“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you” (Romans 1:9-10).
It seems interesting that the Apostle Paul called upon God to serve as a corroborating witness to his prayers for the congregation at Rome. Of course, the church at Rome wasn’t the only congregation Paul was praying for, as we learn in his epistles to the Ephesian (Ephesians 1:15-16), Philippian (Philippians 1:3-4), Colossian (Colossians 1:3-4), and Thessalonian (1Thessalonians 1:2-3) churches.
Even though Paul had many acquaintances who attended the church at Rome, it appears that few (if any) of them were aware of his prayers on their behalf. Paul’s quiet, prayerful dedication to their well-being thus serves as a model for us to emulate. It should also prompt us to consider the following counsel from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount…
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven… And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:1, 5-6 ESV).
Paul will later go on to mention the obstacles that prevented him from fulfilling his desire to visit Rome in verse thirteen. But despite those setbacks, Paul never ceased in his heartfelt prayers for the members of that congregation. In taking this prayerful approach, Paul sought to align himself with God’s will in acting on his desire to meet the members of the Roman fellowship and enjoy their company. And while Paul did indeed make it to Rome, the circumstances of his arrival there were probably not what he expected at the time he authored this epistle.
Nevertheless, God used the opportunity of that delay to produce the Biblical masterpiece we know today Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Thus, as Paul will later write in a well-known and beloved portion of this letter, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).