Last time we meet we discussed the first three verses in Philemon. Today we will cover the next four.
4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.
Isn’t it lovely when people thank God as they remember you in their prayers? Isn’t it? Just think of how comforting that must be, to know that God is being thanked FOR YOU. At least I feel that way. 🙂 But I know that sometimes I’m a touch odd. 🙂
But listen here… listen to the reason Paul is giving things for Philemon and the others. He has heard about Philemon’s love for God’s people and for his faith in Jesus Christ. Wouldn’t that be neat? It’s like talking about a person about someone you really, really appreciate and you are just saying all the good things you know. That’s what it feels like Paul is doing here. I wonder if these thoughts made Philemon’s heart smile.
Paul goes on to say that his additional prayer for Philemon is that he may have a “deepening” of his “understanding of every good thing we share“. Oh, for Philemon faith and understanding would deepen. Isn’t that a marvellous prayer to have for someone?
Philemon’s love for the people of God fills Paul’s heart with great joy and is a source of encouragement for him, knowing that Philemon has refreshed the hearts of God’s people.
Oh.. I need to pray this for people that I know.. Like Lori and Kym and Deb and Carol and for my hubby and my son. To pray prayers of thanksgiving, thanking God for their faith, and their love of the people of God. It’s an important thing to do, and an encouragement for the people of God. Oh and to pray that their faith and their understanding God will grow deeper and stronger! That’s a great prayer!
Who do you need to pray this prayer for?
Oh.. while I’m talking about Prayer I need to tell you about this prayer app my hubby has been using lately. It’s called PrayerMate. I was looking at it this morning, and if I have room on my phone I think I’ll download it as well. Sample prayers, prayer lists that can be personalized, and more. It’s a rather cool app and also available for i-phones as well. So give it a boo and let me know what you think eh? 🙂
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