A BRIEF LOOK AT SOME OF THE PRAYERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
Bible Corner - No. 3 Paul's Prayer in Philippians 1:3:6
Paul's short stay in Philippia (Acts 16:11-40) was one of the most eventful periods in his life, the memories of which must have revived every time he thought about the church there. So much had been crammed into a short while: that visit to the place of prayer down by the river; the conversion of Lydia, the wealthy business woman; the exorcism of the young fortune teller; the riot that followed, leading to his imprisonment in the town jail; the earthquake and subsequent conversion of the jailer. And as Paul remembered the people involved in those events, he turned his memories into joyful thanksgiving .
Philippians is the most joyful of Paul's letters and this short prayer shows why:
- He could look back on the way God had guided him and touched people through the Gospel he preached. Happy memories were more than pleasant recollections to him, they where triggers for thanksgiving .
- He could rejoice that a shared love of the Gospel had brought different sorts of people together in lasting partnership with each other and with him.
- He had absolute confidence that God was always at work in lives of his friends , equipping them for life's demands and preparing them for the Big Day ahead.
Before thy throne we daily meet
as joint petitioners to thee;
In spirit we shall greet
and shall again each other see
(Richard Baxter R&S 481)
Howard Rady
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