Learning to pray like Paul

Take for example his prayer in Romans 1:8-12:

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

In comparison, my own prayers seem so meager. If I had as much passion for prayer as Paul did, I would be a far better man for God. 

The benefit of having Paul’s prayers recorded is that we can learn from his example. I see at least four practical points from this prayer in Romans 1.    

First, Paul Pondered his Prayers:

“For God is my witness.”

Paul’s prayers were serious.  He prayed knowing that God was considering every word and noting every request.  This ought to make us ponder our prayers before we bring them to God. May we solemnly pray, remembering that God is our witness.

Paul’s prayers for the Romans also had serious substance. He was making spiritual requests for Christians he loved. If I met you and randomly started saying the first thing that came to my mind, you would soon realise that there is no real thought or substance to what I say. Imagine doing this with God!  I think we can learn the importance of considering more carefully what we pray for. Practically, this challenges me to  spend more time each day thinking of specific needs, problems or people to bring before God in prayer. 

Second, He Praised in his Prayers:

“Whom I serve.”

It’s interesting that the word “serve” in verse 9 really means worship. Sadly, I can very easily leave my worship to a Sunday morning when everyone is there to watch. But it’s our consistent, everyday worship that God is worthy to receive. 1 Peter 2 tells us that as believers, we are all priests and part of a “holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices.” In the Old Testament, one of the most important offerings was the burnt offering and what made it special was that the flames were never to go out. It was burning day after day after day for a sweet savour to God. How amazing would it be to be like Paul – to be men whose prayer lives produce continual praise to our God.‍

Third, He was Precise in his Prayers:

“Making request”

What challenged me about this verse was how specific Paul’s prayers were. He brought to God an exact need that burdened him. 

When I was younger, I remember praying for “all the people in my town to get saved.” At the time I thought it was brilliant that I was covering a wide population in the space of one sentence, however, as comedic as this sounds, it is not how Paul prayed for the Romans. He had a precise request to see them “that I may impart onto you some spiritual gift.” Maybe this could challenge us to be more precise in our prayer life. Even though it might mean spending an extra half hour, it would all be worth it to bring heart-burdened, specific needs before God.

Fourth, His Motive was Pure in his Prayers:

“that I may impart unto you.”

Paul was selfless in his prayers. Many times, I have asked God for things that I need (or, more likely, what I want), but when Paul made his request to God, his mind was on the building up and blessing of others. We can’t help but see Paul’s pure motive when reading these verses. Sincere love for other Christians drove him to his knees. 

Paul was a great man of prayer. He was the kind of man that James 5:16 describes: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”.

Let’s aim to follow his example.