I MAKE MENTION OF YOU ALWAYS IN MY PRAYERS

Paul had not yet visited Rome at the time of his sending this letter to the church there. F. F. BRUCE writes that ‘although he was a Roman citizen by birth, Acts 22. 28, he had never seen the city whose freeman he was’.¹ He had often planned to go there but had been prevented from doing so, v. 13. He was not so much interested in seeing the sights of Rome as he was in meeting the saints of Rome. He knew that their faith was being spoken of throughout the whole world, and he heartily thanked God for it, v. 8. But he had lofty ambitions for them, and he longed to enrich them, to establish them and to comfort them, v. 11, 12.

Until he was able to visit them, he knew that there was one crucial way in which he could prosper their spiritual lives. He could pray for them. Our text reveals the extent of his commitment to this task in remarkable words: ‘without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers’, v. 9. Clearly, this was no light undertaking for Paul. It was no fringe activity which he resorted to when he had nothing better to do. His praying was never sporadic or casual, never half-hearted nor lethargic. It was unceasing and persistent, heartfelt and earnest.

This is all the more remarkable when we remember Paul’s lifestyle after his conversion. He knew little of the comforts of a well-ordered home life. His days were not peaceful and predictable. He did not work a five-day week, with the benefits of modem flexitime! He was an incessant traveller, and he trod a pathway of recurring suffering and danger at the hands of violent and ruthless men. He could never set aside specific parts of each day for quiet prayer and Bible study. A careful reading of 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 23 to 28 alone is sufficient to prove this, and the closing words say it all, ‘Beside those things which are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches‘. Only as Paul habitually and constantly poured out his heart to God in prayer could he find relief from this burden of care. His New Testament letters reveal the scope and depth of his ministry of intercession. Do they not reveal also the paucity of much of our own praying?

¹

F.F.BRUCE, The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, W. B. Eerdmans, 1985, pg. 14.