A YEAR OF PRAYER

PRAYER FOR THE PROCESS, NOT THE PROMISE

3  I thank my God every time I remember you.
4  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 
5  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 
6  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. —Philippians 1:3 - 6

2  We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 
3  We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4  For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, —1 Thessalonians 1:2 - 4

13  As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guardand to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.
14  And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. —Philippians 1:13 - 14

23  Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
24  Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
25  Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 
26  I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city,in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 
27  I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. —2 Corinthians 11:23 - 27

1. THE PROCESS IS WORK DRIVEN BY FAITH.

Being confident of this, that he who began
a good work … —Philippians 1:6a

remembering without ceasing your work of faith,… —1 Thessalonians 1:3a

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. —Hebrews 11:1

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. —Romans 10:17

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, —Jude 1:20

They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. —Revelation 12:11

17  Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 
18  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. 
19  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.
20  When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
21  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 
23  Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? 
24  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
25  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 
26  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!” —Luke 5:17 - 26

2. The process is a labor of love.

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it … —Philippians 1:6a-b

remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, … —1 Thessalonians 1:3a-b

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and
fully assured. —Colossians 4:12

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. —Romans 8:28

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? —Romans 8:31 - 32

16  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 
17  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 
18  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 
19  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, —Ephesians 3:16 - 20

…in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. —Philippians 1:6b-c

remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God
and Father, —1 Thessalonians 1:3

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. —Romans 12:12

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. —2 Corinthians 4:17
3  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 
4  perseverance, character; and character, hope. 
5  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. —Romans 5:3 - 5

13  I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of
the living.
14  Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. —Psalm 27:13 - 14