pray Like Paul

What happens when God doesn't answer our prayer? Is it because we are praying for the wrong things, with the wrong motives, in the wrong way? Dave finishes our series on prayer by considering one of Paul's unanswered prayers, and finds that even unanswered prayer is good news.

Paul spends most of his time praying for us. This week he asks us to return the favor. How much time do we spent praying for those who are specifically called by God to give their entire lives to the work of gospel proclamation. This week C.J. encourages us to identify people in our lives who fit this description and labor in anguish in prayer for them.

In this prayer from Paul, he equates the gospel to perfume. What does the gospel smell like? Subsequently, what do we smell like? This week C.J. invites us to consider the ingredients of gospel perfume, the nature of its messengers, as well as the recipients of the message.

How diverse are your prayers? As the white American church reckons with its failure to pursue racial justice and reconciliation, Dave invites us to take a deeper look at our prayer life. Do we pray only for those nearest us? Paul instructs us to pray for all people because God desires that all people be saved and because Jesus died for all people. Belief in the gospel should lead to prayers which cross differences, borders, and even hemispheres.

In this current moment, how can we be comforted by the gospel? How can we comfort others? Is the gospel big enough to account for and reconcile all of the systemic brokenness we see around us? This week, C.J. invites us to remember the sufferings of the Apostle Paul, and to let them encourage us. He also invites us to re-think our understanding of the gospel as is pertains to those in our world who are disproportionately experiencing oppression.

On Pentecost Sunday, we remember how the gift of the Holy Spirit transformed God's people into living temples. Reflecting on the anti-Pentecost events of the past week, Dave asks what it means for us to be temples of God in a broken world.

C.J. continues our series on the prayers of Paul, teaching from Ephesians 1. Harold Hoehner calls this "the prayer for someone who has everything." In Christ, we have been given all that we need. That means all we really need is for God to open our eyes to what we have in Him and how we can enjoy it.

In seasons of trial, what should we ask God for? For the next six weeks, we will consider what Paul asks. Today, from Philippians 1, Dave considers prayer in light of God's unchanging faithfulness. If God has always been good, prayer is not asking him to change himself. Prayer is mostly about asking God to change us.