AP

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.

O that this might be the way we all pray for one another constantly.  In a culture where self-sacrificing ‘agape’ love, and the true knowledge of God and truth through his Written Word and the Lord Jesus Christ, and reliable insight  and discernment that comes to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, are in such short supply, it is so easy for us to be ‘sucked in’ by media propaganda without our even realising this is happening.

God’s intention for his people is that we influence our culture as ‘salt’ and ‘light’, but sadly the flow of influence is too often in the other direction!  As we wait expectantly for the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, let us be earnest in prayer for each other, that we might be found “pure and blameless for the day of Christ”, that we might be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ”, and that all this might only be “to the glory and praise of God.”

The Apostle Paul knew how fierce is the battle against Satan’s subtle attacks, and how the Devil so often has the advantage of having what remains of our fallen human nature to manipulate to his advantage, and so he prayed earnestly and constantly for the early disciples of Christ as they fought the battle for truth and life.  There are many ways in which Satan’s weapons have become much more powerful and effective in our modern world, so we, too, need to have this same attitude to our prayer life, both corporately and in the times we spend alone with God.

It is interesting that, the way our canon of Scripture has been compiled, puts the first chapter of Philippians immediately after the final chapter of Ephesians where Paul writes: “Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Ephesians 6:11-18)

– Bruce Christian