Prayerful, Persistent Planning and Preaching
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. Romans 1:13
As Paul thinks of the ministry he hopes to have in Rome, he turns his attention to his plans for such a visit. He is apparently aware that some Christians in Rome have been critical of him for ‘ignoring’ them for so long and so wants them to understand his failure to visit Rome was not because of a lack of will but a lack of opportunity. The most likely explanation is the one he mentions towards the end of the letter, that his evangelistic work in and around Greece had not yet been completed (15:22ff). He wanted to visit them ‘in order that I might have a harvest among you.’ The word ‘harvest’ is literally ‘fruit,’ inferring Paul wanted to win converts in Rome ‘just as I have … among the other Gentiles’ (1:13).
Paul was ever prayerful, ever persistent, ever planning and ever preaching.
He made prayer for the churches high priority (Ephesians 1:16; Philippians 1:3,4; Colossians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:3).
He persisted in every venture for Christ, refusing to be put off by the obstacles that even turned his fellow workers away (Acts 13:13).
He was always planning on evangelising where the gospel had not yet gone. In Romans 15:15,23,24 Paul outlines his desire to use Rome as a base in his future mission into Spain. And finally he was ever the preacher, recognising that God used the ‘foolishness’ of preaching to brings souls to Himself (1 Corinthians 1:21).
Where are you in each of these four areas – prayer, persistence, planning and preaching? What are you doing to make Christ known? Knowing God and making Him known – there can be nothing greater. Do you have people in mind that you regularly pray will come to Christ? Do you pray for and look for opportunities to share Christ with them and others? This was how Paul thought. Make it the way you think too.