Priorities from Paul and His Prayers - Part 5

And on we march, continuing with our series from D.A. Carson's marvelous book, A Call for Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers. Carson does a masterful job of engaging difficult aspects of prayer, like exploring the tension of our requirement to pray with God's sovereignty, and expositing Paul's train of thought in his prayers. I have chose to forgo, at least at this moment, his tangential comments on difficult issues in prayer and have instead focused on his exegesis of Paul. Today's Scripture is Philippians 1:9-11.

9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (NIV)

D.A. Carson briefly notes the following priorities in Paul's prayer:

Philippians 1:9-11 – Overcoming the Hurdles

Paul Prays for What is Excellent (v.10)

Paul’s Prayer is Tied to the Long View (v. 10b-11)
1.) Paul Prays that believers will test and approve what is excellent “in order that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.”

Paul’s Prayer is not Idolatrous, but Praises God
Are we concerned to utilize the gifts and graces God has given us, to utilize them for his glory and for his people’s good? Or are we simply interested in doing our own thing?
This is the ultimate test: it is the test of our motives.