Through Your 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 ESV

Paul had some marvelous confidence running through his spirit! He knew that the prayers of the Philippians were working on His behalf and were being used toward his being set free. He longed to return to them and he knew their prayers were a part of that deliverance. (Some of our translations use "salvation" here instead of deliverance, and that is a also a good translation as those two English words are are contained in the same Greek word. The word deliverance, I think, fits the context better).

He knew the Lord was using the prayers of the people on his behalf. He knew that by trusting in the word of his Christ Jesus! How does God use our prayers of intercession for others? We really are not told the how of it all, just command to pray. I have read what many "think" about how God uses prayer, but really, the Word only tells us He does use them. So be encouraged as you pray for others. Trust the Lord to not only hear you but to answer. He does both. That is according to His word.

The second thing Paul is trusting in is the help (supply in some) of the Spirit of Jesus. He knew he could trust Jesus to deliver him. How did he know that? Through the Spirit of Jesus living inside him. He knew the promises and trusted in his Lord.

It all, everything, boils down to trusting (having confidence, faith) in our Lord. In Galatians 5:6 we are told that nothing counts before God except faith working through love. This is what Paul was wrapping himself in as he remained imprisoned and unable to move freely. Yet, in his spirit he knew his freedom was coming.

This is the "bridge" understanding that will enable him to explain his next point of conflict. We have seen he has conflict with some folk in the church, tomorrow we work with his second area of conflict. There are three given in this first chapter.