Today, we will reflect on Paul’s prayer in 2 Cor. 2:14-16: “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?” This, too, is a prayer of thanksgiving. Here, Paul gives thanks to God for always leading us in triumphal procession. Here, Paul is specifically speaking of his and others’ missionary, preaching ministry. But it is, at the very least, indirectly applicable to all Christians. Many of us are familiar with the imagery he is using here because we have seen the movies, which have reenactments of the triumphal procession led by Roman generals or emperors as they enter the City of Rome after their victorious campaign. This procession with all its pomp and circumstance was probably one of the most majestic and splendid sights for people’s view at that time.
Read MoreThe prayer we are reflecting on is, “...it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:9-11). We saw how important love is and why love should be accompanied by knowledge and discernment. Paul prays that the Philippians would have such love “so that you may approve what is excellent....” True love approves and desires what is excellent. But excellent for what? Different things are excellent for different purposes. A certain item of clothing may be excellent for exercising but not for a formal dinner. Paul tells us what he means by “excellent”: something that will help us “be pure and blameless for the day of Christ....”
Read MoreToday, we finish our reflection on Paul’s prayer in 2 Cor. 1:3-4, which is, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” Why does Paul bless “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”? Because He is also “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction....” Because He is the God of all comfort, He is able to comfort us in all our affliction. For Paul, this was not just a nice-sounding, theoretical concept; this was what he experienced daily as he faced all kinds of affliction in his ministry. God is the God of all comfort not only for some special people but for all His redeemed people.
Read MoreWe are reflecting on Paul’s prayer in 2 Cor. 1:3-4: “We are reflecting on Paul’s prayer in 2 Cor. 1:3-4: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” We’ve been looking at God’s title, “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But that’s not the whole title Paul uses here. That part is followed by “…the Father of mercies and God of all comfort....” This title has for parts: “God...”; “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”; “Father of mercies”; “God of all comfort.” These parts are compiled in a chiastic structure (ABB’A’):
Read MoreWe are reflecting on Paul’s prayer in 2 Cor. 1:3-4: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” We talked about the significance of God’s title as “the God… of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Today, let’s talk about another element.
Read MoreThe next prayer we would like to consider is, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). This prayer, too, is not a petition; it is a prayer of praise to God. Again, we are reminded that prayer is not just asking God to help us and give us something. Prayer is ultimately a dialogue with God. You may not agree with this. Prayer seems to be more of a monologue—us talking to God, who remains silent throughout. So, many people try to hear God somehow and they get disappointed because they don’t hear anything. But as someone said, prayer is a dialogue God started long ago when He commanded us to pray and gave His promises to hear our prayers. He has already spoken to us in His written Word and continues to speak to us through it. Audibly hearing God’s voice is not the only way to “hear” God. Is God speaking to us in a lesser way because He speaks to us through His written Word, not His audible Word? But isn’t God’s written Word clearer and more certain? What do we do when we want to make our words clear and official? Don’t we write it down instead of just say it? When the Holy Spirit illumines God’s Word or reminds us of it in some way, that is God speaking to us. Since prayer is a dialogue between God and us, we don’t just offer up our petitions. Praising God as Paul does is something we should do much more often.
Read MoreWe are continuing our reflection on Paul’s prayer in 1 Cor. 1:4-8: “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:4-8).
Read More“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:4-8). In this prayer, Paul is not asking for anything; he is giving thanks to God. He calls God “my God.” You can sense how close he feels with God. How do you feel about your fellowship with God? Is it close enough that you regularly call God “my God”? Two things are necessary for this. The first is for you to know the objective reality of your intimacy with God. Through your union with Christ, you have been adopted as God’s child. You have been given the Spirit of adoption, by whom you can cry, “Abba! Father” (Rom. 8:15). If you can call God “Abba” (“Dad”) based on your legal adoption into the family of God, you can certainly call Him “my God”.
Read MoreThe next prayer we want to reflect on is, “I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed. The God of peace be with you all. Amen” (Romans 15:30–33).
Read MoreThe next prayer we want to learn from is in Rom. 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” You should be familiar with this prayer because I sometimes use this verse for the benediction at the end of the service. In this petition, Paul addresses God as “the God of hope.” This doesn’t mean that God hopes. Hope is something God does not, and cannot, do. Hope is something only a finite creature, who doesn’t have control over his life and his future, does. God, who is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, who sovereignly ordains all things according to the counsel of His will so that nothing happens apart from His will, cannot hope (as God cannot sin or lie). But because He is absolutely sovereign over all things, He can be the ground and object of our hope. And the hope that is anchored in God does not disappoint. “The God of hope”—what a wonderful name and how privileged we are to know Him and trust Him as our God!
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