9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.
Philippians 1:9-11
Paul’s prayer is for the love of the Philippians to overflow …. and that they will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.
Why? Because he wants them to understand what really matters
Why? So that they may live pure and blameless lives
He also prays that they may always be filled filled with the fruit of their salvation
What is that fruit?
Paul explains that it is the righteous character that Jesus produces in them
Why does the fruit of righteousness matter?
Because it brings praise and glory to God …. and that is what really matters. We know this because we are told in Scripture that we were created by Him and for Him.
“You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
Revelation 4:11
Paul’s prayer here for the Philippians is probably one of the most important prayers we can pray for each other as well as for ourselves. He’s praying about what really matters – not just that they might grow in love but in the knowledge and understanding of how to live and love like Jesus Christ. Paul knew that the more we understand about how Jesus lived the more like Him we will be. It’s hard to imagine living “pure and blameless lives” but that is the prayer and encouragement of Paul. – Not just because he believed it was possible but because Paul understood what really matters and he wanted the church to understand it as well – because He knows it will bring praise and glory to God. He explains the secret behind it – and that is Jesus Himself living in us – His Spirit doing the work and producing the fruit that bears witness that our faith is real – and that glorifies God.
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question Jesus again. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:34-38
When asked what the most important commandment is, Jesus answered with the Word of God. – He pointed those trying to trick Him and all who were listening to God and what they would recognize as coming from God through Moses.
““Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, … Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ESV
The same words God gave Moses to teach the people of Israel, Christ now gives to the people as the first and greatest commandment. Both the father and the son called the people, and by extension- all those who would believe in Christ, to remember that the LORD was their God and that they were to love Him with everything they had – heart, soul, mind, and strength – their whole being.
We could stop there and let that be the devotion, for we can never be reminded enough of this first and greatest commandment. However, as I read the title again in the devotional journal of our study I was left wondering why on earth they had titled it, “Praying for Your Children and the Next Generation.” So, now I’m staring at my SOAPed up passage, the highlighted words and the notes in the margin and I’m not seeing anything to do with prayer or the next generation – BUT – what I do see is the passage I jotted down from Deuteronomy and I went back to it and there, in the context of that passage, was the answer.
“These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, 2 and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. 3 Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. 4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Clearly these commandments, that were eventually summed up into the one that Christ gave to the Pharisees, were meant not just for each of us individually but for us and our children, and their children, and all the generations to follow. So important were the words God had given to Moses that they were meant to be passed on to their children, written on their door posts, and spoken of day and night, at home or on the road. Surely if they are that important they are meant to be a consideration of our prayers … prayers that we would love the Lord our God with all of our being, prayers that we would be faithful to teach our children and grandchildren about the commandments and how Christ summed them up, and prayers that our children and all the generations to follow would know and love the LORD our God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Lest you find yourself even for a moment wondering how it could be that important – consider this reminder – only a few generations after Moses the people of Israel no longer acknowledge God as the LORD nor did they know the wonders He had done for them.
After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. 11 The Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight and served the images of Baal. 12 They abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the LORD. 13 They abandoned the LORD to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth.
Judges 2:10
Prayer: Response to God’s Word
Father, this world we live in looks and sounds much like the description found in Judges chapter 2. In our country and around the world we see and hear people who have grown up not knowing You. They do not acknowledge You as Lord or remember the great things that you have done. They do evil in Your sight. Many who have grown up in the church have abandoned You and have gone after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. Change their hearts oh God, let them know You and Your love and may they be moved to love You with all of their being. Call Your people to live out Your command through Moses – to love You with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength.Help us to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to this command that Jesus summed up as the greatest of them all. Keep us faithful to repeat them again and again to our children, to talk about them when we are at home and when we are on the road, when we are going to bed and when we are getting up. May they not just be written and kept in places where we can see them but may they be written and hidden in our hearts as a light to guide our feet and as a lamp for our paths.
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Colossians 3:12-13 NLT
When my daughters were in the first grade their teacher taught them a song that they often sang during their morning routine. If you were anywhere in the vicinity of the classroom when they were singing it you would hear – “what are you wearing, what are you wearing, what are you wearing today – today?” The chorus would be repeated two times – and as I remember, the students – or a student – would answer with words describing what they were wearing. I couldn’t hep but think of this classroom song as I began to contemplate this passage. So my question for you on this first day of our final week discussing “The Importance of Prayer” is this …. What are you wearing today?
Are you bathed in prayer and clothed in kindness, mercy, humility, gentleness, and patience? Or, are you depending on your own way and strength and clothed with the old tattered, unpleasant, raggedy clothes of harshness, haughtiness, impatience, and rudeness? Do you smell like the refuse of the world or the sweet and appealing love of Christ? Paul’s message to the Colossians was similar to the one he wrote to many of the other churches – in which he emphasized what they used to look like or act like compared to what they should look like and act like. His typical phrase was to “put off the old” and “put on the new”. In other words, don’t just say you’ve chosen to follow Jesus – look and live like you are a true follower of Jesus. Change the things you watch and listen to, consider the things your heart longs for, speak with words that encourage and build up rather than ones that tear down or offend. Be compassionate and understanding instead of harsh and demanding or intolerant. You get the picture -our attitude, actions, and words will either repel people or attract them. Jesus taught His followers that they were meant to be “lights on a hill” for the purpose of “attracting” others – with the idea that others would see the follower’s good deeds and give glory to God (Matthew 5:14-16). Paul’s teaching here in Colossians is very similar, live and love in a way that others will see a difference between you and the world and they will desire and seek after what you have. This is how we become a living testimony, a missionary where we live, work, and play.
No need to worry about the cost or the availability of the new and improved you. Through your faith in Jesus Christ the cost has been covered and God has supplied the new wardrobe through the Holy Spirit who lives in us (1 Cor 6:19). This is the same spirit who, according to Paul, produces the righteous fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, (Galatians 5:22-25). The decision is ours, just like we go to our closets choose what we will put on for the day – we must choose if we will live and clothe ourselves by the things of the Spirit or stick with the old nature of the flesh. So – what will you be wearing today?
Reflection: How does this fit in with our study, The Importance of Prayer? The answer is this – PRAY. Prayer is the light in your closest and the mirror on your wall – pray. Just like you can’t pick out your clothes in the dark and trust they will look good – without prayer, you can’t begin to trust that you will truly be kind or forgiving, as our verse teaches today. Ask God to help you live by the Spirit, look to Him for strength to be kind or to forgive what seems unforgivable. Ask Him to take control of what you say and to set a guard on your lips so that your words are not appalling or offensive but instead loving and appealing. Make a habit of looking in the mirror of His Word to see if what you’re wearing aligns with His Godly fashion and then wear it confidently – giving Him all the praise and glory.
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
When we trust in Jesus Christ to be our savior we make a commitment to the Father who sent Him. The commitment involves laying down our own life and desires of the mortal flesh to follow after Christ in the new spiritual nature He has graced us with; or as Paul said, as the “New Person” we have become. Christ’s love now controls us, so we commit to love and obey and to serve Him only.
– Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. … 17This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
2 Corinthians 5:17
This past week’s focus in our study, “The Importance of Prayer”, has been focused on the various commitments of our prayer life, starting with the commitment to wait expectantly, which means trusting God to hear and to answer according to HIS WILL, (Psalm 5). This first commitment fed into all of the others, which included the commitment to being satisfied in and with God – not just an “ok, that will do” kind of satisfaction – but truly deep-down to the “soul-satisfied,” (Psalm 63). The commitment to trust Him and to be truly satisfied with Him – whose love is better than life – will, or should, naturally lead us to a commitment to praise Him – not just when or because life is ‘good’ – but because God is good (Psalm 100). Because life won’t always be good or easy, when we are committed to trusting God we will also be committed to cry out to Him for help and strength when life is stressful (Psalm 18), and equally committed to repent of our sins with a desire to maintain a pure heart and a right relationship with our God (Psalm 51).
While the word commitment and act of committing have raised fear in me since somewhere in my late 20’s and early 30’s, I am happy to say when it comes to committing to God, my life… my prayers … my trust … my fears … and my struggles … I have little to no issues. Why? Because I have found Him to be trustworthy and true. I have found Him to help me when I am weak, to provide for me in my needs, to direct me in my choices, and to sustain me by His power … and so much more! Our study this past week has been a refreshing reminder of the need and the joy and hope that come from being committed to a life of prayer.May the same be true for you as you make these commitments in your own walk of faith and prayer.
Links for “The Importance of Prayer” -week 5- are below
Create for me a pure heart, O God. Renew a resolute spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10
Have mercy … wipe away … wash away … cleanse me … forgive me … cleanse me … grant me forgiveness … hide Your face from my sin … do not reject me … rescue me from the guilt … do not take your holy Spirit away … David, obviously convicted for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba, pleads with God throughout this prayer for forgiveness. He is contrite, truly sorry for the sins he has committed, and desperately wants God’s forgiveness. He realizes he doesn’t deserve what he requests but appeals to God’s great compassion.
It is equally important to note that David doesn’t just ask for forgiveness but he pleads for God to cleanse him, to wash him, to rescue him … He knows his heart has been deceptive and that he needs God to renew a right Spirit, one that would stand strong and firm, resolute, against the temptations he might face going forward. This is important to our application of this verse, because unless we realize the treachery of our sin we will continually walk in it, and rather than repentantly coming to God as David does here – we will flippantly utter the words while perhaps still walking in the sin.
Sin is a dangerous enemy for the Christian, so we must have a healthy respect for the impact it can have on our lives and the lives of others. It is important for us to deal with our sin daily so that it does not take hold of us … which I believe is why David prayed for God to give Him a pure – unadulterated-heart.
May we be committed to seek God for a heart that is pure and pleasing to Him – Amen!
In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried out to my God. From his heavenly temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help.
Psalm 18:6
Why does David call out to God in His distress? Because he had a standing relationship with God. He knew that He could trust God. He knew God and had already experienced Him as a stronghold, a deliverer and refuge. David knew God as the one who saves and he trusted Him to be all these things and more. Sure enough, when David cried out – God not only heard him but he listened. The more we know about God and the more we experience with God, the more we will trust Him and seek Him for the strength we need.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give him thanks. Praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good. His loyal love endures, and he is faithful through all generations.
Psalm 100:4-5
It’s easy to praise God when everything is going great in our lives or when something good happens … a prayer is answered … someone is healed … someone is saved … you get the job you wanted … a baby is born …. God provides for a need … However, what about the times when everything seems to be going wrong? What about when someone you love is sick … you don’t have enough to pay the bills … the doctor just gave you bad news … your car needs repairs that are expensive … what then? Do you still praise Him or do you get lost in the sorrow, the worry, the concerns, frustrations, fears … ? We all know the right “Sunday School” answer – we praise Him – even in the storms of life – right? But – How? How, when the walls are closing in and everything seems hopeless? This passage is how … or at least a stepping stone of encouragement. We make a habit of shouting out praises to the Lord … We determine to worship Him with joy, to enter His presence with joyful singing. We acknowledge that the Lord is God and pronounce every morning that He is good. We enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. We give Him thanks and praise His name! Why? Certainly not because everything is perfect or because it’s always easy – for life isn’t always easy and neither people nor life’s circumstances are perfect. We commit to praising Him because, as David acknowledges here – “the Lord is good. His loyal love endures, and He is faithful though all generations. So when life has you down – when complaining or whining seem the best or only option left – PRAISE HIM ANYWAY! Recall His past acts of kindness and goodness … remember the way He has helped you or provided in the past … For when your relationship with God is based on these truths and not dependent on your circumstances you will stay yielded to a lifestyle of PRAISE.
Lord, in the morning you will hear me; in the morning I will present my case to you and then wait expectantly for an answer.
Psalm 5:3
What a beautiful example of prayer David presents here. I can hear his desperation in the preceding verses as he calls on God to – listen, consider, and pay attention all before he is praying. He is specific with God as to when he will be praying and he is boldly expectant of an answer, declaring his commitment to wait. The rest of the prayer (4-12) bears witness that he prays in accordance with God’s will, as he expresses knowledge of what God doesn’t accept and what he rewards. These are all very important parts of prayer …
the desperation showing he understands his need for God …
calling on God to listen reveals David isn’t just interested in praying but in talking to God (it’s about the relationship not the religious act) …
the specific time indicates his seriousness …
and the term, “I will wait expectantly”, indicates commitment and trust, which is our focus today …
The first part, “I will“, is a commitment, the evidence of our trust. The second part, “wait expectantly“, indicates how he will wait. While there is something to be said about leaving our requests at Jesus’ feet, trusting Him to answer, it’s the expectation that keeps our eyes on God. It doesn’t mean we stop and wring our hands or pace the floor while we wait, but simply that we are aware that we have asked something of God and are anticipating its arrival. This combination of commitment and expectation is also what keeps us coming back – asking, seeking, knocking – and what moves our heart to rejoice when we receive the answer.
Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? If the Lord is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not say a word.
1 Kings 18:21
I hope you’ll read the whole passage today to have a fuller picture and understanding of what Elijah was up against and how amazingly God responded to Elijah’s prayer for the people, God’s people, to renew their allegiance to God! It’s important to note, Elijah wasn’t concerned with the people thinking he was the greatest – his concern was for the people’s indecisiveness and he urged them to make their decision – God or Baal. When they wouldn’t respond the challenge was put forth.
Elijah said to them: “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 23 Let them bring us two bulls. Let them choose one of the bulls for themselves, cut it up into pieces, and place it on the wood. But they must not set it on fire. I will do the same to the other bull and place it on the wood. But I will not set it on fire. 24 Then you will invoke the name of your god, and I will invoke the name of the Lord. The god who responds with fire will demonstrate that he is the true God.” All the people responded, “This will be a fair test.”
1 Kings 18:22-24
While the prophets of Baal did it their way calling upon the name of Baal and following their prescribed rituals, shouting louder and louder when he didn’t answer and then mutilating themselves, as was their custom. Yet, despite their frenzied behavior and efforts there was still no answer from Baal. So Elijah began his turn in the challenge, and he went to great lengths to set up the altar and prepare for what he expected the LORD to do. Then he did the strangest thing, instead of doing everything to assure the fire would start, he instructed the people to pour jugs of water on the offering and in the trench around where the offering lay. Seemingly crazy and definitely risky in the eyes of man but further proof of Elijah’s hope and trust in God. For this act insured that when the fire started it would be totally from the true, living, powerful LORD, the God of Elijah. Once everything was ready, Elijah prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His request was for God’s glory and for the people to return to the true and living God – and God responded, meeting if not exceeding Elijah’s requests.
Then fire from the Lord fell from the sky. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, “The Lord is the true God! The Lord is the true God!”
1 Kings 18:38-39
Call to Action:
Pray believing
Pray for the sake of God’s glory and the rescue/redemption of God’s people
Prepare for the answer you’ve sought
Ask and expect God to answer and stand out of the way to watch Him work
Like with so much of Scripture it is easy to zoom in on the verses of hope and joy and the “good parts” of God’s story – but we can’t fully understand or appreciate these verses if we don’t know why the hope or joy or deliverance taste so sweet. Take for instance, Jeremiah’s words in verse 19 – he remembers the afflictions and wanderings, the bitterness and the awful conditions he had endured – the taste of it all was still fresh in his mind – but why? What had been happening that was so bitter and brought so much depression? We could go back through the history of God’s people to fully see and comprehend how things were as Jeremiah records, but for the purpose of today’s passage it will suffice to simply look back to the first of Lamentations. You see, the book of Lamentations begins with Jeremiah mourning over Jerusalem’s destruction – The Temple was destroyed, the people were defeated and taken captive and his sorrow ran deep. So deep was his sorrow that the entire book is saturated with it. Even chapter three still finds him expressing words of lament but with one difference – a glimmer of HOPE! So where did his hope come from in the midst of all the sorrow and devastation? Why, when God’s people were still waiting for deliverance, did he find reason to HOPE? This is what we must not miss in order to truly share in the hope Jeremiah speaks of as we find ourselves waiting for the Lord and His deliverance. Read what he writes in verses 19-21, notice the depth of his despair and then it’s like a light bulb goes on – and he declares, “But this I call to mind; therefore I have hope:
[I] Remember my impoverished and homeless condition, which is a bitter poison. 20 I continually think about this, and I am depressed. 21 But this I call to mind; therefore I have hope:
Lamentations 3:19-21
What Does He Call to Mind? Why Does He Have Hope?
We don’t have to look far to find out. It happened just after remembering the days of his own impoverished and homeless condition – which could just as easily have led him away from the Lord. Instead, he purposefully “called to mind” the goodness of God which led him to HOPE in the LORD. He chose to remember God’s kindness, compassion, and faithfulness – and then he once again declares his hope in the LORD.
The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end. 23 They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant! 24 “My portion [security, hope] is the Lord,” I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him.
Lamentations 3:22-24 NET
You see, what Jeremiah realized, and what we would be wise to learn from him, is that by remembering the “goodness of God” we will be led to hope and hope will move our heart, as it did his, from despair to ‘trusting in God, seeking Him, and waiting patiently for His deliverance.” It seems to me the key was in a change of focus – he went from “continually thinking about” his past and problems or misery to choosing to remember God’s goodness.
So, what are you waiting on today? Provision for a need? Wisdom for a decision? Healing? Whatever it is, fix your thoughts on the goodness of the Lord, determine to “call to mind” what He has done for you already and let those truths move you to HOPE, and from that hope may you ‘trust in him, seek him and wait patiently for His deliverance. In the meantime, rest and delight in knowing that His mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is great!
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Me From the Inside Out 