Learning to Pray Like Paul

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so 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)

It has been said that if you want to know a man’s theology, listen in on his prayers. This has certainly been true in my own life. Back in my secondary school days, there was a little book in circulation called Dangerous Prayers, which  taught a style of prayer that attacked the ‘source of your problems’ – namely, Satan and his minions.

Armed with select verses, you would ‘go to war’ against the demonic forces militating against your progress. The book then led you through ‘battle’ after ‘battle’ against ancestral curses, anti-miracle forces, anti-prosperity forces, spirit guards, spiritual spouses – the list was endless.

In retrospect, , I have realised that what I read as a teenager shaped my prayer life for years to come. Many of the prayer meetings I attended fuelled such prayers. We had sessions badged ‘Spiritual Warfare’ where all we did was bind Satan and his cohorts. The implication was clear: Satan was responsible for anything that looked amiss in one’s life—from besetting sins to joblessness, singleness, barrenness, poverty, poor academic performance, ancestral curses—you name it.

Super-spiritual But Shallow Prayers

Those prayers sounded super-spiritual. But they were founded on a false theology of God, prayer and what it means to be a Christian. Is it possible for a Christian to be cursed? Could Satan hold back my marriage, job opportunity, academic excellence, or promotion? If so, then our God must be powerless and weak  for Satan to toy with His children as he pleases. Does Scripture even teach this?

Reading the New Testament, I find that this approach to prayer is completely alien to the apostolic model. There’s not  a single example of apostolic prayer addressed to witches and wizards or demons, prohibiting them from tampering with a believer’s progress in life. Rather, I see an abundance of prayers focused on God’s greatness, growing in holiness, discerning the will of God, pleasing God, and representing Him well as ambassadors of Christ who shine as lights in a dark world.

God-entranced Prayers

Take, for example, our opening verses from Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. These are his partners in the gospel, he says; people who are dear to his heart and for whom he prays always (v3-5, 7). He loves them deeply (v8). The description so far has been sweet and intimate.  Paul  cares affectionately for them. And so, we can be sure that his prayers for them must be equally meaningful and powerful, caring deeply for their their wellbeing. For this reason, it’s instructive to glean from his prayers for these Philippian Christians.

But what does he pray for them? “That your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so 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.”

In the original classical Greek, the word translated ‘approve’ here referred to the assaying of metals or testing of money for authenticity (see Luke 12:56; 14:19). In essence, Paul is praying that the Philippians grow in their ability to discern those things that are truly important, so they can establish the right priorities. He prays that they will bear fruits of righteousness as Christ works in them and shines through them – and all of these things will result in one ultimate end: to the glory and praise of God. (This paragraph I believe should follow immediately after the text because you are explaining the word approve.)

Paul is concerned for their  growth in love and knowledge and all discernment. That is because Christian belief (termed here as knowledge and discernment) expresses itself in how we love and behave. “As we grow in our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus,we will increasingly be able to affirm and practice what is excellent.” Consequently, he prays that they will choose what is excellent and, by so doing, live pure and blameless lives as they await the second coming of our Lord.

Paul here summarises what it means to live as a Christian: to live for God’s glory. Everything else flows from this. A cursory look at the New Testament reveals that this is the ultimate goal of the Christian life: the glory of God. Jonathan Edwards calls it the end for which God made all things. And this is the grand theme of all that God does in redemptive history. Rightly, it permeates the Apostle’s prayer for these Philippian believers.

A ‘Dangerous Prayers’ pandemic?

Reflecting on the Ghanaian and African Christian landscape, there have emerged a number of influential prayer movements that have drawn large followings on social media and transcend nations, even continents. If what ardent followers of these movements share on social media is anything to go by, the focus and drift look very similar to the Dangerous Prayers model I was introduced to back in secondary school in the 90s.

Attendees are led to pray fervently for an end to financial stagnation, marital issues, childlessness, etc., and prayers and ‘decrees’ are issued promising an end to any forces militating against their progress. It is always Satan or some other force linked to him that is supposedly frustrating believers’ rise to glory.

Was Satan Less Active in the 1st Century?

Was Satan less active  when Paul wrote his epistles? Is that why he does not directly confront Satan in his prayers or battle for the deliverance of the saints to whom he wrote? I don’t think so. The world back then was not unlike the world today.

Church history tells us that the early Christians faced persecution far more severe than anything most of us will ever experience. Emperors like Nero viciously persecuted believers, burning some as torches to light his games and throwing others to lions for entertainment. Yet we don’t find a single apostolic prayer binding the demons supposedly motivating these despotic emperors or blaming Satan for the intense persecution the church experienced. The apostles saw God as Sovereign over all history, even in their suffering, yet their prayers remained God-centred, not Satan-focused.

We know from his letters that they often faced intense persecution on account of their faith and experienced diverse trials and temptations. In this very epistle, Paul recounts how Epaphroditus, a co-worker whom the Philippians sent with aid for him, fell ill and almost died. Yet Paul simply comments, “Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.” Even in the midst of affliction with sickness, the focus quickly shifts to God, not Satan.

Thus, we are given an insight into Paul’s theology: He was deeply saturated by a high view of God’s sovereignty. Nothing happened to the believer except by God’s permission (see the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism and accompanying Scriptural basis); and all things, Satan included, are subservient to God’s will (recall Job and see here). And so, Satan doesn’t take centre stage in Paul’s prayers – God’s glory does. And so should it permeate our prayers as well.

Praying Like Paul

In 2014, when I was exposed to Reformed theology, the first thing that gripped me was a profound sense of the sovereignty of God. And what a transformation a God-entranced, sovereignty-saturated view of God has made to my prayers! My ‘dangerous’ approach of commanding and decreeing things in prayer gave way to a more sober and humble reverence and awe for the majestic sovereignty of the One to whom I come when I approach the throne of grace.

Now I don’t waste precious time on Satan and his minions. God has taken care of them and takes care of me, so I don’t need to. Rather, inspired by Paul, I spend my meditations and prayers on how to grow in love and knowledge and discernment, to bear the fruit of righteousness, and to represent Christ well to those around me – living for His glory as He powerfully works His grace within me.

Does this mean praying for my needs and Christian warfare is unbiblical? We’ll address this in the sequel to this article.