The love of the Spirit

Paul was a man of prayer: he prayed for others and sought prayer from others.

Here he asks the Roman church to pray for him.

He makes a connection: he asks them to pray through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit - a phrase which speaks of the love he has to us, the love of God he communicates to us, and the love to God and others he stirs up in us.

Paul then calls the church to action: spiritual prayer that involves an effort, a partnership, an audience, and a range of concerns - deliverance, service and fellowship.

He closes with a benediction, one of his great concerns whenever he writes to God’s people: not only that they would have peace with God, but that they might enjoy the peace of God.

Such are the concerns of the people who are moved by their relationship to Christ Jesus, and animated by the love of the Spirit.