a prisoner of Christ Jesus

I am listening to John MacArthur's messages on Acts and in particular Acts 21:26 and on to the end of Acts.
Paul, from Acts 21:26 on is a prisoner.
In Ephesians 3:1 he says "For this reason I Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles---".
In Philemon 1:1 "Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus,...".
In Philemon 1:9 "--being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ."

I have recently read again for the ??? time, Pilgrim's Progress, written by John Bunyan, for the most part while he was in prison more or less continuously from 1660 to 1672.
He too could say that he was a "prisoner of Christ Jesus"; and say with Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:16 "For if I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not  preach the Gospel!"

And finally, we see that the persecution of believers who proclaim and confess Christ still become "prisoner[s] of Christ Jesus..." today.  There are many, one of whom is Youcef Nadharkhani, a Christian minister in Iran who has been in prison for just under 3 years for 'apostasy' from Islam.

Our Glorious Purpose

This passage is from the March 2010 Tabletalk (Ligonier Ministries) and is by Rev. Fred Klett in an article entitled "From Jerusalem, to All Nations, and Back Again":

"It is easy to get bogged down in mundane and parochial concerns. Dull details of the daily grind constantly scream for our attention. We must not lose sight of the glorious purpose for which we have been called: the restoration of all creation. Our witness, our prayer, our service to bind up the wounds of the suffering in the name of Jesus are all part of something spectacular and wonderful, something the prophets longed to look into (1 Peter 1:10). May God renew our zeal for His work in our own neighborhoods and for His worldwide missionary enterprise. May He revive us to pray and work in faith toward both Jews and Gentiles being restored to blessing. Messiah Jesus is still at work advancing the Father's kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit. The second volume of the book of Acts is still being written. Let us recommit ourselves to this gospel enterprise, from Jerusalem, to all nations -- and then back again."

We live in exciting times, working with Messiah Jesus to advance the Father's Kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are a part of the second volume of Acts!! Glory! Glory! and Amen.

Involved??

Involved in the work of the Master? Doing His Will? Staying in contact with His Words?

If you are unable to "go to" and "join in" and "be a part of" because of whatever, there is a way to stay involved and purposely put yourself in His line of work -- pray.

What should I pray for? How should I pray? How do I know if God hears? What if my mind wanders (I'm personally acquainted with this question!)?

I'm very interested in the power and purpose of prayer, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, at the throne of Grace. Even though prayer has been part of my spiritual journey, I will never be too advanced or perfected or saintly to outgrow my need of learning to pray and then doing just that - PRAY.

A new opportunity has been given, in answer to prayer, to stretch once more in the direction of the Holy, looking upward to the Author and Finisher of our Faith, to grow in faith and with a different focus - http://www.pray4gcr.com/.

The time focus is for the Orlando gathering in late June of 2010 - but the eternal time focus is well,...., eternal. I like that. I don't need to know the immediate answers to this prayer request, just learn to be faithful in my prayer time...and not let my mind wander.