In this week’s passage, we finally see the purpose behind Paul’s prayers for the Philippians. He stated in verse three that he prayed for them frequently. Here we see what he prays for.

You can see his prayers for the Philippians in Philippians 1:9-11:

Paul’s prayer is complex. There are at least five different aspects of his prayer for the Philippian church, all of which are connected and build upon one another. The word used here is a different one than he used in verse 4. There, the term was very specific. Here it is a much broader term. This indicates that his concern was for the church as a whole, and a continued prayer that he lifted before God on a regular basis.

His prayer contains several aspects, but each of these fall under the umbrella of the first thing he mentions: love. If the Philippians had an issue that needed to be addressed, it was a lack of love and even dissension that some of the members seemed to suffer from (see 2:3-4 and 4:2). Paul’s prayer is that the church would love, and that would lead into the rest of his desires for them.

Here are the individual aspects of Paul’s prayer:

That love may abound more and more

Paul’s prayer is that the Philippian believers would love. But the next few verses lay out specifically how that was to look. Their love should abound more and more. This conveys the idea of an overflowing love, and abundant love. This is not just an adequate love. It is much more than that. This seems to be more of a prayer for love of others than a love for God.

In knowledge and depth of insight

These characteristics are directly tied to the love that Paul longs for in their lives. Love without knowledge is useless sentimentality and serves no purpose. Love needs to be guided and tempered by knowledge and insight. A better knowledge of God and his ways leads to better relationships and fellowship among the believers.

That you may be able to discern what is best

To be able to discern what is best is to also be able to discern what is not best. And if it is not best, then it needs to be removed so that what is best may be focused on. This requires that love be a thoughtful action, and not just blind feelings. The point here is that the Philippian believers will be able to discern what is needed for harmony, and not dissension, in the church body.

And may be pure and blameless

The idea of pure comes from a life of love. The pure person is sincere and honest, and does not focus on things not of God. This is the ability to be genuine and transparent before God and before others. Blameless seems to be related to the idea of stumbling, either on their own, or causing others to do so. They are to strive for these qualities until Christ returns.

Filled with the fruit of righteousness

The word for fruit here is singular, as in Galatians 5:22. This implies that it pertained more to a moral quality that we strive for, than an imputed righteousness or sinlessness because of what Christ has done. But Paul is careful to clarify that even this moral integrity can only come through Christ, just as the righteousness that we are given in place of our sinfulness.

Paul concludes this prayer with a bit of a doxology, “to the glory and praise of God.” None of this is something that we can achieve on our own, nor could the Philippians. All of this comes through the power and grace of God. God’s answer to Paul’s prayers will result in these things occurring in the Philippian believers’ lives, and will occur in our own as well by the same manner.

None of this is the result of how good the Philippians were, or how good we are, but how good God is, and continues to be.

Question: Have you considered praying this prayer for yourself, or for your church? What could the results be? You can leave a comment by clicking here.