When Paul wrote this, he greatly missed his friends in Philippi and longed to be with them. But God had other plans for Paul and all he could do was two things: write a letter of encouragement and pray for them.

It was in Philippi that Paul witnessed to a prominent and hospitable woman named Lydia. She not only received the gospel, but her whole household was saved. Upon leaving her house, he cast a demon out of a woman. That would have been fine except, the men for whom she worked filed charges against Paul and together with Silas was locked up. That night while praising God for being in jail, Paul witnessed to the jailer and after spending the night in his home, witnessed to his family and baptized them as well. (Cp: Acts 16:11-40)

Paul must have had fond memories of Philippi and the young Christians who responded to the gospel. Even though his journeys took him hundreds of miles away from Philippi, we stayed in touch with his friends. And what did he tell them? He prayed for them and asked them to pray for him and Silas as they extended the reach of the good news of Jesus Christ.

No doubt, prayer was important to Paul. Not only was he a man of prayer, but when he prayed he did so with power and inspired others to do the same. Paul urged them to avoid worrying and make prayer foremost in their devotion to God.

Does prayer have an important place in your life? It should. But if you're not certain, here's a way you can know for sure: how much time do you spend doing it? Now you know. But will you do anything about it?

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru ( Jr. 1:1-2:30 Ph. 4:1-23 Ps. 75:1-10 Pr. 24:17-20 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society

Copyright © 1998-2004 James R. Green and Prayertower Ministries
All Rights Reserved