Calling for Specific Prayer
I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed. The God of peace be with you all. Amen. Romans 15:30-33
Paul concludes with prayer requests for his visits (15:30-32) and a benediction (15:33)
‘I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me’ (15:30). Paul earlier assured the Roman Christians that he was constantly praying for them (1:9f) and now he wants them to pray for him. They are ‘brothers’ in God’s family so he appeals to them ‘by our Lord Jesus Christ’ (our common Lord) and ‘by the love of the Spirit’ (our common love birthed in us through the same Holy Spirit).
Paul calls on his readers to join him in this ‘struggle’ by praying. ‘Be my allies in the fight’ (NEB). The term ‘struggle’ may suggest that prayer involves ‘wrestling with God’ (Genesis 32:24ff) or the diligence needed to make headway through prayer. But because Paul uses the term to describe his own ministry (Colossians 1:29 cf.4:12; 1 Timothy 4:10) he is more likely inviting the Roman Christians to participate with him, through prayer, in his missionary work.
Paul asks them to pray for two things. The first concerns the opposition of unbelievers. ‘Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers (literally: those who disobey) in Judea’ (15:31). He knows he has many enemies among the unbelieving Jews who would take steps to stop him. He knows in the natural that he is in danger. He will soon admit while en route to Jerusalem ‘I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus’ (Acts 21:13).
Paul’s second prayer request relates to the Jewish Christian community. ‘Pray … that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there’ (15:31). He realises it might be difficult for them to accept the offering. By accepting the gift, Jewish believers could be seen to be endorsing Paul’s gospel and his seeming disregard for the Jewish law and traditions. But if his gift was to be rejected, this would widen the rift between Jew and Gentile believers possibly irrevocably. Paul wants Jewish-Gentile solidarity in the body of Christ strengthened by the Jewish Christians acceptance of the gift.
Paul now asks for prayer for his visit to Rome. He sees the two visits connected. His voyage to Rome is really only possible if his visit to Jerusalem is successful. So he asks the Roman church to pray that he might be protected and his gift accepted in Jerusalem, not only because these are important in themselves but also ‘so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed’ (15:32). Whatever the reception in Jerusalem, he knows he will need the refreshment fellowship with the Roman Christians will bring.
Paul’s reference to the will of God is important (‘so that by God’s will I may come to you’). He has prayed earlier that ‘now at last by God’s will the way may be opened’ for him to come to Rome (1:10). Here he repeats that it be by God’s will. We don’t pray to bend God’s will to ours. We pray to align our will with His. The promise that our prayer is answered is conditional on our asking ‘according to his will’ (1 John 5:14). Every prayer we pray must be a variation on the theme: ‘Your will be done’ (Matthew 6:10).
Paul ends this part of the letter with a third benediction, ‘The God of peace be with you all. Amen’ (15:33). He chooses this time to call God ‘the God of peace’ (or reconciliation) which is a very Jewish concept, and instead of writing ‘with you’ he writes ‘with you all.’ These are very real clues that Paul is very preoccupied with Jewish-Gentile unity.