"For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philip 1:19-21).
During the writing of Paul's epistle to the Philippian church he was in prison and facing a trial. Most people under the same circumstance would probably begin to feel sorry for themselves, especially if they were in prison unjustly. But even under these circumstances Paul never lost hope and never lost sight of his calling. It didn't matter if Paul was free, in prison or standing before Roman authorities, his greatest desire was for Christ to be magnified through him "whether it be by life or by death"(Philippians 1:20). While in prison Paul was confident that the prayers of the Philippians would lead to his salvation. Now Paul was not counting on the prayers of others to obtain salvation in the sense of the forgiveness of sins and the gift eternal life. Instead, he is speaking of being delivered from shame, fear or anything that would hinder him from boldly proclaiming the gospel and glorifying the Lord Jesus. Let me remind you again that he was counting on the prayers of others to bring about this deliverance through the empowering of the Spirit. Paul was more concerned with the glory of Christ and the advancement of his kingdom rather than escaping prison or even death. Does your prayer life consist of more than just bringing God your grocery list? How often do you pray that God through the power of His Spirit would make you into a bold and compelling witness of the life changing power of Jesus Christ? God’s Spirit working mightily in Paul to bring glory to Christ was what he wanted others to be praying for on his behalf even while he was in prison.
The Apostle Paul was arguably the greatest Christian and missionary that ever lived. Paul never lost sight of why he was on this earth. He lived and died to spread and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. When Paul was giving his testimony of salvation to King Agrippa he said, “At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:13-19).
Paul was not disobedient to the Heavenly call to take the gospel to the gentile world. The impact that Paul had is still powerfully felt today. But Paul didn’t accomplish all that he did for the gospel by relying on his own strength. Paul relied totally on the grace and power of God. And his dependence on God was most evident in the fact that he was a man of considerable prayer. His epistles reveal that he sought God continually in prayer for himself and for others. In addition, he counted on the prayers of others to bring the supply of the Spirit upon his life that he might magnify Jesus in every circumstance.
When I read about how much Paul believed in the power of prayer and particularly intercessory prayer, I have to asked myself, “If Paul was a man of prayer and he coveted the prayers of others how much more do I need to be and man of prayer—and how much more do I need to urge others to pray for me. “The world has yet to see a Christ-like, victorious , fruitful believer who was not a person of considerable prayer” (Jim Cymbala). If we are going to accomplish what God has us on this earth to accomplish as believers, namely to be witnesses of the saving power of Jesus, we need to be men and women of considerable prayer. I've heard it said that if believers in the church did as much agonizing in prayer as they do criticizing revival would break out. If the Apostle Paul was counting on the prayers of others to do God's work our spiritual leaders need to be able to count on us. Pray regularly that God would empower your Pastor by the Spirit to fulfill his calling and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.
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