Regular prayer for others

Paul seems to have maintained a more or less constant prayer vigil for his persecuted friends here in Thessalonica, along with other Christians with whom he was associated. And this would be expected of a former Pharisee. One thing that was good, at least, about being a Pharisee is that Paul had learned a practice of structured prayer. A Pharisee would pray in the morning and in the afternoon and would pray again in the evening. Well, thank God that Paul had left aside all the bad things of Phariseeism, but I do not think we should think that he left aside the practice of structured prayer. If anything, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, he would have prayed more than he did before.

And we too would benefit from a structured—even disciplined—life of prayer in our daily lives and schedule. And when we pray like Paul, we should pray for a wide range of issues: for family members, for friends, for servants of Christ. I know some faithful and fervent praying Christians who keep a daily log. On Monday they pray for these people; on Tuesday, those people; and Wednesday, and so forth. In fact, I was told once by the well-known New Testament scholar D. A. Carson that when he was a young man, he had gone to England, to Oxford, to do his PhD, and he published his first paper. About a week later, he got a note in the mail from the great Martyn Lloyd-Jones, saying it was a great paper: I see you have promise. I’ll be praying for you on Wednesdays. That was pretty encouraging to him—to know that every Wednesday Martyn Lloyd-Jones would be praying for him.

But you know, it is not just the Martyn Lloyd-Joneses—it is our prayers too. I happen to be a person who benefits from people praying for me at different times, and I can wake up, see what day of the week it is, and say, Oh, so-and-so—maybe someone far away—will be praying for me today. We should be doing that for one another. Another way for us to be constantly praying, I would commend to you, is just pray through the church directory—one letter a day. I try to do that. That way you will get through the whole congregation at least once a month. But you see Paul in a structured, deliberate prayer life—constantly praying for the people of God.¹

Richard D. Phillips