A Parent's Prayer

Philippians 1:3-11 NLT
(3) Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.
(4) Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy,
(5) for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.
(6) And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
(7) So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News.
(8) God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.
(9) I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.
(10) For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return.
(11) May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation--the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ--for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

Paul wrote this to the Philippians while in prison but it struck me this morning this is the prayer every parent longs to pray over their children. Did you notice the first thing he says is that when he prays for them it is with joy? Implying this is not always the case, which speaks of those who are not doing the will of God. You see Paul considers himself a spiritual father figure to all he has brought the gospel to and who have accepted Christ Jesus as savior. While the hope is that each group will be a source of joy to him because of their servant attitudes towards the things of Christ, that is not always the case. Just like a parent with several children, not all align themselves with the commandments of Christ and though he loves them all sometimes a rebuke is needed instead of a blessing – something that is difficult for us parents to understand. Not all of his prayers (for his children) are easy to pray and so it is as a parent. Paul talks about being spiritual partners with the Philippians as they work with him and each other to spread the Good News of the gospel and he speaks of the maturing the Lord is doing on the inside of each one of them because he recognizes it as the same thing the Lord has done for him. As a parent is proud of their children when they are pleasing to the Lord, so is Paul of the Philippians and because of their partnership the experiences Paul has he gladly shares with them so that they may grow in faith as well, aligning not only himself with God's will but those he birthed to Christ Jesus as well. The bottom line is that regardless of Paul's praise or rebuke his hope is that all his children would choose to live pure blameless lives before Christ Jesus until the day of the Lord's return and Paul wraps it up by pointing their hopes not in him, as a matter of fact Paul prepares them for his passing, but to the worthy ambition of giving glory and praise to God with their very lives.