As we have studied through the greeting of Paul the apostle to Philemon, we have come to know the fondness that Paul has for this fellowlabourer. We discovered there was a church within his home and have seen the importance of the typical Pauline greeting of grace and peace. Paul now begins to direct Philemon's attention toward his affection that he has personally for him, and he begins in the area of prayer in verse four. Paul wrote:
I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,
Paul begins this portion of the book by saying, “I thank my God”. As simple as this is, gratitude sometimes seems like a lost virtue in today's world. Rather than being thankful for benefits and relationships, entitlement seems to be the mantra, but not with Paul. Paul desired that Philemon know how grateful he was for him, and not only was he thankful, but he was thankful to God. God was the source of Philemon. God was the one who created him, blessed him, saved him and kept him, and God should be the one to whom Paul was grateful. If we are not careful, not only will we forget to be thankful for others, but we will also forget to associate the blessing of knowing them to the God who made them exist in the first place.
Next Paul wrote, “making mention of you always in my prayers,” Paul prayed for Philemon. How often do we pray for others? Do we make mention of them in our prayers? Are there fleeting thoughts about them or do we go to the Heavenly Father on their behalf with intention? Paul's words are a wonderful encouragement to us to pray for our fellow believers. When others come to mind, we must pray for them. Perhaps we should make a list of people for which to pray, and bring to our remembrance others situations besides our own.
Look too at the frequency of which Paul prayed for Philemon, “always in my prayers”. Rather than being a one time or once in a while effort, Paul mentioned Philemon “always” in his prayers. There is something unique and special about a person who is “always” in our prayers. We all have associations and relationships that are natural, and those people readily come to mind when we pray, but these words of Paul give us great encouragement to pray more often even for those who are not necessarily family.
So today, perhaps the best way to complete this study is that I might pray for you, dear reader, and thus I shall.
“Dear Heavenly Father, I am so thankful for those who read this blog every day. I ask you to bless them in their lives and circumstances no matter what they are, and that you will give them your guidance and wisdom as they make decisions accordingly. I pray that you will give them a continued passion and drive to know you and your word, and may you open their understanding to your word as they proceed in the days ahead. I ask all these things in the name of your Son Jesus, and it is in His name I pray, amen.”
Next time we will look further into Paul's knowledge of Philemon, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
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