My Prayer for You

When you read the prayers of Paul, which populate his letters to the churches, you get a sense of his affection for those he's writing to. And, in the overflow of that love, he prays for them with joy and hope and delight, which probably increases the love and affection all the more.

Anyone who commits themselves to praying for another person, also opens their hearts to increased love and affection. Such is my experience when I pray for you, the people who have connected with X242.

Often, of late, my prayers have included Philippians 1:4. "I pray that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best, so that you will be found pure and blameless on the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness which is yours through Jesus Christ, to God's glory and praise."

There are other prayers that we can pray for an increase in faith, or strength, or stamina. Those are good prayers too. But this prayer has captured my attention and imagination.

What does it mean for love to "abound more and more"? Without giving it much thought, we might imagine it as an increase in good feelings about God or about others. That's wonderful when that happens. But Paul prays (and I've been praying) that it would abound "in knowledge and depth of insight." That's different. It's more mature than feelings. 

What would it mean for your love to abound more and more in knowledge? 
What would it look like for your love to keep on increasing in depth of insight? 

To increase in knowledge is to apply yourself to adding information you don't yet have. That can be information about love itself, as a quality you're trying to embody, that you don't yet do as well as you want. And it can be about whoever it is you're trying to love, be it God, or your neighbor, or your enemy.

Do you relate to God as someone you're still getting to know? Are you still learning who he is, what he's like, how he sees things, and why he does what he does? To continue to seek his face, to seek his heart, to seek his mind about things, is to apply yourself to a love that is abounding more and more in knowledge. And this will deepen your insight about who he is, and how you can best love him.

​The same is true for people you're trying to love.  And I don't mean just people who are hard to love. The people who are easy to love. Are you applying yourself to knowing them, like who they are, what they like, how they see things, and why they do what they do? I'm not saying we should try to read them like a text book, but learn to see them, to feel what they feel, and think what they think -- not to model yourself after them, or to manipulate them in any way, but to simply know them, so you can love them well. And then learn to do that with the people who are hard to love. To do this will deepen your insight about who they are, and how best you can love them.

Finally, to increase in love about love itself, memorize that part of the love chapter people read at weddings. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 

When you're tempted by impatience, remember that "love is patient." When you catch yourself being unkind, remind yourself that "love is kind." And in doing this, your love will abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. And as you keep on doing that, the Holy Spirit will be inspiring in you the answer to my prayers.

"I pray that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best, so that you will be found pure and blameless on the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness which is yours through Jesus Christ, to God's glory and praise."

(For another application of this thought, check out this week's teaching.)

Amen.

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Specific Prayer Requests

We left Sarasota yesterday morning. Our travels have been uneventful, but I threw my back out, so am laying low for a day. Tomorrow we head north, stopping in Charlotte and then to our campground for a week in the Shenandoah Valley. Please pray specifically for the following:

• June 24-25. Harrisonburg, VA. I have several meetings with microchurch planters, pastors, and people who are utilizing our simpler church methods in their conventional small group setting. Please join me in asking God to bring encouragement and challenge wherever it's needed, and to impart spiritual gifts as he deems helpful. 
• June 27-28. Lancaster, PA. I will be sharing a meal with the head of a microchurch network that is connected to another larger network. My heart is to learn what they have learned, as might apply to our X242 network. And of course to give a blessing. Please join me in asking God for wisdom and discernment, and good fellowship. 
• June 29-July 2. Farmington, PA. We're spending a few days at a Christian commune south of Pittsburgh. My heart is to watch and observe how they have chosen to radically live out Acts 4:32. We will get to participate in their communal work, which I look forward to. Please pray for strength and stamina to be a blessing, and specifically that my back would be healed which I recently threw out. They have also asked me to speak at their Sunday morning gathering. My prayer is that I would understand God's word for them, and that I would be able to "proclaim it clearly, as I should." (Colossians 4:4)