Deleted Scenes: What's Your Constant Prayer? Romans 1:8-17

Here’s a question for you: what’s something you pray about on a regular basis because it weighs heavily on your heart? What do you find yourself crying out to God for again and again?

For Paul, I think he could have answered that question in all kinds of ways! In Romans 1:9-10, Paul tells the Christians in Rome that he constantly remembers them in his prayers. He even brings God in as his witness. You can ask God, He’ll tell you: Paul is constantly bringing the Romans to His attention. This was despite the fact that, as I’ve mentioned a few times, Paul didn’t have direct pastoral responsibility for this church. As our leadership team reflected on these verses earlier this week, one of our leaders prayed about how convicted he was by this. He confessed to God, “Lord, here was Paul praying constantly for the Roman church and I’m sure he could have said the same thing about the Ephesian church and the Corinthian church and everyone else. And I can’t even say I pray this consistently for my own church!” I think most of us would confess the same.

A day after that, Matt and I were together for Tuesday morning prayer (6:30-7:30am) where we pray especially for the next generation. During that time, it struck me how faithless I have been in my prayers for this emerging generation to hear and believe the Gospel. This can’t just be a once a week, programmed thing. It can’t be about checking off a box on the to-do list. If we want to see revival in this generation, it needs to be a vision that consistently drives us forward. It has to be a desire that burns in our hearts and compels us to pray often. I thought about these verses from Isaiah 62:

I love those verses. May the Lord raise up metaphorical watchmen (and watchwomen) in The Bridge Church who will continually call on the Lord to restore His people to the glory He made them for. May we habitually pray that the Lord would cause us to shine so brightly in this world that people will praise our Father in Heaven. And may our hearts be especially stirred to pray for our rising generation, that they would know the righteousness of God that is revealed in the Gospel (Romans 1:17).

If you want to lean into that with others, there are a couple of ways to do that. As I mentioned above, Matt leads an early morning prayer time on Tuesdays from 6:30-7:30am. I love those times together. Matt is also planning on a worship and prayer night on Tuesday, October 29 for parents or for anyone else passionate to see this generation awakened in the Gospel.

Finally, going back to the original question at the end: if you weren’t sure how to answer that question, if there’s nothing that comes to mind, it’s not because the world is simply as it should be. There are plenty of Kingdom visions that would be worth frequent, heart-felt prayer. I encourage you to pray for the Lord to give you His heart for the people around you. Let the prayer for a passion for prayer be your constant prayer.