are called to be co-laborers with Him. Remember, Paul, as he wrote to the Corinthians in his first letter, chapter 3, verse 9. He said of the apostolic ministry, we are God's fellow workers. And then in Philemon 1, as he writes to Philemon, our beloved brother and fellow worker. Philemon was a fellow worker of the apostles. The apostles are fellow workers with Christ, meaning that you and I As Christians, we are also fellow workers with Christ. You see, when you pray in the name of Christ, you pray in union with Him and with God's will, you are joining yourself with Him who is always praying. And thus, you see, you become a fellow worker with Him in the building up of the Kingdom. Doesn't that excite you? Knowing that you were working with God, doesn't that kind of motivate you? I hope that it does. You think your little voice, your little prayer means nothing. You must not believe that, beloved. Don't believe that! For God in grace has predestined your prayers to be the means of accomplishing His goal. I know that's a great mystery. But God has so exalted us in grace that He uses the means of your prayers to accomplish His will on this earth. Blessing His people. Look at verse 22. He says, At the same time also prepare for me a lodging for I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you. Paul believed in the power of prayer. He said that it was going to be through Philemon's prayers in part that he would be released from prison. God uses the prayers of his people to accomplish things in heaven and on earth. That's not an isolated statement of Paul's, by the way. Philippians, chapter 1, verse 19. He says, For I know that this, talking about his imprisonment, that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers. 2 Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 10. Paul's expectation was yet again. He will yet deliver us. You also joining in helping us through your prayers. Shall I repeat it? Paul believed that God our Father through the name of Jesus Christ actually hears us and answers prayer. It would be through the prayers of others that Paul expects to be released from prison, from endangerment. Prayer is important. So important that it is really among Paul's first statements. in any of his letters. I am praying for you. In our letter here, in verse 4, I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers. That's how important it is. But also, one of the last things he says in this letter is that your prayer is also effective. It would cause my release from prison. I love it. Do you share Paul's conviction that prayer is a powerful thing? Do you share Paul's priority in prayer? Now I'm sure that you prayed, but not all your prayers are answered. Why is that? After all, didn't I just read a few moments ago, Christ said that the Father would give us all things if we pray in His name? My prayers aren't answered. What's going on? You know that famous statement from James's epistle, don't you? Chapter 4, verse 3, you ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures. Prayer is not only the grace of means as we've been talking about. It's also the means of grace. What do I mean by that? Well, prayer is not only that which God uses to affect His goal in the world, prayer also affects our own hearts. What I mean to say is that as we pray, we grow more and more in conformity to Christ. Even as we learn in prayer how we deny our own will, our own desires, how we learn to seek after God's kingdom and His will first. See, that prayer brings a greater reality of heaven down to our own souls. And if we find that our prayers are not being answered, it may be because we are not praying for God's goal. We're not praying for Christ's sake. Verse 6 he says, through the knowledge, very good thing that is in you, for Christ's sake. Maybe we're not praying for Christ's sake. with that goal of mine for his kingdom. See, James teaches us that when we pray, we are not to pray spending it upon our own pleasures, but we are to pray for Christ's sake. That we are to pray with his goal in mind. Now what does that mean? What is his goal? The goal of God, according to Romans chapter 8, is the full manifestation of God's glory in creation. That's God's goal. His goal is that He's going to glorify creation. And He's going to bring judgment upon the wicked. So we are to pray then for Christ or for God's kingdom to come, that His glory may be revealed. And with that being our goal in prayer, We should then pray that everything we go through, whether it be good things or bad things, that everything that we go through, that God's glory, that Christ's glory, will be manifested. You see now a little bit how prayer is designed to change us. To change us from taking our eyes off of the things that surround us, by taking our eyes off ourselves, taking our eyes off our own needs, and to place them onto Christ. Coming to a place where we will say, Thy will be done, changes us as we struggle in prayer. Well, let's move on quickly now to my third point, to look at the overflow of joy at Thanksgiving in prayer. Paul writes, he says, I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers. As he informs Philemon that he's praying for him, he also says that he's full of thanks to God. Now, of course, thanksgiving to God is natural when you consider His greatness and His mercy and His grace to you. As a matter of fact, Paul writes to the Thessalonians in his first letter, chapter 5, verse 17, he says that you are to pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing. But then he goes on to say, and everything give thanks. For this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. God's will is that you give thanks. I think that we can go so much as to say that God redeemed us so that we would be a people of praise and of thanks. Of course, the theology behind our thanksgiving, again, is that God is really in control of all things. What a great comfort that is. God is in control of all things. Can you imagine a universe in which God wasn't in control? I mean, the forces of nature might rise up against you. The ground opens up to swallow you. The air seeks to poison you. What hope would you have if God wasn't in control? The devil seeks to terrorize you. Without God's restraints, what kind of torments would he put you through? No, we are very glad, we're very thankful that God is in control of all things, aren't we? And this sovereign God also states His abiding and deep love for you. Paul writes again in Romans 8, we know that to those who love God, He works all things for good. To those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Having that knowledge that God is working all things together for your good, you can be thankful. In fact, that actually tells us then that nothing can separate us from His love. Good things or bad things, nothing can separate you from God. And knowing that, doesn't that bring us to a place of peace? We don't have to be anxious for anything. We can go with prayer and supplication to Almighty God who loves you, and He will give you His peace. Isn't that what the salutation says? Grace to you, peace from God our Father, Lord Jesus Christ. Thankful? Yes! We are to be thankful. We are to be characterized by being thankful. And note that Paul also says, I thank my God making mention of you. There are many examples of Paul giving thanks like this. Romans 1, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all. 1 Corinthians 1.4, I thank my God always concerning you. To Timothy he writes, I thank God as I constantly remember you in my prayers. Paul thanks God for the saints. Now we're accustomed to that. But you know, this is a very interesting thing. Remember I said that Christian prayer is rather unique? You go back to the Old Testament and you look at all the recorded prayers of the Old Testament. There are no explicit thanksgiving to God for others. They thank God for all kinds of things. But there is no explicit prayer in the Old Testament thanking God for other people. That's kind of interesting, isn't it? Christian prayer is unique. Listen to one of Paul's prayers, Ephesians 1.18, I pray the eyes of your hearts may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of His calling. What are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Now has that last statement ever struck you as being a bit odd? That God has an inheritance in the saints? God has put such high value upon His people that He calls them His inheritance. If that wasn't in the scriptures, that would be rather incredible. God looks upon you as His inheritance. But one of the most amazing things really about Ephesians 1 is that God's plan to accomplish His eternal purpose is through His church. What that means then is that every saint, no matter how seemingly small and insignificant they may be, they have a purpose. in the grand scheme of things. That's why Paul could pray for the saints and thank God for them. See, each saint has been given a gift by the Spirit. Each saint has a work to do. And so the church is made complete only by each saint. You see why Paul thanks God for the saints? And this is going to play itself out in Paul's request to Philemon. on behalf of the slave Onesimus. You see, Paul prays that Philemon then would be Christ-like to forgive Onesimus. And that Philemon would also see that even a runaway slave has a work to do in the kingdom of God. He too, a minor slave, has a place in God's plan. So Philemon should be thankful. But we also should learn to thank God for those who even hurt us. Philemon was hurt by Nysimus. From what we understand, Nysimus stole from his master and then ran away. He was hurt. You too, no doubt, have been hurt by others. Don't nurse that hurt, but give God thanks. Not for the hurt, but for the fact that God can use that hurt, and He is using that hurt for your good somehow. He's working for your good. Well, are you struggling with prayer? First thing is to see the importance of prayer. It's very important. Know the sight of the importance of prayer. Also see that, again, prayer is a means of grace. It will strengthen you. It will increase your faith. As you see God answer prayer, and bear His strong arm. It's also the means by which God will accomplish His will. Remember, there's nothing that God cannot do. And your humble prayers, imperfect and confused as you may sense them to be, are a means that God has ordained to accomplish His will. What a great privilege is that, isn't it? What amount of glory has God heaped upon you, His beloved saint? And so lastly, we need to see that we really are united to one another. And that union is of the strongest bond, because it is the very bonds of love in Christ Jesus. And so beloved, as we have mounted, as we can almost see heaven from here, can't we? And you can express your prayers for each other. What motivated Paul in his prayer? God is his Father, and Jesus is his Lord. And beloved, Jesus Christ, the great Lord, will come again. And on that great day, He will perfect you and I. to protect all His saints. And we must keep our eyes on that goal. We must be thankful to God for each saint that He calls as He adds them to our boasting in His glory. See that this Thanksgiving to God for others really is nothing less than our declaration of our commitment to each other, of our mutual need for each other. And if you really see that need for each other, How can you not but pray for one another? Amen. Let us pray. Lord, we have been talking about prayer. We have heard from Your Word. We have been encouraged by Your Word that our prayer is based upon the fact that through the Lord Jesus Christ, His great sacrifice on the tree, His resurrection, His ascension into heaven, we now have been adopted to Your family. You are our God. And You are our Father. Help us always to see that, O Lord, because we do forget. We tremble because of our sin. We stumble, O Lord, because we're so weak. But help us to see, O Lord, that You know our weaknesses. You know our failings. That's why You gave us Your Son. And You love us. Help that knowledge to really motivate us to better prayer, to more prayer. And that as you have called not only me, but you have called others into this family, help us also then to pray for others. Those who are here, those who are abroad, and we pray also for those who are yet not in the church, that O Lord, by your grace, you would reach out to them. Motivate us, O Lord, by these truths in Jesus' name. Beloved let us stand now and sing our closing hymn number 629