'And this I pray, that your love may abound yet
more and more in knowledge and all discernment;
10. So that ye may approve the things that are
excellent; that ye may be sincere and void of
offence unto the day of Christ; 11. Being filled
with the fruits of righteousness, which are
through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of
God.'--PHIL. i. 9-11 (R.V.).
What a blessed friendship is that of which the natural language is
prayer! We have many ways, thank God, of showing our love and of helping
one another, but the best way is by praying for one another. All that is
selfish and low is purged out of our hearts in the act, suspicions and
doubts fade away when we pray for those whom we love. Many an alienation
would have melted like morning mists if it had been prayed about, added
tenderness and delicacy come to our friendships so like the bloom on
ripening grapes. We may test our loves by this simple criterion--Can we
pray about them? If not, should we have them? Are they blessings to us
or to others?
This prayer, like all those in Paul's epistles, is wonderfully full. His
deep affection for, and joy in, the Philippian church breathes in every
word of it. Even his jealous watchfulness saw nothing in them to desire
but progress in what they possessed. Such a desire is the highest that
love can frame. We can wish nothing better for one another than growth
in the love of God. Paul's estimate of the highest good of those who
were dearest to him was that they should be more and more completely
filled with the love of God and with its fruits of holiness and purity,
and what was his supreme desire for the Philippians is the highest
purpose of the gospel for us all, and should be the aim of our effort
and longing, dominating all others as some sovereign mountain peak
towers above the valleys. Looking then at this prayer as containing an
outline of true progress in the Christian life, we may note: