As mentioned in my initial post for this series, I intend to blog through a number of New Testament texts where the Apostles are either praying or reflecting on their prayers. In noting how the Apostles prayed, it will help us to conform our prayers so that they are more biblical.
Today's text is 3 John 2:
Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.
Prayer Focus: Petition that God would prosper us and our health in proportion to our soul's prospering.
Calvin's thoughts and Akin's thoughts were helpful in gaining an understanding of the text:
Here also is his good wish for his friend, that his body may enjoy good health as well as his soul. Grace and health are two rich companions; grace will improve health, which will employ grace. It frequently falls out that a rich soul is lodged in a crazy body; grace must be exercised in submission to such a dispensation. But we may wish and pray that those who have prosperous souls may have healthy bodies too; their grace will then shine in a larger sphere of activity.
Calvin, J., & Henry, M. (1998). 1, 2 & 3 John. The Crossway Classic Commentaries (123). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
John’s prayer-wish should give us pause. What if such a prayer was made to God for me and it was answered? What condition would I find myself in physically and spiritually? Compare your bodily health to your spiritual health. Dare we hope or pray for ourselves or others in this manner? The order is not insignificant. The spiritual is indeed “the standard of measurement for the physical.”
Akin, D. L. (2001). Vol. 38: 1, 2, 3 John (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (240). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
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