“And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all discernment, that you may approve things that are excellent so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:9-11).
I want you to think of somebody who irritates you—maybe somebody you’ve got a strained relationship with or someone who just rubs you the wrong way. I have two questions for you: Do you pray for that person? Or do you just complain and grumble and nag and nitpick? If you prayed more, you’d have a lot less to grumble, complain, nag and nitpick about.
It’s your decision.
Does nagging work? No. Does prayer work? Yes. So why do you do more of the thing that doesn’t work than of the one that does?
Paul says in Philippians 1:4, “In every prayer of mine for you all, I have always made requests with joy.” He not only prayed for people in his life, but he prayed with joy.
Positive praying is more effective than positive thinking. All the positive thinking in the world won’t change your husband or your wife or your child or your friend or your situation. Positive thinking can change you, but it won’t change somebody else. But positive prayer can make a difference in someone else.
Do you want to know the quickest way to change a bad relationship to a good one? Start praying for the other person. It will change you, and it can change the other person, too.
Paul even told us how to pray for others: “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all discernment, that you may approve things that are excellent so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God“ (Phil. 1:9-11).
From these verses, we can learn to pray for the people in our lives in four ways:
Pray they will grow in love: “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all discernment ….”
Pray they will make wise choices: “… that you may approve things that are excellent …”
Pray they will live with integrity: “… so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ…”
Pray they will become like Jesus: “… being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God.”
Pray these for yourself and anyone in your life, and watch how God turns around the relationship you thought was hopeless. Nothing is impossible with Him.
