Paul's Passion and Prayer

1. Paul’s Passion
Paul’s Prayer
Philippians 1:9–11

2. Paul’s Practice
 Passion for the spiritual development of the believers
 In his preaching and teaching
 In his prayer life.
 “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love
for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of
you in my prayers” (Eph. 1:15–16).
 “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for
you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all
wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Col. 1:9).
 “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our
prayers” (1 Thess. 1:2).
02/17/19

3. Paul’s Prayer 1&2
 Ephesians 3: 14-19
Inner man be strengthened with power by God’s Spirit
Christ dwell in our hearts by Faith
Know the Dimensions of the Love of Christ
Know the Love of God that surpasses all Knowledge
Grow to the Fullness of God
 Ephesians 1: 16-19
02/17/19

4. Paul’s Passion
Spiritual progress
Excellence
Integrity
Good works
Glorifying God
02/17/19

5. Spiritual progress in love
 Knowledge is not a grasp of the facts about something or someone.
 A deeper into a personal relationship with Christ
 Knowing more and more about who Christ is and what He can be to
us.
 Discernment indicates
 Perception or discrimination
 The ability to make moral decisions
 Our hard decisions are not usually between what is clearly good and what is
clearly bad.
 We struggle between what is good and what is better.
02/10/19

6. Excellence
 Excellence = Thinking and living biblically.
 Desiring to live our lives according to God’s will and in a manner that pleases Him.
 Dedication and consecration to God = Living with spiritual focus or have the mind of
Christ.
 The word sincere carries the idea of testing something by sunlight.
 Roman potters putting ‘hard wax’ on small cracks
 Sunlight reveals the cracks
 Products stamped “sine cera” (without wax) as a guarantee of high quality.
 In 2 Corinthians 4:7 – Lives kept under the light of the Word of God, we begin to see
where we need to grow and develop spiritually in our relationship with God. The
experience of salvation includes justification, sanctification, and glorification.
Sanctification is the continual process where God works in the cracks in our lives.
02/17/2019

7. Integrity
 Once we come into a saving relationship with God through Christ, God
comes to live in our lives in the person of the Holy Spirit
 It is the Spirit of God within us that enables us to be filled with the fruit
of righteousness.
 In and of ourselves we could never live in holiness or with spiritual
integrity.
 In Romans 8:12–14 the apostle Paul says to us, “Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you
live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to
death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
02/17/2019

8. Good Works
Bi product of Righteousness
Our Righteousness = Filthy Rags
Faith without works is dead
When Christ by faith dwells in us, we are righteous
We do good works
02/17/19

9. Glorifying God
1 Corinthians 6: 18-20
Depart from Evil
You are the Temple of the Holy Spirit
Glorify God with your bodies
02/17/19