sf1032 - How To Pray For Strangers (Romans 1 8-10)
Romans 1:1-10
Introduction
Paul writing to believers in Rome. He had never met them. Help us to understand how we are to pray for others, especially those we do not know well.
Notice the Characteristics of His Prayers
1A. Prayed Thankfully: "I Thank"
Thanksgiving should always be part of our prayers.
Philippians 4:6 (NASB) 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
“Thanksgiving is the rent due Him for the mercies received.” Puritans
Thanksgiving will strengthen your faith and produce joy.
Philippians 1:3-4 (NASB) 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all,
Thanksgiving and requests, praise and petitions should always be united in our prayers.
Colossians 4:2 (NASB) 2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;
2A. Prayed Intimately: "My God"
Personal relationship
Psalms 63:1 (NASB) O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Permanent relationship
Romans 8:38-39 (NASB) 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
3A. Prayed Confidently: "Through Jesus Christ"\
1 Timothy 2:5 (NASB) For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Colossians 3:17 (NASB) Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
4A. Prayed Unselfishly: "For You All"
Paul was thankful for them not because of what they had or could do for Him but because of who they were in Christ!
1 Thessalonians 1:2 (NASB) We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;
5A. Prayed Purposefully: "Because Your Faith..."
2 Thessalonians 1:3 (NASB) We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater;
Faith here refers to the preserving trust that brings spiritual strength and growth.
6A. Prayed Sincerely: "God...Is My Witness"
Paul set himself before God as the one who would judge both his motives and faithfulness.
2 Timothy 4:1-2 (NASB) 1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
7A. Prayed Consistently: "Unceasingly I make mention of you"
"unceasingly" = repeatedly and often
8A. Prayed Specifically: "Coming To You"
Paul’s request was specific yet submissive to God’s will.
9A. Prayed Submissively: "By the will of God”
James 4:15 (NASB) 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that."
Application
Prayer is Essential
When he was about to board a ship to India to begin missionary service there, some of William Carey’s friends asked if he really wanted to go through with his plans. Expressing his great desire for their support in prayer, he is said to have replied, “I will go down [into the pit itself] if you will hold the rope.”
