In my last newsletter article, I noted several specific ways we can pray for one another. I mentioned these three: 1. To see the glory of Christ by faith, and to have close fellowship with Him, 2. To be empowered and equipped for specific roles and callings and situations, 3. For specific suffering and challenging circumstances. Let's look at a few more.
To have victory over sin in our lives: sin is a real struggle and problem in our lives. Our sin nature still is alive and active and has to be checked and resisted daily. If we do not make war on our sinful nature (Rom. 8:12) as we ought, it will lead us to great destruction in our lives. In Eph. 6:18, Paul instructed believers to pray for all saints. The context of this statement is his classic section on spiritual warfare and putting on the whole armor of God. When you and I pray for one another, we are tangibly helping one another in this great warfare. Don't you want the help and assistance of your fellow-soldiers in this battle? Prayer is one great way that we receive and give out this aid. Additionally, the importance and seriousness of such prayers is seen when Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” God works in many ways, but we know He uses prayer. Who knows but your prayers for others may be part of God's instrument to deliver from sinful attitudes, disobedience to God's word, and attractive temptations from the evil one! And...their prayers may do the same for you.
To grow in spiritual fruitfulness: this is the positive side of the coin, whereas #1 highlighted the negative side. Not only is the Christian life one of putting away sin, but it is also one of putting on something new and superior. Not only do we need to repent of gossiping or jealousy, for example, but we are to replace it with true love. Greed must be replaced with contentment and generous giving. According to Jesus, every true believer will bear spiritual fruit, but not every one will bear to the same degree. He said, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit...” (John 15:8). Paul prayed for the Philippians to be “filled with the fruits of righteousness” (Phil. 1:11). It's hard to think of anything better to pray than that God would be greatly glorified thru our increasing fruitfulness to Him. Are we growing in learning to trust God, in walking by faith? Is our love for Him increasing to the point that other things are quite trivial in comparison? Are we growing in understanding His word and putting it to practice in our lives? Is the fruit of repentance present in our lives continually? Are we growing in learning how to glorify God in our relationships with others, in showing longsuffering, forgiveness, compassion while also exhorting and even rebuking if necessary? The sobering reality is, we as individuals and collectively as a church, are either growing in spiritual fruitfulness or not. Let us pray for much fruit!
That we would profit from the preaching of God's word: notice the request is not just that we will hear a sermon, but that we will profit from it. There is a big difference! God has ordained the preaching of His word to be one of the ways we worship Him, but are also nourished and fed spiritually. It is one way we see again and again the glory of God and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. It is one way our minds and hearts are freshly purified and sanctified (John 17:17). However, this doesn't come automatically. Our minds can wander during a sermon and we miss the blessing, or our attitude coming in may be flawed. We can hear a truth but not really be moved by it. The truth is, we need the grace of God to profit from hearing God's word. To think about it from Heaven's vantage point, it would be beautiful to see a people getting ready for worship praying for themselves, each other and the preacher. And, to see the preacher praying for himself and the people. All this for what purpose? That we might see God again in His word, that we might look upon our Savior, that we might obediently hear His will for our lives. That is something to pray for!
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