1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more...

In verse 9 Paul turns from rejoicing in and expressing love for the Philippians to praying for them. He has mentioned his prayers for them in v.4. Now he informs them about the content of those prayers.

The first prayer item he has for them is that he prays for their love to increase to an even greater level than at present. Praying for people who already abound in love that they might love even more is an activity I’m not sure I’ve ever thought about doing before. I can tell that Paul puts a higher premium on love than I do (which means, of course, that I am wrong). In fact, as I have begun to restudy Paul’s letters recently, I am discovering that love in the church was one of his major concerns. And I have to admit that in the past I had little concern about the increase of love in the church except at those times when folks were not getting along. I am seeing more and more that Christian love is not just the way God has given us to get through our tensions and disagreements, Christian love is supposed to be the very life blood of the body of Christ. When the church is electric with the love of Christ, then things begin to happen as they should be happening: people start opening up to one another, people start being drawn to this place of love, people get convicted of their sin, people start to get healed of their hang-ups, there is a new openness to the word of God. But when there is not a sense of love among God’s people, things grind and scrape and everyone clams up. Truth is essential, but it is not enough. Truth must be accompanied by love.

(And notice how loving and affirming Paul is even in the way he says this. He wants them to love each other more, but he says it in a way that also commends them for the love they have already displayed.)

O Lord my God, make me a man of love. Forgive me for how proud and selfish and worldly I am. I love myself so much and others so little. What a violation this is of the command and example of Christ! And yet, Lord, I remember that this man Paul who wrote these things, who was such a paragon of love, was once a hateful murderer of Your people. So I see that You are very able to take a self-centered man and fill him with love. I pray for this in my life, Father. Fill me up with Your great love such that it overflows into the lives of others. Make my life a gushing fountain of Your love.

And, Lord, I pray also for Your church. In a world that is starving for true love, Your church needs to be an oasis that attracts weary travelers. And yet in so many ways the church is just like the world. There is rivalry and jealousy and resentment and open strife. Restore and renew Your church, O Lord. Make her pure and holy. Fill her with Your Holy Spirit that she might be radiant with the brightness of Your love.

(Pray likewise for your own church.)