IN these last verses of chapter 15 we are introduced to, and given by example, teaching on the ministry of prayer. Paul, as he looked ahead, feared that the way forward would not be without difficulty, even though he had assurance as to the future purpose of God for him, and so he asked that the church in Rome would share in his ministry by prayer.

We all believe in the ministry of prayer, but perhaps we do not appreciate as well as we should the value and importance of this ministry. It is also true that the ministry of prayer is a side of the life of church fellowships which perhaps receives less attention that it ought. If there is a weekly prayer meeting in a church fellowship, it will usually be found to be one of the most poorly attended activities in the church. All of us who are disciples of Jesus have to confess perhaps that the ministry of prayer in private is far from being easy, and often given the least amount of time in our lives.

In the culture of the church in England, although there is a welcomed new emphasis on the ministry of lay people and of the every member, we are still mainly looking to the ordained ministry to do all the ministry in the church, with the help of one or two other prominent members of the congregation. Paul introduces us to another massive concept of ministry here in these verses as he calls on the whole church in Rome to engage in ministry with him in the ministry of prayer.

This is a glorious concept. The ordinary member in the culture of the church in England has been led to feel and expect that the ministry of the church is limited to just a few, and that they have little share in this ministry. Paul introduces us to the concept that every member of a fellowship is engaged in, and must be engaged in, the ministry of the church, and that through the ministry of prayer. We may not be able to preach or teach, and we may feel we have little gifts for service within the church and so we are outside the ministry. This is not true. Every member has a roll in ministry, which is essential to the blessing of God on the church fellowship and the growth of the work. This ministry is one of prayer. There is no more important ministry within the church than the ministry of prayer. The church which prays little will usually experience little blessing and little growth. What a privilege it is to have a role in ministry and the work of God in the church fellowship to which we belong. This privilege is for every believer in a congregation. The growth of God's work worldwide is brought forward by the ministry of prayer. The meetings for prayer within a congregation should be a must for all believers, and so should the ministry of prayer be engaged in in our private prayers.

THOSE WHO ARE ABLE TO ENGAGE IN THIS MINISTRY.

This ministry of prayer has a certain limit. Paul indicates this when he says "by our Lord Jesus Christ". This phrase would be better translated as "through our Lord Jesus Christ". Here is the limit to this ministry. Only those who are true believers through faith in Jesus as their sin-bearer and Saviour, and who are committed to him in obedience as their Lord, can truly engage in this ministry. The reason is that prayer can only be offered effectively and acceptably to God if it is offered "through our Lord Jesus Christ". We have access in prayer into the holy presence of God only through the work of Christ for us, and through his blood shed on the cross to cleanse us from all our sin, and being covered by the righteousness of Christ. Christ only hears the prayers of those who come "through Christ".

It is to these true believers that Paul speaks. It is always recognised that within a church congregation there will always by those who are still unconverted, and are not yet saved sinners through faith in Jesus. These can only offer prayers for themselves, and it is a prayer of simplicity "God be merciful to me, a sinner". Paul makes this distinction clear when he speaks only to 'brothers', that is those who through faith have have been adopted into the family of God, and have the spirit of adoption whereby we cry before God 'Abba, Father'. To such true disciples Paul says 'I urge you, Brothers, by the Lord Jesus', that is through the Lord Jesus. So we see how urgent Paul sees this ministry of prayer. He knew he could not do without it.

We also learn here that when we do come to this ministry of prayer it must always be 'through the Lord Jesus Christ'. The only way we can be heard by God is through Jesus Christ and his intercession for us in the presence of God. This truth must be always in our minds when we pray. And this can be helped by always finishing our prayer with the words 'through our Lord Jesus Christ'.

The other point Paul makes about those who can engage in this ministry of prayer is in the words "by the love of the Spirit". Here again a better translation would be "through the love of the Spirit." In the context this means that we must come in prayer through the love that the Holy Spirit, by his indwelling grace, creates in our hearts and minds, so that all our praying is conducted with a spirit of Christ-like love towards the Lord, and for all those for whom we pray.

Praying is not merely and intellectual activity. Of course we must use our minds, and praying should be intelligent and meaningful, but the heart must be engaged as well. We must care for those we pray for, and we must care for the glory of God made manifest by the answering of our prayers. If we are to pray through the love of the Spirit, then we need to seek from the Holy Spirit this spirit of love for all believers, specially for those for whom we pray, and for lost sinners when we pray that they may be converted. Christ made this clear in the parable of the lost sheep. The good shepherd goes out to seek and to save the lost sheep because of his love for that lost sheep, and rejoices when the lost sheep is found.

The question we need to ask ourselves is how much love there is in our hearts for our fellow believers, and for the lost sinners which are all around us in the world. The more love that is in our hearts the more urgent will be our praying.

THE NATURE OF PRAYER.

Paul then goes on to speak about his struggle. Although Paul had been assured that his future was to minister and preach in Rome, yet he still feared that the future would not all be with ease and without difficulty. With this in mind he speaks of his struggle.

The struggle here seems to me have two directions. One is the struggle of proceeding in the will of God, but also the struggle of praying for God's work which lay before him.

The struggle for the future would appear to lie in the apparent reason why Paul felt obliged to accompany the party bringing aid from the Gentile churches in Asia to the church made up of converted Jews in Jerusalem. Some of Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, although they were true believers, may well be reluctant, and even offended, in receiving temporal help from Gentiles. They may have argued that they should not accept this provision because as Jews they were obligated to depend on God alone. We can see the flaw in this arguing, but it would not be so easy for these converted Jews. Paul as a Jew and a converted Pharisee hoped that he would be able to silence these concerns in the church at Jerusalem, and make the church in Jerusalem willing to accept this gift gratefully from the Gentiles Christians as a gift truly from the Lord. Such difficulties are real, and no one should be critical when they appear, but like Paul seek the ministry of prayer that they may be overcome.

Then there would be the struggle of avoiding the persecution and hate of the Jews in Jerusalem who were not Christians. In the facts of history that followed, which we read of in the Acts of the Apostles, this struggle was very real. Paul did suffer opposition which caused him eventually to appeal to Caesar. Paul anticipated such a struggle and so sought the engagement of the believers in Rome, that this difficulty would be overcome. It was over come, but perhaps in away Paul had hoped would not be so.

PRAYERS SHOULD BE CLEAR.

Paul makes the struggle he sees clear by being specific in the prayers he asked the Christians in Rome to pray. Paul asks for two specific prayers to be offered to the throne of grace in heaven. The first is that he may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea; and secondly that his service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there. Paul also indicates why he is requesting these two prayer requests, and the reason is that Paul does not want either of these two concerns to hinder his coming to the Roman church, or spoil his coming in any way. The need for these prayers are revealed to us in the subsequent difficulties Paul had to experience when he reached Jerusalem which are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.

God answered these two requests in his own way, and not perhaps in the way Paul hoped. We can learn a lesson here. When we pray we have in our mind just how we hope the prayer will be answered by the Lord. When what we hoped for does not materialise in the way we had in our mind, we may well feel that God has not answered our prayers. Paul's experience following these requests for prayer reveal to us that God's purpose for us may not be quite the same as what we would wish, and in such cases we need to remember that God's way is the best and perfect way, even though it may not seem so to us at the time. Often when we look back we see that God's way was best, and that he worked all things well. In all our requests for prayer, even when they are specific such as Paul's were, need to be offered to God with total submission to his will, and in faith that he will answer our prayers in love according to his best for us. Looking for the answer to our prayers must always be with this spirit of obedience and faith.

CONCLUSION.