Hebrews Chapter Thirteen, Praying With Purpose

Hebrews 13:18 Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably. [19] But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.

This passage speaks to the power of prayer when used in accord with God’s will. Prayer is not a burden or obligation for the saint; it is a tool we are given, a blessing to approach the throne of grace to appeal to the King of all creation for petitions in Jesus’ name. Prayer is a vital, lively necessity for the Christian, and the writer here tells the saints to pray for his group. This is injunctive, not suggestive.

Paul summarized prayer’s importance for the Christian when he wrote, “pray without ceasing,” 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Again the verse is injunctive, commanding, not requesting, prayer from the saints to God. Prayer, like salvation is personal and individual. Yes, corporate prayer in the church is also mandated, but even then the church body is comprised of a mass of individuals, like-minded in their faith, whose petitions should align when addressing the God they worship and serve. James writes, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much,” James 5:16. Paul says of the saints in Ephesus that, while wrestling with the true enemy of Christians—demons—that we are to be, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints,” Ephesians 6:18.

That is why the writer in question has no shame when he says that the Hebrew Christians were to pray for him and his fellows. He testifies that he has a good conscience, and that his desire (along with his fellow saints) is to live honorably. His good conscience and desire for an honorable life reflect his walk in the Spirit toward both those within and without the church. It is written, “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time,” Colossians 4:5. The HCSB renders the verse, “Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.” The gospel of Christ is first preached by a believer’s lifestyle. If a man lives like the lost, but goes on to preach the virtues of faith in Christ and the life to come, it may fall on deaf ears. The lost may not have spiritual wisdom, but they have eyes to see. If our lives are not congruent with our confession, the gospel’s potency is rendered inert because why seize on something that clearly does not possess the value you claim it does? The disciple’s life is the fifth gospel. We, our lives, are read and scrutinized before Matthew, Mark, Luke or John is.

The author’s testimony is that he possesses a good conscience, but to pray for him regardless. Why? Like Paul, introspection does not clear us from wrongdoing. “For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord,” 1 Corinthians 4:4. The prayers of the saints are welcomed, encouraged, and even commanded. Jesus our Lord taught the parable of the unjust judge to His disciples, using it as an object lesson that, “men always ought to pray and not lose heart,” Luke 18:1-5. The writer of Hebrews was also following an earlier teaching, given in Philippians, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God,” Philippians 4:6. God heeds the requests of His children, so he sought for his fellow believers to beseech God to confirm him in his desire, and strengthen him to so walk.

The second part of his desire for prayer was that he may be restored to them. The writer and his Jewish audience were well acquainted. He had personally been among them previously, which is why he asks that they pray he might be restored to them, or brought back into their personal fellowship for their mutual edification and comfort. This verse may hearken back to Hebrews 10:33, 34, where we read that the author had been in prison, and these Hebrew Christians had compassion on him, intimating that they had visited him in his imprisonment. There is perhaps a note of impatience in his writing, since he not only seeks reunion, but speedy reunion. Clearly he loves these Jewish saints, and moved by a spirit of love he wrote to them these things, seeking to correct error and draw their attention back to Christ. If they deemed him a true teacher and elder in their body, then they would heed what he had just written and would emulate his conduct, based on its outcome, Hebrews 13:7. 

If his doctrine aligned with his life, they were safe to hold him up as a model for how the Christian life should be lived, just as Paul urged the Corinthian church to imitate his life, rather than the carnal, divisive Christians that were wreaking havoc at Corinth, 1 Corinthians 11:1. The love these men had for one another, who were united through Jesus Christ, is deeply touching. It isn’t a superficial love like we see today with so many in the professing church, where we pretend that we care, and invest some words, but when action is needed because need is genuine, we recant and withdraw. We remain in our sphere, safe from interacting or being expected to enter into another’s troubles. We don’t invest in anyone’s life. Is this Christian love? The writer was deeply invested, and agonized, hoping to return to them sooner, ready to be immersed in whatever problems they suffered individually or corporately because he loved them. We, as God’s saints, may begin demonstrating our love for the brethren by modeling the command that began this passage: “Pray for us.”