9 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,
For God is my witness,
Paul now proceeded to justify his prayer life to the Roman church. He called on God to witness his next statements. This was no idle rhetoric on Paul’s part. He was a man of serious prayer.
whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son,
Paul served the Lord with his whole heart. His service came out of his heart for “the gospel of His Son.” The word “serve” means to serve in a religious sense as a priest serves in the temple. Paul’s prayer was his priestly intercessory prayer on behalf of others.
that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,
Paul prayed for the Romans on a constant basis even though he had never been there.
PRINCIPLE:
God expects us to focus our prayer life.
APPLICATION:
If we were to ask God to witness our prayer life, how do you think we would pray? Much prayer is superficial and casual rather than intense and focused. We often make flip promises to pray for others. Focused prayer means that if we promise to pray for a missionary, we will without question pray for the request.
It is one thing to pray for others occasionally, but Paul prayed for the Romans “without ceasing.”
