A Prayer for Abounding Love from Philippians 1:9–11

By Joshua Mills

What are you devoted to? The apostles were “devoted to prayer and the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4). There has been a helpful recovery of Word-based, expository ministries in our day. But there is still a great need to recover the importance of a praying ministry in our day. E. M. Bounds once wrote: “The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men… What the Church needs today is not more machinery or more novel methods… The church needs men and women of prayer.”

Paul’s prayer in Philippians 1:9–11 shows us what Spirit-shaped prayer looks like. He does not merely pray that the Philippians would feel loved or become more active in ministry. He prays that their love would abound with knowledge, discernment, holiness, and gospel fruit.

As we come to Philippians 1:9–11, we have already smelled the flavor of Paul’s prayer. It is filled with thanksgiving and joy (vv. 3–4). Now, in verses 9–11, we see the content of Paul’s prayer. He prays for a certain kind of love to shape every area of our lives. This prayer can be structured around two main requests:

• Verse 9: The immediate request: “…that your love may abound more and more…”
• Verses 10–11: The end goal: “…so that you may approve what is excellent…”

1. I Pray That You Would Have an Ever-Growing Love

Have you ever met someone who does not love their job? Maybe that is you. Maybe you just want to get through the day with the status quo. You are content with where you have arrived, and you will go no further. The Philippians had shown great love in the work of the gospel, yet Paul does not want them to drift into a “status-quo Christianity.” Look at verse 9. Do you see the one immediate request Paul has? The CSB translates it: “…that your love will keep on growing.” Love for what? Or for whom? Do you see the object of that growing love in the text? The immediate answer is no. Paul intentionally gives no specific object of this love. Paul uses pastoral wisdom in this situation. Due to the disunity and selfish ambition in the church, there may be some who think they have arrived in their love. By giving no object in this context, Paul is praying for a growing, all-encompassing love to mark the church.

However, Paul is not praying for an abstract or aimless love. Look again at verse 9 in its entirety. It is a growing love “with knowledge and all discernment.” Or better translated, “with knowledge and all understanding” or “insight.” This is not a mindless love. It is a growing, knowledgeable love. The love Paul has in mind is love clothed in the knowledge of God. In Philippians 3:8, Paul uses the word knowledge again and ties it directly to Jesus Christ: “…the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…”

What are you living to know? Paul had a personal tasting and seeing of the surpassing worth of Jesus Christ. In verse 21, he would go on to say, “For to me to live is Christ.” We live to know Him. How does this all relate to the church? It is as we pursue knowing Christ more deeply that our love for one another will increase. The apostle John said in 1 John 4:21: “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” Do you remember what happened in Philippi? People were putting themselves before others (2:3–4). Some were harboring bitterness against one another (chapter 4). These sinful patterns of self-centeredness are affecting the spiritual health of the church. One commentator points out that the assumption behind Paul’s prayer in chapter 1 is that you cannot grow in your knowledge of God if you are full of self-centeredness and bitterness.

Why does this all matter? It matters because focusing on self will stunt your spiritual growth and it will increase your bitterness toward others. Once you go down that route, you have entered the downward spiral! Harboring bitterness against one another will then kill your spiritual taste buds for seeing the Lord’s goodness. In verse 9, Paul cuts right to the heart of the matter: I am praying that you would go directly to the great fountain of love, God Himself. Gaze upon His beauty. Understand greater depths of who He is and what He has done for you in your salvation. Beloved, if we think we have fully arrived in our knowledge of God, we have got it all wrong. God is infinite. We are finite. We have only scratched the surface of knowing our infinite and eternal God. For all eternity we will be pulling back curtain upon curtain of His glories, never fully plunging His depths:

• John Flavel once said: “Eternity will never fully unfold Him.”
• Spurgeon similarly wrote: “I know nothing which can so comfort the soul, so calm the swelling billows of grief and sorrow; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.”

After all of this, Paul then takes his prayer one step further. In verses 10–11, he gives us the reason for abounding love.

2. I Pray That Your Growing Love Would Bear Gospel Fruit

Imagine an engineering student who had all the theory go in one ear and out the other, but had zero practice. There would be zero fruit to show that the concepts had impacted his thinking. Beloved, a true knowledge of God will cultivate the fruit of love. If we have truly tasted and seen that the Lord is good, there will be fruit to show it. There will be fruit in our daily decision-making. Look at verse 10. Paul is essentially saying: I am praying for everything in verse 9 so that “you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” In other words: I am praying for a growing love so that you would all pursue that which is best for your growth in grace and service to others.

This is a prayer for Christ-centered priorities in our everyday living. I live for Him in every decision. I wake up today and remember that I am His servant. Does that app on my phone help me grow in the knowledge of God? No? Then delete it. Does that event constantly take me away from serving Christ’s bride? Yes? Then I need to rethink my schedule and build my life around fulfilling the “one anothers.” Why do we pray to choose what is excellent? Look at verse 11. Paul is praying that these best decisions in your spiritual life will bear fruit that glorifies Christ. Paul longs to see the Philippians look more like Jesus. Why? Because a life that looks like Jesus Christ brings “glory and praise to God.”

What does the best way look like for the Philippians? It looks like the pathway of humility. It looks like Philippians 2:3–4. Consider Paul’s own example in Philippians 1:22–26. He continues for the sake of others. But how can that Christ-like fruit be born in us? Verse 11 says: “…filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.” Everything Paul is praying for comes through Jesus Christ, by the Spirit. As Zechariah 4:6 reminds us: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.” That is why we go to God the Father, through Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit, pleading that He would produce His fruit in our lives for His glory. Do we pray that?

To conclude, having seen Paul’s prayer for abounding love, what are we left with? Specifically, what do we do? How do we do it? And why is it worth doing?

What To Do: Pray the Prayers of Scripture

We often wonder, what can I do to help my prayer life? I feel dry. I feel repetitive. My mind loses focus. How can I know that I am praying according to God’s will? When you pray Scriptural prayers, you know that you are praying according to God’s will. Use this text that we have briefly looked at to shape your prayers! When you pray it, you know you are praying according to God’s will.

How To Do It: Pray and Talk to God as You Read the Bible

The Bible must be read for study, but also for devotion. Imagine you are reading through Ephesians 5 and come to verse 16: “Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” You might pray: “Lord, am I making the best use of my time in private? At home? In the church? At work? Lord, am I robbing you of the time that you have given me?”

Then think of Philippians 1:9–11: “Lord, expand my love for you, my knowledge of you, so that I would choose what is excellent with my time.” Beloved, that is how we ought to pray.

Why It Is Worth Doing

Because when we pray Scripture back to God, we are praying in alignment with God’s will. And that glorifies God.

Continue Growing in the Word

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