Philippians: Paul Prays for the Church at Philippi
Philippians 1:9-11 - Excellence, which leads to righteousness through Christ, comes from knowledge and discernment, through abounding agape love.
“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
Philippians 1:9-11 NASB1995
For this passage, I had Steve work with ChatGPT to create an image of worshippers in Philippi. We can imagine that Paul is seeing this in his mind as he prays that their love will abound more and more in real knowledge and all discernment. Paul is praying for their spiritual welfare, for them to approve the things that are excellent. In this way they will be filled with the fruit of righteouness that comes from Jesus.
What is interesting about this prayer for the saints at Philippi is that it has nothing to do with their physical needs or church growth and success. Precept Austin quotes the Berean Bible Church on this type of prayer:
We don't find Paul praying on behalf of physical needs. I'm sure that there were believers at these churches with physical needs. He did pray for Epaphroditus who was sick. We'll see that in chapter two. Paul didn't pray for generic church success and blessing. He ties his prayers directly to their spiritual needs. That was his passion and burden.
What is the content of your prayer life? Are your prayers characterized by thanksgiving as were Paul's? Do you pray for the spiritual health of other believers? What is more important than a believer's spiritual health?
A.W. Pink writes,
"How different are the prayers of Scripture from those which we are accustomed to hear in religious gatherings!"
Behind each of our requests is a desire! We often pray only for physical or material needs....why? We believe that health and material thing will bring us happiness. This is not true. Our happiness comes from our relationship with God. Paul gloried in his physical problems (2Cor 12:9-note, 2Co 12:10-note). Do you? Why did Paul glory in his physical problems? Was he some kind of sick sadomasochist? No!
He gloried in his problems
because
God was glorified in them.So, Paul cut through the all the superficiality instead praying for their deeper needs -- true spiritual growth, which will bring genuine blessing.
Prayer is our duty.
Prayerlessness is a declaration of self-sufficiency,
which is pride!On the other hand,
prayer is a declaration of our dependency.Does your prayer life declare that you are dependent upon God for everything?(How to Glorify God, Philippians 19-11)
We are on the intercessory prayer chain at our current church. Probably 90% (or more) of the prayer requests are for a physical or material need. There is nothing wrong with bringing prayer to God for a physical ailment or for a loved one’s suffering or for an urgent material need, like adequate housing or retaining a much-needed job, for example. Some of the prayers we get, however, are written with the unspoken expectation that God is a supernatural rigged slot machine or magic genie who will pay off BIG TIME and instantly work to remove little annoyances from people’s lives without them having to do a thing to move towards discernment and righteousness. Some people want God to obey us, instead of the other way around.
But what really matters in the long term? Paul uses interesting words in his prayer for the reasons that this church may abound in more and more love: Real knowledge and all discernment, so that they may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless. Let’s do some word studies from the Blue Letter Bible. Oh, and the love referenced is, of course, agape love.
Real knowledge comes from the Greek noun ἐπίγνωσις or epígnōsis (Strong’s G1922) with the following Biblical usages:
precise and correct knowledge
used in the NT of the knowledge of things ethical and divine
Real knowledge knows of those things that are correct and divine.
Discernment comes from the Greek noun αἴσθησις or aísthēsis (Strong’s G144) with the following Biblical usages:
perception, not only by the senses but by the intellect
cognition, discernment
of moral discernment in ethical matters
Note that this word is also the root of the word aesthetic, which, in many ways, is the opposite of moral discernment. Aesthetics are often limited to things that are pleasing to the senses or are considered beautiful. This discernment is perceived by the intellect.
Excellent comes from the Greek verb διαφέρω or diaphérō (Strong’s G1308) with the following Biblical usages:
to bear or carry through any place
to carry different ways
to carry in different directions, to different places
of people who are carried hither and thither in a ship, driven to and fro
to differ, to test, prove, the good things that differ,
to distinguish between good and evil, lawful and unlawful, to approve of things that excel, to differ from one
to excel, surpass one
impersonally, it makes a difference, it matters, is of importance
Excellent: The good things from HIM that differ based on our knowledge and discernment (good versus evil, lawful versus unlawful, etc.).
Sincere comes from the Greek adjective εἰλικρινής or eilikrinḗs (Strong’s G1506) with the following Biblical usages:
pure, sincere, unsullied
found pure when unfolded and examined by the sun's light
That second usage is intriguing and can be used as a metaphor - when we are unfolded and examined by the light of the SON are we found pure? This word in Philippians 1:10 is one of only two usages in the NT, by the way.
Blameless comes from the Greek adjective ἀπρόσκοπος or apróskopos (Strong’s G677) with the following Biblical usages:
having nothing to strike against, not causing to stumble
of a smooth road
metaph. of not leading others to sin by one's mode of life
not striking against or stumbling
metaph. not led into sin, blameless
without offense, not troubled by a consciousness of sin
That metaphor in 1.b is pretty important - blamelessness includes not leading others to sin by what you do in your life (or what you preach).
So let’s summarize: Paul prays that:
Love will abound more and more,
In real knowledge (ethical and divine),
And discernment (done by the intellect - moral and ethical),
Approving things that are excellent (good things as measured by God that differ),
To be sincere (pure, unsullied),
And blameless (without offense),
Until the day of Christ.
I like this commentary again from the Berean Bible Church from Precept Austin (it may seem a little harsh to some but I personally find relevance in it):
In 1Corinthians 13:2, we see that knowledge without love equals zero. In Philippians 1:9, we see that love without knowledge equals sentimentalism. As you learn the word and grow in the word it will affect your love.
First epignosis than aisthesis. People who don't know doctrine have no discernment. It has to do with practical application of that deep knowledge. So, your love is controlled by your theology, and your insight in the application of that theology.
Years ago a man came to our church looking for a place to stay. I told him that we supported the Union Mission and that I would be glad to take him down to the mission. He responded by telling me that he couldn't stay at the mission because he needed a private room. I told him that I would take him to the mission but that was the best I could do. He said to me, "I thought that Christians were supposed to love?" I said, "We are, but we're not supposed to be suckers." That is a paraphrase for discernment. This made him angry and he got violent. We ended up calling the police and he was taken to jail. We need to be discerning. Feeding and putting up a person who is too lazy to work does not help them. Do you know what God's cure for slothfulness is? Hunger! (How to Glorify God, Philippians 1:9-11)
Obviously, one can see that many modern churches have stopped at the word “love” and refuse to allow for attaining knowledge and discernment, thus they approve of everything, including things that God disapproves, instead of searching for the things of excellence that He does approve. They are leading their unrepentant flocks down the broad boulevard instead of looking for the narrow path. I’m going to include a link here to a great article from The Gospel Coalition. They shared it on Facebook recently, but the article is from 2014 and has the four things that Jesus didn’t die for.
Paul ends this passage by saying that the believers at Philippi will be filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes from the Lord Jesus Christ and is for the glory and praise of God, by doing those things that he delineated. This is not one of the fruits of the Spirit that were identified in Galatians 5:22-23, but there are probably many other fruits that come with an obedient and humble submission to the Lord. Self-control is a fruit that can lead to righteousness, as is faithfulness. Let’s do one more word study:
Righteousness comes from the Greek noun δικαιοσύνη or dikaiosýnē (Strong’s G1343) with the following Biblical usages:
in a broad sense: state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God
the doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God
integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting
in a narrower sense, justice or the virtue which gives each his due
What is acceptable to God? Through His love, we can attain knowledge and discernment, which leads to excellence and righteousness. We must stay connected to the source of our righteousness and know that it is for the glory of God. I’ll share one more anecdote from Precept Austin:
Lawrence of Arabia once brought a group of Bedouins to London and housed them in a beautiful hotel. The only kind of dwelling they had ever lived in was a tent in the desert. They quickly became fascinated with the faucets in the hotel. In the desert water was hard to come by, but in the hotel they merely had to turn a knob to get all the water they needed. When Lawrence helped them pack up to leave, he discovered they'd taken the faucets off all the sinks and put them in their bags. They believed that if they possessed the faucets they would also possess the water. Christians often forget that in the spiritual realm they are like faucets. Unless they are connected to the pipeline of spiritual water, they are just as useless as the faucets the Bedouins had in their bags. Spiritual fruit flows out of a Christian only when he or she is connected to the source of spiritual power..."which comes through Jesus Christ"
You are a "spiritual" faucet
and must remain connected to the Source
or you won't bring forth living water.
My next devotional examines Philippians 1:12-14 - Paul explains his present circumstances.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please help me stay connected to the Source of love, knowledge, discernment, excellence, and righteousness so that I may give God the glory. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 6/28/2025 to review the lexicon for knowledge, discernment, excellence, sincerity, blameless, and righteousness.
Precept Austin was accessed on 6/28/2025 to review commentary for Philippians 1:9-11.