Word of Encouragement (4/15/2021)
The 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).
Here, Paul is urging the Romans to pray for him. He was a competent, zealous, hard-working Apostle of Jesus Christ. And yet, he did not think it beneath him to ask for “the prayers of the meanest [i.e., lowliest] Christians” (Matthew Henry). He knew that he was called as an Apostle to serve his gracious Lord and Savior and he had much to do. But he also knew that all his labors would be in vain unless the Lord blessed his efforts (Ps. 127:1). That is why he could be, and had to be, a man of action and prayer at the same time. He could not imagine working for God without praying. And he could not imagine praying without working in confident expectation of God’s answer. Nothing demonstrated his reliance on God better than his dependence on prayer, not only of his own but also of his fellow saints. So, he prayed for others faithfully and diligently and he asked others to pray for him as well.
Notice how he depicts their prayer for him: the work of participating in his struggle. The Greek is more dramatic: “struggle/fight/contend together with me by praying to God for me.” What did he mean by his struggle? Was he talking about his own prayer, which he often describes as laboring/struggling/striving (Col. 4:12)? Possibly. But more likely, he was talking about his mission work, which had no shortage of struggles and challenges, as he refers to it in v. 32: “that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints.” As you can see, Paul characterized the Romans’ prayer for him as a real way for them to join in his struggle/battle! As he faced a more-than-likely possibility of persecution from unbelievers (the struggle to withstand persecution and opposition from outside) and the uncertainty of how the believers would respond to his ministry (the struggle for effective ministry within the Christian community), he begged the Romans to share in his struggle by praying for him.
In view of this, how should we approach our prayer for our missionaries as well as our pastors and elders and deacons? We should pray as though we were right there with our missionaries and church officers at the frontlines of their spiritual battles, not tucked away in the safety of our homes. We should pray with greater urgency and alertness as soldiers on the battlefield, not as mere spectators from a safe distance.
But why should we pray for them in this way? Paul says, “I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit....” It is because we are made brothers (and sisters) in Jesus Christ. Family is the most intimate bond known and experienced by us. We learn to love and take care of others in the family: our first experience of love is in the family; our first training to be considerate of others and love others takes place in the family. We are supposed to provide for our families and protect them. We are to uphold and defend the honor of our families. Unfortunately, that is not how it actually is with our earthly families. There are often envy and rivalry, arguments and fights, instead of love and harmony. Family members grow apart and even break up. Families can come to an end. And our familial relationships are temporary—they are valid only in this life.
But in Jesus Christ, we belong to the eternal family of God; we have been adopted as God’s children and made brothers and sisters with one another through the self-giving love of Jesus Christ. Think of the force of this appeal. We belong to the same family, which represents the strongest bond known to man. We belong to the family of God, who is love and whose family is eternal and indestructible. And we are made brothers and sisters by the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. How can we not support one another in all things, especially through prayer, especially for missionaries and ministers?
Notice how Paul also appeals to them “by the Lord Jesus Christ”—that is, as Charles Hodge suggests, “Whatever regard you have for him, and whatever desire to see his cause prosper in which I am engaged, let it induce you to pray for me.” He appeals to them also “by the love of the Spirit,” which “probably means ‘the love the Spirit engenders among us’” (Douglas J. Moo). Let us double our efforts in praying for our missionaries and ministers, struggling together with them in their spiritual battle in the frontlines. And let us do that also for one another as brothers and sisters in the Lord.