30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. (Romans 15)
I know. Like you, I've said it: "I'll be praying for you." Then I forget... In the new movie "Overcomer", there is a telling scene when the lead actor is asked if indeed he had kept his promise to pray for someone, and had to admit he had failed to do so. Here Paul concludes his practical exhortations to this group of Christians by appealing to them to pray for him. He does so "By our Lord Jesus Christ" - that is, really believing that Jesus gives our prayers their power, and also "by the love of the Spirit" - that they (and we!) would allow the Holy Spirit to prompt us to pray, allowing the Spirit to flow by our intentional love - doing what is best for each other, no matter what it costs us. Paul's request is not at all selfish. He wants to be freed from prison so he can see legalism overcome, take a gift from the Gentiles back to the Jewish believers, and give a joyful report to those at Rome. In other words, He asked for prayer so he could continue to serve others. Why wouldn't we pray for that? Why don't we?
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