Romans 1:9-10 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
Paul calls upon God as witness to how much he prays for the believers in Rome. Many of Paul’s letters mention how he prays for the churches. His prayer list must have been extensive. His praying must have been often, even “constantly.” Is this an overstatement? How can someone constantly remember someone in prayer? Only when prayer is part one’s lifestyle and one keeps people in prayer. Prayer is a way to remember people and even to learn people’s names. How often do we glibly say, “I will pray for you,” but we don’t? I am guilty of that. Part of Paul’s prayer for the Romans is that God will open the way for him to visit Rome. He is praying for God’s will about this. That does not mean that God will answer Paul’s prayers like Paul is imagining. In fact, history tells us that Paul did visit Rome, but only as a prisoner. How much freedom he had is unknown and debated. Acts 28 does not say much, only that he was under a form of house arrest. It is possible that the believers in Rome were able to visit him, but he was not able to visit the church freely and preach the gospel. God may answer our prayers but not always how or when we would like. Paul’s visit of Rome was quite a few years later but not under the freedom that he may have wished.
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