God Acts on Our Prayers

“for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,”
Philippians 1:19

Look at the value Paul puts on prayer here: he attributes his coming deliverance to prayer AND the help of Jesus.

It's interesting that prayer is even mentioned in this sentence. The power of God to help us typically stands alone in my thinking because there's nothing like the power of God. He could have easily just written, "for I know that through the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance" and we would have a powerful, theologically accurate statement because Jesus does in fact help us. He is the final, decisive factor when we receive help. He gives the command and we are helped.

But Paul here tethers this reality to the prayers of Christians. For Paul, there's a relationship between our prayers and Jesus' act of helping. In trusting Jesus to deliver him, he's assuming that Jesus is acting in response to Christian prayers.

What a stunning, profound, complex, and mysterious truth: that God Almighty acts on our prayers at times. But no matter how baffling a thought, Paul was certain of this-- he said "for I KNOW that through your prayers..."

Your prayers may be the most important action you can possibly take for someone. According to this passage, they may play a role in someone's salvation. While Jesus is the ultimate, determining factor in helping someone to deliverance, He's likely hearing and responding to our prayers.

We need God to give us a high view of prayer. Like Paul, we need our minds renewed to place incredible value on prayer in relation to salvation. If God would do this in our lives I guarantee we would stop to pray and, Lord willing, see people delivered.

Who needs a saving relationship with Jesus? Pray for them.
Who needs to faithfully endure with Jesus until the end? Pray for them.

It will be through your prayers and the help of Jesus that this will happen.

In Christ,

Pastor Kevin