Pray by Jesus and the love of the Spirit

Romans 15:30-31 Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; I’ve heard it said that prayer is one of the first things we can do to love another person. In these two verses we gain insight into how we can live to love with Jesus—pray. Paul urged them to pray to God for him. The encouragement today is how he urged them to pray. Pray by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit. In my words, he appealed to them. “Love me with Jesus by the Spirit and strive with me in prayer for me.” We know there were Jews in Jerusalem who were out to get Paul. They hated him and were willing to not eat until they killed him. We can see why he felt he needed God to rescue him. Even though that was the case, Paul was committed to seeing his mission of delivering the contribution of the Gentiles through to the end. All of us have loved ones, friends, and acquaintances who are facing trials and suffering in life. To pray by our Lord Jesus Christ implies that Jesus is loving them in prayer as He intercedes for us. In Romans 8 Paul wrote this about prayer. Romans 8:26-27. “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” We see Jesus and the Spirit working together in prayer when we don’t know how to pray. In these verses, this reality is echoed. So we can conclude that one aspect of living to love with Jesus is striving together in prayer with one another in partnership with Jesus and with the Holy Spirit. Let us approach our Father through the intercessory work of our Lord Jesus Christ in the love of the Holy Spirit on behalf of our brothers and sisters.