The providence of God and the prayers of the saints are not at odds with each other. There is no contradiction in believing in the absolute providence of God (God’s authority, ability, and activity to achieve His eternal plans for His eternal pleasure) and prayer. In last week’s study, we covered this issue briefly. Many view God’s providence in a fatalistic way that leads them to a life of passivity. Faith is active, not passive. Faith prays in cohort with the providence of God. Prayer doesn’t change God’s providence or will; rather, prayer is the providential way that God bends our will to His. Prayer itself puts a faithful expectation upon the providence of God to bring about our good and His glory. Prayer trusts in the promises of providence. Think of the relationship between the two this way. God’s providence secures our prayers, and our prayers surrender to His providence. One of the most personal and practical ways to see God’s providence is through prayer. Without prayer we can’t see answers to prayer for it is providence that answers prayer according to the will of God. Providence shouldn’t be a reason to be prayerless. It should actually be the reason to pray because we trust that God governs, guides, and guards our affairs. E.M. Bounds wrote, “Prayer honors God, acknowledges His being, exalts His power, adores His providence, secures His aid.” Praying trusts that God’s providence has all authority and ability to answer. We see this in Eph. 3:20-21 which says, “20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
In today’s study, we will finish off Romans 15 as we examine the relationship between prayer and providence in Rom. 15:30-33 which says, “30 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; 31 That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; 32 That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. 33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” Here, Paul pleads for the Roman believers to pray for his journey to Jerusalem to deliver the offering of the Gentiles to the suffering Jewish Christians so that he can go to Spain with the gospel after being refreshed through a short stay with them at Rome. Paul’s preaching and preparations were dependent upon the providence of God. So too are his prayers and the prayers of the saints that will join in praying together for his ministry. No one believed in the providence of God like Paul. No one believed in the power and priority of prayer like Paul. An important word is the word “beseech” which is the word “parakaleo” meaning to come alongside to give aid, strength, or advocation. In classic Greek, the word was often used of exhorting troops who were going into battle. This is precisely the meaning with which Paul is urging them. Ministry and prayer are constant battles. The practical daily Christian life is a battle at all times. The Church of Christ is an army that marches on its knees in prayer depending upon the providence of God to secure our victory. This important opening of this study reminds us of the battle that prayer is, but as well of the battles that our missionaries go through. We join in the battle of their ministry by praying for them continually and earnestly. As Paul calls upon the believers to pray for him, we see the relationship between providence and prayer. Seeing this in this passage before us should encourage us to be prayer warriors who seek the victory of God’s providence. In today’s study, we will see the basis, battle, and blessing of prayer and providence.
First, let’s see the basis of prayer and providence in the first half of Rom. 15:30 which says, “Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit” There are two things that we see that make up Paul’s basis for praying. One, prayer and providence are for the “Lord Jesus Christ’s sake.” Some commentators believe that this should be translated as “through the Lord Jesus Christ,” but it doesn’t seem to fit the bill. The whole letter to the church at Rome has focused on the gospel, grace, and glory of Jesus Christ. The intersection between the systematic theology of the gospel and the practical theology of the second half of the letter is key. Rom. 11:36 says, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” While some commentators would be right to say that prayer and providence is “through Him,” we must understand the reason that all of life, including prayer and providence is “through Him” is so that it all would be “to Him…to whom be glory forever.” The basis of prayer is the person and work of Christ; therefore, prayer is indeed for the sake of the gospel, grace, and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is magnified through prayer and providence. His work is exalted by both. The very reason that we can pray is because of the person and work of Christ at the cross and His continual interceding work for us at the right hand of the Father. Also, notice that the basis of prayer for the sake of Christ must be trinitarian. The verse reminds us of the doctrine of the trinity that there is one God in three persons who are co-equal, co-eternal, yet distinct. We pray to the Father, through the Son (His merit and work), by the enabling power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Providence is a trinitarian work of the Godhead, but so is prayer. Two, we see that the basis of prayer is the supply of the Spirit. Notice the next phrase, “and for the love of the Spirit.” To pray outside of the supply of the Spirit is to pray in your own supply of strength and wisdom. Within your flesh and mine, we do not have the capacity for prayer. We often don’t have the strength, desire, or wisdom to know what to pray or how to pray. True prayer is praying in faith by the prompting, power, and presence of the Holy Spirit within us. Notice providence and prayer. The Holy Spirit indwells us to not only supply prayer, but to supply God’s providence in our life as He governs, guides, guards, and guarantees our Christian life of faith. We have seen as well from Paul in Rom. 15:13, 19-20 that believers are dependent upon the enabling power of the Holy Spirit for all of life. The phrase “love of the Spirit” should remind us of the love that the Spirit has given to us as seen in Rom. 5:5 and Gal. 5:22. Furthermore, this is not just dealing with the love that the Spirit produces, but the love that we should have for His gracious and constant work within our hearts. We also see two other verses that help us to understand the love of the Spirit in Col. 1:8 and 1 Pet. 1:22. It is the supply of the Spirit that enables and energizes our prayers. Paul dealt with this earlier in his letter in Rom. 8:26-28 which says, “26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Here in these three verses, we see the providence of God and prayer inseparably linked by the supply of the Spirit and sake of Christ.
Second, let’s see the battle of prayer and providence in Rom. 15:30-32 which says, “30 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; 31 That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; 32 That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.” When I say the battle of prayer and providence, this is not to say that the two are battling one another. These two battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil together. Prayer is how we fight the battle, but providence is how we win the war. Paul attached prayer to the armor of God and passage on the spiritual warfare of the believer in Eph. 6:18-20 where he says, “18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” Paul’s words here remind us of the basis and battle of prayer. There are two things in Rom. 15:30-32 that we must note about the battle of prayer and providence. One, it is intense. Prayer itself is a battle! Each of us would probably say that our prayer life isn’t what it ought to be and that many times we try to give ourselves to prayer just for the battle of distractions or discouragements to derail our time of prayer. Prayer itself is an exercise of faith that involves our entire being. Paul describes the intensity of prayer and even requests that their prayers for him would be intense. He asks that they would “strive together” in prayer for and with him. The word “strive together” is the word “sunagonizomai” which means to struggle, fight, or strive together with effort. This particular Greek word gives us our English words “agonize or agony.” The words were typically used of athletes straining in a gymnasium or those who were wrestling one another with intense agonizing effort. Does this describe our prayer life? We need today believers in our churches who would be agonizers in prayer. The reason why that praying feels like agony is because prayer is often the believer exercising a muscle that doesn’t get used very often. The reason why physical therapy or going to the gym for a hard workout hurts us is because it is stretching out our muscles, joints, and ligaments to strengthen us. We aren’t strong in prayer because we don’t strive. We never want to be uncomfortable, so we grow stiff and cold in our prayers and practical Christian life. Intense agonizing prayers come from being burdened over the gospel, grace, and glory of Jesus Christ. The agonizing prayers of the saints is how the battles for missionaries like Paul and our own supported missionaries win their battles, gaining ground for the Kingdom of God. Two, our prayers should not just be intense, but intentional. We aren’t really engaged in prayer when we prayer in uninterested generalities. True prayer should be deliberate, even specific. Here, Paul asks that they would be determined and detailed in their prayers for him. He gives four detailed requests for which they would intensely and intentionally pray. One, that he “may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea.” Don’t forget that Paul was once one of them. He had suffered most of his persecution from the Jews who refused to believe the gospel. The book of Acts is filled with countless examples of this, and he recounts this in his second letter to the church at Corinth. Two, “that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be acted of the saints.” Remember that Paul had told them in Rom. 15:22-29 that he was trusting in God’s providence to not only get to Rome and then Spain; but to first go to Jerusalem with a gift from the Gentile believers of Macedonia for the Jewish believers in Jerusalem who were suffering greatly from persecution and famine. His prayer is that the Jewish believers would see the union they have with the Gentile believers in Christ through this love offering. Three, “that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God.” Joy is tied together with our confident expectation of hope in Christ that is not dependent upon the circumstances of life. Paul trusts that the will of God for his life is not only to press on in the gospel ministry, but to do so overflowing with joy in the gospel, grace, and glory of Jesus Christ. Four, “and may with you be refreshed.” He prays that his short stay in Rome would refresh him through fellowship with the believers there that he had longed to see for years (v.22-23). What about providence and the battle of prayer? Paul prayed that they would do battle in prayer for these things, but he trusted in God’s providence to provide the ultimate victory. In God’s providence, He answered every single one of these requests, just not in the way that we would expect. God delivered Paul into the hands of his enemies, but preserved his life allowing him to share the gospel with countless souls (Jews and Gentiles) then sending Paul to Rome to be used while in prison and house arrest. During that time in Rome, though in bonds, God providentially used that time to give us Paul’s letters to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. God answered prayer and the battle was won through providence. J. B. Phillips writes, “Those who share the battles shall share the blessings.”
Third, let’s see the blessing of prayer and providence. The final verse of this chapter says, “33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” Prayer and providence produce peace in the hearts of believers. Where there is no providence there can be no peace. When we live without prayer we can expect to live without peace. The providence of God has extended peace to us through the gospel of Christ and prayer and by prayer we experience God’s providence and peace in Christ. Throughout Rom. 15, Paul has described God as the God of “patience, consolation, hope, peace.” These are wonderful descriptions of God. Notice in this verse that Paul says, “the God of peace be with you.” God’s providence allows us to experience God’s presence, provision, and protection through prayer. Prayer is one of the ways in which we can enjoy communion or peace with God. Because we have peace with God, now we can through prayer and providence enjoy the peace of God. Paul writes in Phil. 4:1-9, “1Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. 2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” Paul trusted that God was with him through prayer and providence which brought him peace for the journey ahead. Paul had peace through prayer that God’s providence would always and only do what was for Paul’s good and God’s glory. We can have that same peaceful confidence through prayer and providence.
As we bring this to a close, we see that prayer and providence go hand in hand. Just as God’s providence is linked to the will of God, so too is prayer. Prayer is God’s providential will for your life. It is how he seeks to govern, guide, guard, and grow you this side of glory. It is through prayer that we yield ourselves to God’s providence while also being able to enjoy the blessings of His peace that His providence provides even in the midst of battles. Studying the link between prayer and providence should challenge our prayer life deeply. What is your basis for praying? Have your prayers become selfish demands upon God or are your prayers trinitarian being focused on God’s providence and glory? Are you battling, even agonizing, in prayer? Do you stretch and strengthen that muscle? Have you grown stiff? We can’t enjoy the blessings of prayer and providence without the battle. Don’t miss out on the blessings of providence by being prayerless.
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