Philippians 1:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He says, I both praise and pray, because you have advanced in virtue. I do not cease praying, but continually pray for you.

"I thank my God," he says, "upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy." Always, and not only when I pray.

He rightly added "with joy," because one can also do this with sorrow. As he says elsewhere, "Out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have abundantly for you.

But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but in part, lest I say too much, all of you" (2 Cor 2:4-5). See verse 5.

“Always in every prayer of mine for you all” ... I do not cease to pray for you, but I pray for all, that you may advance still more and more. “Making my prayer with joy.” It is possible to remember with sorrow, as he says elsewhere: “Out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you” (2 Cor 2:4). Therefore remembrance with joy is a testimony to their virtue.

And although in all my prayers and supplications I pray for your deliverance from these persecutions, nevertheless I make supplication with joy for the fellowship of your faith...

As I remember you without ceasing, I am filled with every joy. I hymn the God of all because you received the evangelical preaching with zeal, and to this day have remained unshaken. The Apostle called faith “fellowship in the gospel.”

Phil 1:3-11. The Apostle tells the Philippians that he "thanks God at every remembrance of them," and "with joy makes prayer for them all," for their participation in the Gospel through works of charity.

He calls God to witness that he loves them all with the love of Jesus Christ. He prays "that their love may abound yet more and more."

He prays that, "discerning what is excellent," that is, being perfected in spiritual knowledge and spiritual perception, which precisely distinguishes good from evil, they may prove "pure and blameless for the day of Christ."

This means the universal judgment of Christ. They are to be filled with the fruits of righteousness, to the glory and praise of God.

The good beginning of the planting of Christian love in the Philippians assured the Apostle that they would be further perfected. Yet since this work is chiefly God's, he prayed for it during every supplication.

By this he teaches all to believe and hope that God, who began the work of salvation in us, will bring it to complete fulfillment. This is especially true for those in whom the first manifestation of Christian concern and love shone so brightly, as it did among the Philippians.

According to Bishop Theophan, the Apostle speaks here as if saying: "Every time I pray, I thank God for your remembrance, and I pray for all of you with joy. Prayer for you is my consolation."

Then the Apostle says that he cannot remember the Philippians without a feeling of thanksgiving to God. The Apostle’s thanksgiving takes the form of prayerful supplication (δβησείς), is offered constantly, and indeed for all members of the Church without distinction. Finally, this prayer of the Apostle is offered by him in a joyful and radiant disposition of spirit (vv. 3-4).

"I thank," he says, "God for your remembrance always in every prayer of mine." That is, whenever I pray to God, I thank Him for this also.

I do not let any prayer pass without thanking God for your remembrance. The Apostle had many persons, many communities, and many matters for which he prayed.

Each object of prayer required a special word of prayer, corresponding not only to its importance, but also to the relation in which it stood to the Apostle. In the latter case some objects called forth rejoicing before God, while others brought sorrow and pain.

The Philippians gladdened the Apostle by their devotion to the faith and their readiness to assist the success of the Gospel in every way. Therefore, when he came to them in his prayer, he prayed for them all with joy.