In the middle of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus gave his disciples a tutorial lesson on prayer.  Absent from the prayer is “I” and “me” and “my.”  Instead  you find “us” and “we” and “our.”  Jesus gives a corporate, communal prayer.

This, then, is how you should pray:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

– Matthew 6:9-13

God has created us for relationships.  God created us to accomplish His will together.  Borrowing the phrase from Philippians 1:5, I call this gospel partnership.

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now – Philippians 1:4-5

Christian community is essential.  Even the apostle Paul could not accomplish his missionary work solo.  He depended on the prayers and support of the church at Philippi as he took the gospel to the ends of the earth.

I’m thankful for the gospel partners in my life.  May I invest in them.  May God bear fruit from their investment in me.

I preached an 11-week sermon series through Philippians in which each sermon focused on gospel partnership.  I’m currently turning that series into a devotional book.  I look forward to sharing it with you soon.