To Know Him More

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1: 9 – 11

I think one of the greatest gifts we can give another person is to pray for them. It’s comforting to know that others are going to God on our behalf, and I am sure all of us have felt the strength and peace that prayer can bring. How sad to know that some people never have their names lifted up to God. Can you imagine no one caring enough about us to ask God to watch over us and bless us?

Yet, in all the things we pray for – good health, His protection over us, strength in times of difficulty, comfort in our despair, guidance in our decision making, His presence with us during challenging times, the joy of His blessings, and that His everlasting hope and love will be upon us – there is one more request that should be the most important of all. We should pray that we will seek God more, that we will come to know Him and His saving grace with a deeper understanding, that our love for Him will grow, and that all our blessings will flow out to others. May we pray not only to feel the love of Christ, but to know Him with all our hearts.

In this passage, Paul had written a letter to the young church at Philippi to encourage them, and he included this prayer for them. He prays their love for Christ will grow and “abound” until it spills over into the lives of others. He prays this love will increase their desire to gain more knowledge and insight into the teachings, life, and Gospel of Christ. As they learn more about Him through His Word and through prayer, Paul trusts they will begin to make better judgments and decisions through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and that they will someday be found “pure and blameless” in the sight of Christ.

This is what God desires for us – to sincerely and genuinely seek Him and to know Him. He wants our love and obedience, but not out of a sense of duty or overriding guilt, but out of our overwhelming love for Him. Our goal and purpose should be to love Him more each day and to increase our knowledge and discernment of His Word.

We should read Scripture, study it, reflect on it, memorize it, and let it live in our hearts. For only then, can we truly know who God is and what He desires for our lives. May we give Him the honor and glory He deserves. May we truly know what it is to live in His loving presence.

 Prayer

Dear God, may this be our prayer for all those we love and care about. Thank you for loving us so much that you would send your Son with His saving grace. Open our hearts to learn more about you through your Word.  May we help others to seek you and to know you. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen