Selfless Strengthening - Part V

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Last week we learned the value of sticking to our commitments and how much that impacts others around us. It is especially important as Christians to stick to our commitments and the beauty of sticking to our commitments is that we don't have to do it alone. When it comes to Christianity, I like to quote one of my preaching professors who use to say there are no lone wolf pastors, but the same can be said about Christians and the gospel message, there are no lone wolf Christians. In fact, to say you can be a Christian all on your own is not only an oxymoron but it is theologically inaccurate. When we go off on our own is when we are doomed to fail. And no one understands this more than Paul.

If you read through the book of Acts and in particular Paul's conversion account and Paul's life you might say this man had God on his side, he was destined for success, and you would be right. But just because Paul had a clear call from Jesus and it was affirmed by Ananias doesn't mean Paul was destined to do it all alone, Paul relied on God but he also relied on other fellow believers. You know the greatest lesson Paul received on the road to Damascus was a lesson in humility. He was moving about with pride and believing it was God's will to arrest and even kill Christians on the road to Damascus, Paul learned he needed to rely on God, not himself. He also learned to rely on other believers. It doesn't matter where you are or what phase of Your Christian life you are in, you need God and you need others.

Paul knew this, he understood it very well. And as he comes to the close of this letter he asks the Roman church to help him. He pleads with them because he knows he has a rough long road ahead and he asks for the help he knows is the most effective in the gospel ministry, Paul asks for prayer. When it comes to the life of a Christ follower the one thing we need to remember is, that we must strive together in prayer for the gospel ministry.

Believers must Strive Together in Prayer for the Gospel

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Look with me at Romans 15:30-33,Romans 15:30–33 (NASB95): 30 Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, 31 that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; 32 so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. 33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. In verse 30

Paul makes a passionate plea to the Romans, he says; 'I urge you, brethren.' Just saying that alone expresses importance at his request but once Paul adds' by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit,' the level goes from Green to Red. You know if you look up how they rate each state for covid outbreaks, it goes by color, they are rated green, yellow, orange, and red. Green means low risk but be vigilante, yellow is moderate risk, orange is a high risk, and red is danger level risk. When it comes to prayer we should always be in the green range, being vigilant through prayer, there are many situations in life when the level gets to orange. I would say in our current culture we are at orange. When my father became very ill from his cancer and was hospitalized and my mother didn't think he would come home from the hospital, prayer was in the orange and quickly went to the red level in my life. Oh, and the prayer wasn't for physical healing it was for someone to give him the gospel.

I didn't voice it the way Paul did, maybe I should have. But when Pual says I urge you, brethren, by our lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, he is placing an emphasis on Jesus' Lordship, He is King, and an emphasis on the love the Holy Spirit has for us which in turn causes us to have a love for one another. Paul wants the Roman church to understand two things. First, the mission he is on is dangerous, and second, we all serve the same King and are driven by the same love, the same Spirit.

So here is his important plea, 'to strive together with me in your prayers.' And what we will see here is that prayer is a team effort

Prayer is a team effort

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The word here for strive, we get our English word ‘agonize’ from. It means to fight along with, intense effort. Working hard together. I have read this is a wrestling metaphor, the idea is the intense work that goes into an Olympic wrestling match, not the WWE, jumping off the ropes televised stuff we see today. Sometimes we don't think of it, but when prayer reaches the red level it can be agonizing and intense effort. (One person in the Old Testament comes to mind when I think of the wrestling metaphor in prayer.)

Paul may not have ever stepped foot in Rome or in this church but one thing is true, he sees these people as team players, they are on his team and he needs them to come to his defense, to partner with him in his mission to bring the contribution to Jerusalem but also ultimately to bring the gospel to the west. He asks for prayer for the mission to deliver the contribution because if that doesn't go well, then bringing the gospel to the west could be in trouble too.

Paul wants the Romans to understand they are not just bystanders waiting on Paul to come and hoping one day he will arrive. All too often people feel helpless when they are far away and someone is in danger but Paul makes it clear and we should always remember this, battles are not won on battlefields. Our fight is not with flesh and blood but with the heavenly realm. It is spiritual and we are all soldiers. We are on the sidelines strategizing with the Commander, we might not be getting our hands dirty but we are fully involved in the war. Fight with the weapon you have, prayer. Prayer is in all reality the nuclear bomb for genuine believers. We underestimate the power, and we shouldn't. Unleash it, let it fly, and put intense effort into prayer.

Paul even rounds off His plea by adding who the prayer is directed to The prayer is directed to God Himself. When it comes down to a passionate plea for prayer Paul makes it clear, that all the persons of the Trinity are involved, Jesus our King and Mediator, the Spirit our vessel for prayer to go up to the Father, and the Father is the recipient of the prayer. It is an amazing means of communication. And an amazing privilege we have. We have the means, ability, and power to bring our requests before God. Even more than that we have an incredible privilege to help people we have never met before who so desperately need our help.

Prayer Strengthens our Commitments

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Prayer is a team effect, and prayer strengthens our commitments. Look at verses 31; Romans 15:31 (NASB95): 31 that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints;

Paul's commitment is to bring the gospel message to the masses. He began just north of Judea, moved into Asia Minor, and now desires to go to Spain. His gospel mission is not yet complete though because now he has made the commitment to bring contributions to the saints in Jerusalem. The reason why Paul was able to collect contributions is because the church was grateful for the spiritual things they received through the gospel. But being a wise man Paul knows there is danger ahead of him He is going to fulfill his commitment but as any godly person should do, he asked that he would be strengthened in this commitment.

This is in two parts first, protection. Paul asks that he 'may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea.' Paul is not naive. He knows there is opposition in Judea. He has faced it before. Paul is a defector from the Jewish Elite. He was trained to be a Pharisee and uphold their law and tradition, now he speaks on God's Law and truth alone. His message is to trust in Jesus alone for Salvation. They didn't like that. And on more than one occasion they tried to take Paul out. And they failed.

Now here's the question I have, does Paul believe he is going to make it to Rome? Does he trust God will bring him there safely, I say yes? So why ask the Roman church to pray that he would be rescued? Doesn't that show a lack of faith? No, it doesn't it shows deep faith because it shows Paul is relying on God to see him through.

Also, Paul asking for Prayer helps deepen the Roman's faith too. They are able to team up with Paul to pray he will be rescued. Now they have the opportunity to not only be involved but when Paul arrives safely they will see God's work. The second part of Paul's prayer request is, acceptance. He continues in verse 31 and says, 'that any service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints.' Paul is collecting funds from the Gentile church and the Israelite church still has reservations about the Gentiles. Paul doesn't want their sin of pride to get in the way of this gift from God coming to them through the Gentiles. So he asks for partnership in prayer for acceptance of the gift.

We need to partner with one another in prayer too. First, let's not forget to pray for the missionaries. They go around seeking support but I also know they need prayer. Their biggest problem is always spiritual. They don't all have the same freedoms we do and they contend with issues we only hear about. There is a large Muslim population in France and a couple in Italy who are dealing with legal issues due to one of their children claiming they have been abused mentally because these missionaries give the gospel. Chila is going through a governmental change that can impact a church plant there. So people need to be prayed for. Also, pray for one another in going out and sharing the gospel with others in the community. We need to pray for those who will hear the gospel but we should be continually praying for one another in sharing the gospel.

We need to do this with a drive to seek joy and to find rest.

Prayer Aligns Us with God

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That is what Paul is looking for let's look at verse 32; Romans 15:32 (NASB95): 32 so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company.

Paul's desire is to come to them in joy because he has come in God's will. See Paul isn't praying that God's will bend to his. Paul isn't saying here he wants his desire to go to Jerusalem and he wants God to back him up. What he is saying is, that he wants to be aligned with God's will. He wants to fulfill God's desires not his own. When we pray it helps us to seek God's will and when we are aligned with His will, and seek His will, we find joy in the end result. That doesn't necessarily mean what we pray for will definitely come to pass, it means when we see God's will played out, we rejoice in it. Often times when people seek God's will in a situation or in their circumstance when God's will doesn't line up with their own, they become bitter. Paul believes God's will for him is to make it to Rome.

I think he already knows he is going to get arrested. So what he is seeking is not God's will, but to have joy when he comes to them. Paul makes it to Rome, but when he goes he is in chains, and he suffers through shipwrecks and death threats. But when he arrives in Rome, in the midst of all of the obstacles he has joy. That is what he seeks. That is what we should seek too. God's will is going to be done. God's will may not go the way we want, it may be through difficulties but when His will comes to be, we need to have joy in it. We people need to seek more than anything else, not God's will, but God's joy when His will is done. We can also find rest with those who have partnered with us in prayer.