The Power of Christian Prayer

In Romans 15:30–33, Paul speaks about the power of Christian prayer. Jesus taught his disciples to pray. Certainly we need to pray, because we are a needy people. The apostle Paul in himself was a weak man. He spoke about his weaknesses several times in 2 Corinthians 12. But he also said, “When I am weak, then I am strong,” that is, made strong by God’s sufficient grace.

Modern Christians in rich countries do not pray much at all. Like the Laodiceans, they say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing” (Rev. 3:17). So their prayers are generally very short, very formal, not sincere, and not from the heart. Jesus condemns all such heartless prayers of self-dependent people.

In Romans 15:30–33, Paul is requesting the prayers of the saints in Rome for his dangerous journey to Jerusalem. For him, Jerusalem was more dangerous than any other part of the Roman world. In Jerusalem, the unbelieving Jews had been waiting to kill him ever since he, their champion, became an apostle of Jesus Christ. So he asks the believers in Rome to pray for him. It was his habit to request the prayers of the saints. He asked the Ephesian church, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should” (Eph. 6:18–20). To the Colossians he wrote, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should” (Col. 4:2–4).

Friends, we all need to pray. We must pray personally and privately, as Jesus himself did, sometimes praying all night. If Jesus prayed, we must pray. Yes, we are weak, but prayer will make us strong. And not only do we need to pray personally, but we need also to pray as families and have daily family devotions. We also need to pray as a congregation, so that we may receive divine assistance to help us worship and serve God aright.

Prayer Is a Fight

Paul begins, “I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me” (Rom. 15:30). Prayer is not easy. It is a fight; it is a contest. It demands all the powers of our spirit and body. It is a war. Paul calls the Roman saints to fight together with him in their prayers (plural in the Greek). The Greek word is sunagônizomai: “to agonize together with me in your prayers.” Jesus used the same word in reference to fighting: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight [êgônizonto] to prevent my arrest by the Jews” (John 18:36).

Why is prayer a fight? Because although God and his angels and God’s saints are for us, the devil and his demons and the world and the sin in us are all against us. The devil especially opposes us. He does not want us to prevail in prayer. He wants us to be spiritually weak. He wants us all to fall into temptation. And in addition to opposition from our enemies, we often face weariness in our bodies. Jesus said, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Matt. 26:41).

Prayer is a wrestling, a contest. Jacob wrestled with a man all night. This man overpowered him, and Jacob fell to the ground, clinging to him. He cried out, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Gen. 32:26), and God blessed him. Yes, it was God himself who wrestled with Jacob. God helps only those who acknowledge their weaknesses and the almightiness of our God. That is why Paul says, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”

Elijah wrestled in prayer for rain. He kept on praying, but there was no cloud or rain. But Elijah persevered until the clouds came, followed by torrential rain. We read, “Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. . . . The seventh time the servant reported, ‘A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.’ So Elijah said, ‘Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you’” (1 Kings 18:42, 44). James writes, “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops” (James 5:17–18).

While his disciples slept, Jesus wrestled in prayer to his Father as he faced his own crucifixion: “On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish [en agônia, the same Greek word], he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:40–44).

Without prevailing prayer, we fall into temptation and make wrong decisions. I often ask people, “Have you prayed?” and they nonchalantly say they did. But I don’t believe it, especially when I see their subsequent behavior. A sinning Christian is not a praying Christian. He is not a Bible-reading Christian. He is not a believing Christian.

Epaphras, a fellow minister of Paul, wrestled in prayer. Paul heard him praying for hours for the church of Colosse. So Paul wrote to the church, “Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (Col. 4:12). And as a child, I often heard my parents wrestling in prayer for me in the night.

Paul is asking the Roman saints to wrestle in prayer with him and for him. He is asking for their intercessory prayers. Abraham interceded for Sodom and for Lot and his family. Moses interceded for sinning Israel. Job interceded for his friends. Jesus interceded for the church: “I pray for them [his disciples]. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me. . . . My prayer is not for them alone. I pray for those who will believe in me through their message” (John 17:9, 20). In this high priestly prayer, Christ is praying for every believer.

Our Lord even now intercedes for each one of us. Paul writes, “Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34; see also Heb. 7:25). John says, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense: Jesus the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1).

The Holy Spirit also intercedes for us: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Rom. 8:26).

Friends, prayer is a struggle. It is a fight. It is a contest. It is a wrestling. It is a war. But we shall win because God Triune is for us. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. This One has already overcome the world.

Does our prayer change God’s mind? No. God is unchangeable. He is not man. Dr. John R. W. Stott says this: “The purpose of prayer is emphatically not to bend God’s will to ours, but rather to align our will to his.”¹ Isaiah describes prayer as taking hold of God: “No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you” (Isa. 64:7). A child who takes hold of his father’s hand is totally secure.

Prayer is a mighty weapon in our armor, along with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the readiness of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the word (Eph. 6:10–18). Prayer is necessary; it is not optional. Prayer is commanded by God. God not only appoints the end; he also appoints the means to the end. And so we must pray. R. A. Torrey said, “I must pray, pray, pray. I must put all my energy and all my heart into prayer. Whatever else I do, I must pray.”²

Paul prayed continually. So he asks the saints in Rome to fight with him and for him in their daily prayers. He also prayed for them in his daily prayers: “God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you” (Rom. 1:9–10). Daniel, a busy statesman, prayed three times daily (Dan. 6:10, 13). He prayed, though a law prohibited him to pray at all to the God of Israel.

We must not ask, as some do, if God does what he ordains, why pray? That is not correct thinking. God does ordain the salvation of the elect, but he also ordains the means, which is the preaching of the gospel by his ministers. God directed Paul to go to Philippi. There he was beaten up and put in prison, where he and Silas were praying at midnight. There was an earthquake followed by great panic. All this happened so that the jailer could be saved by hearing the gospel through Paul. So let us also use the means of prayer, which God has foreordained for our eternal good.

Paul makes his appeal to the saints in Rome through “our Lord Jesus Christ and [through] the love of the Spirit” (Rom. 15:30). It is the will of Christ, who accomplished our redemption on the cross, that we engage in intercessory prayer. It is also the will of the Holy Spirit, who applied this redemption to us, that we pray for one another. It is the Holy Spirit who has poured into our hearts God’s love in abundance. So we love one another and pray for one another.

The church is a body with many members. When one member suffers, the whole body suffers. So we must engage in intercessory prayer for one another. And this prayer is addressed to God. This means God our Father will answer our prayers according to his own will. Romans 15:30 speaks of all three persons of the Trinity being involved when we pray.

Paul’s Three Requests

In verses 31–33 Paul makes three requests of the Roman believers. First, he asks for prayer that he be delivered from the disobedient unbelievers in Judea: “Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea” (v. 31). Paul was speaking about the Jews who had rejected Jesus the Messiah. These unbelieving Jews persecuted the believing Jews by killing, scattering, and imprisoning them, and confiscating their properties.

Jesus warned his disciples that such things would happen:

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. . . . They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is [worshiping] God. (John 15:18–20; 16:2)

These unbelieving Jews had lost their anti-Christian champion to Jesus when Christ conquered Paul on the road to Damascus. Now Paul was an apostle, a battle-scarred veteran of the cross of Christ. These Jews had been trying to kill Paul for a long time, from the time when he became a Christian, as we read in Acts 9: “The Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall” (Acts 9:23–25).

The unbelieving Jews never gave up their plan to kill Paul. And one day they would succeed, but not yet. They would succeed only when Paul’s work on earth was done.

As Christians, we are not to court death. We must always try to preserve life unless death is the way God has chosen for us to glorify Christ. So Paul asks the saints in Rome to pray that he be rescued from these enemies of the gospel. And the truth is, their prayer was heard. We read about Paul’s many deliverances in the book of Acts:

1. A mob of unbelieving Jews tried to kill him but they failed (Acts 21:31). God rescued him.
2. Jesus assured him in Jerusalem that he would go to Rome to preach the gospel there (Acts 23:11). Jesus rescued him.
3. Jews waited to ambush him (Acts 23:20). They failed; Jesus rescued him.
4. They tried a second time to ambush him (Acts 25:3). They failed. He was rescued.
5. There was a shipwreck but he was not killed. God rescued him and 275 others (Acts 27:23–24).
6. Roman soldiers tried to kill him, but they failed (Acts 27:42–43) and he was rescued.
7. A viper bit him on the island of Malta (Acts 28:3–6). But he was not killed; he was rescued.

The intercessory prayer of the Roman saints was effectual. So Paul writes elsewhere, “[God] has rescued us from such a deadly peril, and he will rescue us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to rescue us, as you help us by your prayers” (2 Cor. 1:10–11, author’s wording).

The second prayer request was that the financial offering to the poor believers in Jerusalem be acceptable to the saints. Paul writes, “Pray . . . that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there” (v. 31). The conservative Jewish believers in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, continued to observe all the customs of the ceremonial law. The majority of them did not trust Paul, who taught the Gentiles that they were free of this yoke. So Paul had a reason to fear that the believing Jews might reject the offering he was bringing, looking upon it as a bribe. In the end, however, they did accept this diaconal offering to the poor, though they asked for some proof of Paul’s own orthodoxy (Acts 21:17–26).

Paul’s third request was to come to Rome in joy to be refreshed by them in the will of God: “Pray . . . so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed” (vv. 31–32). This request had three components.

a) To come to Rome with joy. As Christians, our joy is not dependent on our circumstances. We rejoice, Paul says, in tribulations also (Rom. 5:3). Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). Because of our union with Christ, his joy is our joy, his peace is our peace, his life is our life, and his love is our love. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit who dwells in us. So Christian joy does not depend on circumstances, but on Christ, who dwells in us by his Holy Spirit. Peter tells us that true believers even now are filled with inexpressible joy (1 Pet. 1:8).

Paul had earlier expressed his desire to come to Rome in the fullness of the blessing of Christ (Rom. 15:29). In the will of God, he did come to Rome, yet not as he anticipated. He arrived after several years, as a prisoner in chains. Yet, as he had promised, he came in joy and in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. We are to be filled with the Spirit always, especially when we face fiery trials. This is the promise of our Lord: “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (Luke 12:11–12).

b) To come in the will of God. We are to live by the will of God. This is the meaning of the confession “Jesus is Lord.” A Christian says, “Not my will but thine be done.” He denies himself to follow Jesus. So we are to know and live by God’s preceptive will as revealed in the holy Scriptures. Man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God given to us in the word of God. A sinning Christian is an ignorant Christian, one who refuses to study the Bible and do what it says.

We are also to be governed by the decretive will of God, which is not revealed in the Bible but only in providence. The Bible does not tell us when we are going to die, whom we are going to marry, what job we are going to get, to what university we should go, and so on. Paul did not know whether he would be rescued from the unbelievers, whether the saints would accept his offering as a token of the unity that exists among all churches, or whether he would come to Rome with joy (PGM). Only time would tell these things. So we say, “in God’s will,” when we pray. Paul himself said this: “God is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.” James declares, “Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:15). When he taught us to pray, Jesus said, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). Jesus also prayed this way: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but thine be done” (Luke 22:42). To live not by the will of God (i.e., outside the will of God) is courting disaster.

c) To come to be refreshed by you. The Greek word sunanapauô is speaking about resting, being refreshed, resting after toil. Jesus used this word in Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me, all you who are weary and I will give you rest.” Paul had desired for many years to go to Rome and fellowship with God’s people there. Fellowship with God’s people is sweet and refreshing. It is spiritual rest and sheer happiness.

We find the word “fellowship” (koinônia) for the first time in Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship.” The writer to the Hebrews says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more, as we see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:24–25).

It is great joy to eat with God’s people, to converse with God’s people, to worship with God’s people, to sing with God’s people, and to speak of Christ with God’s people. Spiritual refreshment and rest comes from Christ and from Christians. Dr. John Piper says there is a wrestling together and there is a resting together with God’s people.³ And the day is coming when we will enjoy the fullness of this refreshment, the full rest of our salvation. So we read, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev. 21:3–4).

The God of Peace/ The Benediction

Finally, Paul gives the benediction: “The God of peace be with you all. Amen” (v. 33). We enjoy rest and refreshment with God’s people in koinônia because the God of peace is with us always. He said so: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations . . . And surely I will be with you always, even unto the end of the ages” (Matt. 28:18–20).

If the God of peace is with us always, we will have peace always. Jesus said, “I will never leave nor forsake you.” The three Hebrew children were thrown into a fiery furnace. Yet God was with them in the fiery furnace, as we read: “King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, ‘Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?’ They replied, ‘Certainly, O king.’ He said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods’” (Dan. 3:24–25).

God is with us always. The God of peace is in us, and we are in him. Nothing in all creation is able to separate us from our God. Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). God is the author of peace, and he gives peace.

“There is no peace for the wicked,” says Isaiah (Isa. 48:22). The wicked man has no peace because the wrath of God is resting upon him, and the wages of sin is death. But Jesus Christ achieved peace for his people by his death on the cross (Col. 1:20; Eph. 2:16). And because of Christ’s death on the cross for our sins, believers have:

1. Peace with God. Through Christ, God has justified us and forgiven all our sins. There is therefore now no condemnation for us. We are justified forever.

2. Peace of God. The peace of God fills our souls, a peace that transcends all our understanding. Stephen experienced this peace while being stoned to death. Paul also experienced this peace as he walked out to the place of execution. Peter experienced this peace when he was facing death: “The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance” (Acts 12:6). So Paul writes, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Col. 3:15). He also says, “And the peace of God which transcends all our understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).

3. Peace with one another.

4. Peace of mind. We can enjoy peace of mind even in the midst of fiery trials. We realize that these trials come to us from God for our good. All things must work together for our eternal benefit. So we have peace.

5. Peace of salvation. This “peace of God” is a Jewish benediction (Shalom Aleichem). Shalom stands for full salvation, wholeness, soundness, rest, health, prosperity, well-being, security, and eternal life. The peace that comes to us through Christ’s atoning death alone is a comprehensive gift. It includes all other blessings. Jesus Christ is our peace (Eph. 2:14). This peace is not available to those outside of Christ.

So we are to declare the gospel of peace to sinners. The angels sang the Christmas song: “On earth peace to all on whom God’s favor rests” (Luke 2:14). On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). He also said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Paul uses the expression “God of peace” six times in his epistles. It is also found in the Epistle to the Hebrews.⁴ The God of peace is with us all. That is the benediction: May the God of peace be with you all—with every individual. He is with the Jewish believers and with the Gentile believers. He is with the rich and with the poor. He is with the masters and with the slaves. He is with the young and with the old. He is with the strong and with the weak. And he is with us always, in life, in death, and beyond. He is our shield and very great reward. He is our good shepherd, our chief shepherd, and our great shepherd. And he cares for us. Therefore, no harm will come to us. He is the God of peace.

Romans 15:33 concludes with “Amen.” Let us join together in saying, “Amen,” to what the apostle has said so far. “Amen” means “It is true”; “So be it.” May God’s blessing rest upon us and may he give us peace always. And may this God of peace help us to pray, pray, and pray.

¹ John R. W. Stott, Romans: God’s Good News for the World (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1994), 389.

² Quoted by James M. Boice, Romans, Vol. 4, The New Humanity (Romans 12–16)(Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995), 1900.

³ John Piper, “Resting and Wrestling for the Cause of Christ—Together” (http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/resting-and-wrestling-for-the-cause-of-christ-together).

⁴ Rom. 15:33; 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:11; 2 Thess. 3:16; 1 Thess. 5:23; Phil. 4:9; Heb. 13:20.