Paul’s Prayers for His People

I’ve been studying the way that Paul prayed for his people as recorded in his letters to them. The purpose for this study is to see if there might be some patterns that Christian Public Leaders might follow as we pray for our people. Here I focus on five of the undisputed letters of Paul: 1 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, and Philippians. They are placed in this order because it is probable that this is the order in which they were written.

Here are some key themes that I have pulled from the letters:

  • Relationship with God. Paul was grounded in a relationship with the Triune God. He continually refers to God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
  • Gratitude. He always begins with Thankfulness.
  • Relationship with people. He is deeply, emotionally, relationally connected to the people and longs to be with them.
  • Abundance. He prays that their love and hope would overflow.
  • Comfort. He and his people are suffering. He asks that God would bring them comfort.
  • Holiness. He prays that they would be grounded and strengthened in holiness. Key words here are blameless, pure, and holy.
  • Unity. He wants his people to be unified in love and the power of the Spirit.
  • Urgency. Paul lived under the assumption that Jesus was going to return very soon. This colored his theology and shaped his priorities. Time was short and what mattered was living for the kingdom and being ready for the return of Christ.

Below is a visual study of each prayer within the context of the letter. There are three parts to each section:

  1. Putting the letter in the context of Paul’s journeys. Note that not all scholars agree on the order and origin of the letters. I’m simply using the narrative structure of the book of Acts as a convenient way to locate the letters.
  2. A visual outline of the letter itself.
  3. A visual analysis of the prayers within the letter.

To the Thessalonians

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