Prayers of Paul 09

Romans 15
30Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me, 31that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you.

Paul prayed for believers in the churches that he and the other apostles had planted. Paul prayed for unbelievers to come to Christ. But Paul also prayed for himself, and he shared his need for prayer with others so that they could also pray for him.

Paul is writing to the Roman believers from Corinth during his third missionary journey. His plans are to travel from Corinth to Jerusalem to deliver an offering from the Gentile churches to the poor among the believers there. Then from Jerusalem he hopes to visit Rome on his way to Spain. Therefore, he is asking the Roman believers to join with him in praying for three things.

First, he asks them to pray “that [he] may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe.” This request is perfectly understandable when you remember that Paul used to be a Pharisee. The Jews in Judea would know all too well that the man they knew as Saul had turned his back on their devotion to the Law of Moses to embrace the new ‘heresy’ being spread by the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. This made him an enemy in their eyes worthy of being stoned to death. In spite of this, Paul made his plans to travel to Jerusalem.

Second, Paul asks them to pray “that [his] service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints.” Paul’s “service” consisted of delivering an offering from the Gentile churches to the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. At first it seems strange that Paul would be concerned that this offering might not be accepted. Surely the Christians in Jerusalem wouldn’t be that ungrateful! But Bible commentators give two possible explanations for this concern. First, the Jewish believers in Jerusalem may still have harboured some degree of prejudice toward the Gentiles. And second, the Jewish believers in Jerusalem had probably heard that Paul advocated against the Gentile believers having to obey all of the Law, even preventing them from being circumcised. These two factors may have caused them to reject both the gift and the one delivering it.

Finally, Paul asks the Roman believers to pray that he “may come to [them] with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with [them].” We can assume that Paul read and studied the Scriptures regularly, and we know that he prayed constantly. But the journey ahead would be difficult and that he was in for a tough time during his visit to Jerusalem. He knew that by the time he left Jerusalem he would be in need of some refreshment, and he was looking forward to being refreshed not by private study and prayer, but by sharing in fellowship and worship with the believers in Rome.

This week let’s pray:
That we would follow Paul’s example by sharing our burdens and needs with others who will pray for us.
That we would be faithful in prayer for others who need our prayers.
That we would recognise and take advantage of the refreshing that comes from sharing in fellowship and worship with other believers.