Emmaus Saturday Morning Men’s Bible Study Ý
Copyright 2004 by William Meisheid

Philippians: Chapter 1:1-11                                                             Saturday January 31, 2004

Today’s theme: Praying the prayer of true love.

Quotes to think about
"If you make a habit of sincere prayer, your life will be very noticeably and profoundly altered. Prayer stamps with its indelible mark our actions and demeanor. A tranquility of bearing, a facial and bodily repose, are observed in those whose inner lives are thus enriched. . . . Properly understood, prayer is a mature activity indispensable to the fullest development of personality . . . . Only in prayer do we achieve that complete and harmonious assembly of body, mind and spirit which gives the frail human reed its unshakable strengths." - Alexis Carrel (1873-1944), French surgeon, biologist, "Prayer is Power"

“Pray, pray very much; but beware of telling God what you want.” - French Proverb

Review
  1.    Why did Paul go to Philippi?

2.    What did he find there? What was missing?

3.    What are four significant things that happened in Philippi?

Chapter 1:1-11
¹Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: ²Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ⁷It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. ⁸God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, ¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.

1.  Who is Paul writing to?

2.  Why do you think he divided up the church into categories?

3.  Why is Paul’s confidence in verse 6 significant to you?

4.    What kind of love is Paul exercising in this section and why is that important?

5.  Why is it important that love be bounded by knowledge and insight?

6.   Are there different qualities of love? How is this question related to verse 10?

7.    How is the fruit of righteousness in verse 11 related to love?

The Prayer

Last week you were given a prayer assignment. Did praying the prayer of Paul have any affect on you this week? If so, write down what happened.

Assignment

Read verses 1:12-30. Think about Paul’s trials and tribulations. Are there people today who use the Gospel in the same way Paul’s contemporaries used it against him?

Continue to pray Paul’s Philippians’ prayer this week.
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