Learning That Positive Prayer Will Make Strong Relationships

In review of Philippians 1:9-11 it says, “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.”

Bottom Line:

This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of knowledge, so that you may be able to discern what is best, pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the qualities which only Jesus Christ can produce, to the glory and praise of God.

What this means to me:

This is my prayer for others, that their love will keep on growing because of their knowledge and insight, in the knowledge and depth of insight. This way they will be able to determine what is best and be pure and blameless, filled with the good things produced in life by Christ, for the glory and praise of God. Scripture tells me to pray for those who may rub me the wrong way or irritate me. Praying will help me to grumble, complain, nag and nitpick less. Its all about a decision on my part. Paul says in Philippians 1:4, “Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy” (NLT). Paul didn’t just pray for people in his life; he prayed with joy! While there are things in other people’s lives that I’d like to change, the only one that I can change is me. I can’t change others, however I can pray, and then let God do his work in other people. Positive praying is more effective than positive thinking. All the positive thinking in the world isn’t going to change someone or my situation. Positive thinking can only change me. Positive prayer can make a difference in someone else. The quickest way to change a bad relationship to a good one, is to start praying for the other person! This has the power to change me, and it can also change the other person. Paul even tells me how to pray for others: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11 NIV). From these verses, I can learn to pray for the people in my life in four ways:

. Pray that they will grow in love: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.”

. Pray that they will make wise choices: “... so that you may be able to discern what is best ...”

. Pray that they will live with integrity: “... and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ ...”

. Pray that they will become like Jesus: “... filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.”

As I pray these things for myself and for those in my life, God will turn around those relationships.