request – Ministry of Grace Church

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Romans 1:10 – Focused on Serving

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Will

making request if, by any means, now at length I shall be blessed by the will of God to come to you.

Truth to Learn

Paul’s singular focus in life was serving God.

Behind the Words

The Greek word translated “making request” is deomai. This appears to be a middle voice (subject acting upon himself) of the word deō, meaning “to bind.” In that sense, therefore, it indicates a person being personally bound up. It is interpreted by most Greek scholars to imply a lack for oneself and, therefore, is often translated as “to make a request for one’s own needs.” Therefore, the translation “making request” makes a lot of sense.

Meaning Explained

Today’s verse is a continuation of yesterday’s verse. You really need to read the last phrase of verse 9 along with verse 10, thus:

that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by any means, now at length I shall be blessed by the will of God to come to you.

As we mentioned in our study of the previous verse, Paul is a real prayer warrior. We don’t know if Paul regularly prayed at a particular time of the day (every morning or every evening) of if he simply prayed all day long. Certainly, he had to take some time to study the Old Testament scriptures, the writings of other Apostles, and he had to take time to prepare the marvelous messages that he preached. It is entirely possible, however, that whenever he was not specifically engaged in some other spiritual activity, Paul was praying, and he always prayed for the Roman Christians.

One of his constant prayers regarding the Christians in Rome was,

making request if, by any means, now at length I shall be blessed by the will of God to come to you.

Paul had never been to Rome, therefore he asked God to fulfill that lacking which he felt. He really wanted to see and meet the Christians in Rome, possibly because of the reputation they had regarding their faith. More likely, as he says in the next verse, it was because he had further teaching that he wanted to impart to them. Personally, I would love to go to Rome, to see all the historical places, but that’s not what was on Paul’s heart. His heart was for the believers in Rome. Once again, I am humbled by his singleness of purpose. Paul was so sold out to God that serving Him was all he cared about.

As we learn in the book of Acts, God answered Paul’s prayer, and he finally got to see Rome approximately three years after writing this letter. However, it surely wasn’t in the manner that Paul expected, for he arrived in chains. In spite of the ignominy of Paul’s condition, however, many Roman Christians came out and walked the last day or two of the trip with Paul as they welcomed him with honor into their city.

Application

Is your devotion to God and your desire to serve Him so strong that you can think of nothing else? Or is your desire for everything else so strong that you seldom think about serving Him?

That’s something that we all need to pray about … without ceasing!

In God's service, for His glory,

1 Thessalonians 4:1 – Love Others!

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Will

As for the rest then, brothers, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you need to walk and to please God that you should abound more;

Truth to Learn

Being more loving is our responsibility.

Behind the Words

“As for the rest” is translated from the Greek word loipon, which refers to “something remaining.” In regard to time, it can be translated as “henceforth” In regard to other things, it can be translated “as to the rest” of “for the remainder.”

The word translated “request” is erotaō, which means “to ask, to inquire, or to urge.”

The word “exhort” is from parakaleō, which is made up of para, meaning “near, beside, or alongside” and kaleō, meaning “to call.” Thus parakaleō literally means “to call near” or “to call alongside.” Metaphorically, it means “to encourage, to challenge, or to coach.”

“You received” is from paralambanō. This word means “to take near” or “to receive to oneself.”

“Need” is translated from the Greek word dei, which means to have a necessity or a need.

The word “walk” is translated from peripateō, which literally means “to walk around.” Metaphorically, it refers to the manner in which one lives one’s life.

“Please” is from areskō, meaning “to soften one’s heart toward another” or “to please.”

Perisueuō is the word translated “should abound.” It means “to be in excess” or “to have more than enough.” It is expressed here in the subjunctive mood, indicating the possibility or probability of something happening. So, we see that it means “you may abound” or “you might abound.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous chapter Paul explained why he sent Timothy to the Thessalonian church: to strengthen and encourage them. His concern was that the afflictions and suffering that Paul and his companions were enduring, as well as what the Thessalonians themselves were enduring, might have caused their faith to grow weak. Having learned that their faith remained strong, Paul then offered up a prayer for them.

Paul now switches gears and goes into preaching mode in this chapter and most of the next. He has been expressing his love and concern for the Thessalonians, but now he needs to get down to some serious teaching. Therefore, he starts out his sermon with “As for the rest then, brothers, we request and exhort …” His challenge is that the Christians there might abound even more. But what are they supposed to abound in? If we look back two verses, we see that Paul prayed that God would cause them to increase and abound in love for others. Now Paul is telling the Thessalonian Christians that they need to abound (in love) even more. On the surface, this may sound contradictory. Is it God who causes us to abound in love, or is it our responsibility to actively pursue being more loving of others? The answer is both. We can’t understand the Trinity (how God can be one and still be three persons.) We also can’t understand how we have the responsibility for being more loving toward others and yet God is the one who enables such love.

Application

God is all powerful, but Christians can’t just sit back and let Him make us more loving of others. We have to put effort into demonstrating the love of God to everyone around us.

In God's service, for His glory,

1 Corinthians 1:22 – Signs and Wisdom

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Will

For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;

Truth to Learn

God is not found in miraculous signs or worldly wisdom.

Behind the Words

The word translated “since” is epeidē, which is made up of epei, meaning “as” or “because” and dē, a particle of affirmation or emphasis meaning “indeed.” Therefore, we could translate epeidē as “as indeed” or “whereas.”

“Request” is from aiteō, meaning “to ask, to request, or to beg.” It is a word that is used of a person of inferior rank requesting something from a person of superior rank.

Sēmion is the Greek word translated “sign.” It refers to “a mark, a token, or a miracle with a spiritual significance.”

“Seek” is translated from dzēteō, which means “to look for” or “to seek for.” As used here, it carries the idea of an earnest and eager attempt to find something.

Meaning Explained

In order to drive home his point, in the past few verses Paul has been making a play on words between “wisdom” and “foolishness.” He has contrasted the foolishness of worldly intellect and attainment of the revered wise men of Greek culture (the philosophers) and the revered scholars of the Jewish culture (the scribes) with the true wisdom of God. These “wise” men of the world and of religion believe in their own wisdom and think that faith in God is foolishness. In reality, it is the other way around; their wisdom is foolishness and God’s foolishness is great wisdom.

He now gets even more specific regarding those who are religiously wise and those who are worldly wise. As a representative of the religiously wise, he talks here about “the Jews.” From the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel), the Israelites have been followers of the One True God; however, over the years they perverted true worship by including man-made rules and ordinances. By the time of Christ there were so many rules that they had to have men who had studied the laws all their life interpret the law for them. These were the intellectual giants of Jewish culture. In fact, it became so difficult for the average Jew to understand their own religion that they didn’t even recognize their own Messiah when he came. And, when He did come, they demanded miraculous signs from Him to prove that He was the Messiah. By the middle of the first century, the Jews were still demanding signs instead of simply believing.

The Greeks, however, believed that wisdom was the ultimate accomplishment of man. They gave great reverence and honor to the philosophers of their time. These men studied science, mathematics, literature, and culture. Their ultimate quest was to obtain wisdom, to know the meaning and purpose of life.

Today, man seeks after riches and power. Some do so through religion while most do so through education and politics. Many “religious” leaders today employ miraculous signs as an indication of their spirituality. The “wise” men of our time use their power and position to get what they want.

Application

Things haven’t changed very much in the past two thousand years. Instead of seeking God through faith, people seek after riches and power as their God, trying to prove to themselves that they don’t need God or His “foolish” system of faith.

In God's service, for His glory,