Paul's Prayer for the Philippians

Philippians 1:3-11 contains Paul’s prayer on behalf of the Christians in Philippi. It consists of 199 words but the crux of the message is stated in 36 words… “That he who began a good work in you will perfect it unto the Day of Jesus Christ…” (1:6)

“that you may be sincere and void of offense unto the Day of Jesus Christ being filled with the fruits of righteousness.” (1:10-11) Both phrases are connected with the “Day of Jesus Christ” and are therefore related to each other.

In the prayer Paul also gives instruction on how to be "sincere and void of offense"… namely by the growth of their love that is based not upon feelings but upon “Knowledge and understanding” so that they can recognize the “things that are excellent”.

In the rest of the letter Paul is going to illustrate for them those things that are excellent.

Sometimes it’s a good exercise to restate things in your own words. Let me take a stab at that.

I pray that as you start your Christian life that you will study to increase your knowledge and understanding so that you can see clearly the things you need to do. Namely, that you rid yourself of every sin in your life and replace it with works of service to others and then you can stand tall on the Day of our Lord.