Philippians 1:9-11 Beloved Benediction

Philippians 1:9-11    (Friday-Sunday benediction)

⁹ And this is my prayer,

that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight
¹⁰ to help you to determine what is best,
so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,
¹¹ having produced the harvest of righteousness
that comes through Jesus Christ
for the glory and praise of God.

One way to internalize Scripture is to pray the same Scriptures on a regular basis.  I’m not always very good at remembering to pick up a prayer book and pray a set of daily prayers…so since Scripture memorization is important to me, I’ve set up my own rotation of memorized or nearly-memorized Scriptures.  If I remember, I can say these to myself in the evening before or after bedtime. 

Sunday is Psalm 8 and Colossians 3:12-17.  Tuesday is “In the beginning”:  Genesis 1:1-5 and John 1:1-14.  Wednesday is Psalm 23 and the “salt and light” passage from Matthew 5.  In addition to an Old Testament and New Testament memory passage for each day, I say a benediction.  (That is, if I’m still awake when I get to that point.  Of course, bathing oneself in Scripture is a pretty good way to go to sleep.)

Philippians 1:9-11 has been my Friday-Saturday benediction ever since I started this idea ten years ago.  (Actually, it’s my Sunday benediction, too, because I don’t really have Jude 24 memorized yet.)  I love this prayer.  I love the idea of having Paul (or anyone) pray this for me, because I know I need it.  I like praying this prayer for other people.  I have used it as a benediction in a worship service, and often add the words “for you”:

This is my prayer for you:
that your love may overflow more and more

with knowledge and depth of insight,

to help you determine what is best,

so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,

having produced the harvest of righteousness

that comes through Christ Jesus,

for the glory and praise of God.

I hope, during the next few days, to also think about these words of benediction in the context in which they appear in Philippians.  But I won’t stop using them as a benediction on their own.  Even when we do have love for each other, we can always use more and more insight.  We can always use knowledge and perceptiveness, so that we can be attuned to the Spirit’s leading and determine what is best.  None of us are pure and blameless, but hopefully we are growing and moving in that direction.  May we bear fruit – the kind of bountiful harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus and gives glory and praise to God!

By the way, my other benedictions, in case you’re interested, are:

Ephesians 3:20-21   (Monday and Tuesday benediction)

²⁰ Now to him who by the power at work within us

is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,

²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations,

forever and ever.     Amen

 

Numbers 6:24-26  (Wednesday and Thursday benediction)

²⁴ The LORD bless you and keep you;

²⁵ the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;

²⁶ the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.