Read Philippians 1:9
As Paul begins his prayer for the Philippians he pleads that the Lord might allow their love to abound. On the surface this many sound like emotion. Praying for abounding love is probably the core desire of many, many, many Christians world-wide. Many believers have probably cried out from the depths of their being to the Lord something like, ‘I want to love you more’. Many have swayed, amened and connected to songs of that ilk.
But as we plunge more deeply into Paul’s prayer for the Philippians we find more than a few surprises. Firstly we see that Paul asks the Lord that their love may abound more and more. This phrase, both in Greek and English, is an intensification showing the desire and magnitude of the thing prayed for. This is what Paul really really really really wants. Get the picture?
But Paul doesn’t pray just for abounding love. He asks the Lord that their love might abound more and more in knowledge. The churches that have made a deliberate transition from head knowledge to ‘heart’ stuff need to read this passage over and over again until it sinks in. Paul is praying that their love grow and abound in knowledge. There’s no twisting this to say that the knowledge here is heart knowledge or emotional growth. It’s simply knowing something. It’s knowledge in its most basic form.
We need to realise that Paul isn’t into stoicism or the ‘frozen chosen’ approach to worshipping God. Growing in knowledge isn’t contrary to or apathetic to growing in heart love and emotion. In Scripture and in reality, growth in knowledge is vital for a growth in love. You really can’t have one without the other. The recent TV series “Married at First Sight” showed this to be true. In this show couples who had never met, met for the first time at their pre-arranged wedding. The cameras followed the couples before, during and after the wedding. It was blatantly obvious that love, true love not infatuation, grew in the couples as they got to know each other. None of the couples fell head over heals in love at first sight and became instantly grounded in that love before they knew each other.
What Paul prays for the Philippians is that they grow to know God more much like the couples grew to know each other better. Such growth in knowledge leads to a growth in love – love for God and love for others. If you consider the opposite, love without knowledge, you begin to realise the validity and rightness of what Paul is praying. Love without knowledge is really inconceivable. How can you love someone or something you know nothing about? How can you be passionate about something that you have no knowledge about? At its best it’s blind fanaticism. At its worst it’s sheer stupidity.
As we think and study this concept of love and knowledge working hand in hand we have to remember that neither Paul nor God are into stoicism, a faceless and emotionless worship of God that causes one to wear a permanent frown. Neither God nor Paul condone the ‘frozen chosen’ approach to worship. Paul encourages us to be filled with joy, to be abounding in love, in praise and adoration and to let these show all throughout our lives. But these things grow as we grow in knowledge of the Lord.
Prayer:
Using today’s Bible passage and notes write down points for
Adoration:
Confession
Thanks
Supplication:
· Pray Philippians 1:9 for 25 people or families in your congregation or that you know.
· Pray that God would be growing the love and knowledge of the PIM padres as they venture out into remote regions. Pray that their love for God would increase as they grow in knowledge and that their love for the people they meet would increase as well.
Discussion Questions For Families and Groups
1. Why is prayer that our love grow in knowledge a good prayer?
2. What’s the negative side of growing in love without growing in knowledge?
3. How can we grow more in knowledge and love, avoiding the head/heart distinction that turns many people off?
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