We are continuing in the study of the mandate for believer's prayer in the PPOG. . Phil 4:6; 1Thes 5:17;

We are looking at Paul's prayers that are recorded in his letters we can better understand what we should pray for.

At the moment we are considering Paul's prayer for the spiritual growth of believers that was recorded in Phil 1:9-11;

In verse 11 Paul prays for believers to be filled with the "fruit of righteouseness."

This righteousness is produced in the believer by God when the believer is functioning in the spiritual life through the application of Bible Doctrine to experience under the mentorship of God the Holy Spirit.



We have seen that in the Phil 1:11; passage this production is viewed with regard to the quality of it's character as the “fruit of righteousness,” and in Gal 5:22, the same production is viewed with regard to it's source as the “fruit of the Spirit.”where details of it's characteristics are also described.


We are continuing a study of the 9th category of the production of God the Holy Spirit in the believer which is described as self- control.

Self-Control is translated from The Greek noun "egkrateia" and means self-discipline or self-control, it is the virtue of one who masters their desires and passions, especially their sensual desires.

We saw last time that Paul uses the Athlete and the Soldier as examples of those having discipline through self control and we are comparing the equality of the training of the athlete in the ancient games and the soldier in basic training to the believer in the PPOG.

This equality in training is equivalent to the equal privilege and equal opportunity that exists for every believer as part of God's plan for their life. The resources for this exist inside the PPOG, as the place in where believers are to train and then hold their ground inside the PPOG as soldiers in the invisible war. Gal 3:28; Eph 6:13;NET note 27

Many believers understand that they are sinners and that they need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior for eternal salvation, but they do not understand that they need the Word of God daily to receive the spiritual provision necessary to withstand the pressures they will face in their life on this earth.

Because of this they reject the principle of NEH 8:18, where a revival was taking place in Israel because of the Israelites' desire for doctrine from their teacher, Ezra during the feast of booths as part of the ritual plan of God for Israel. Lev 23:32;

Believer's in the church age are part of the new spiritual species Gal 6:15 NET note 28 ; and live in the protocol plan of God where evey day is the same and the PMA of Bible Doctrine is necessary every day. Col 2:16-17; NET notes 34 and 35

Remember the community of Isreal ==>Soul of the Church Age Believer.
Ritual in Isreael ==> PMA of Bible Doctrine and the FHS for the Church Age Believer

The Lord Jesus Christ as wisdom personified made doctrine His delight on a day-by-day basis, Prov 8:30; and promises blessings to those who watches and waits to listen daily, Prov 8:34;

Just as we need physical food every day to live and grow physically, We need the Spiritual food of the Word of God daily to live and grow spiritually, Matt 4:4, LUK 9:23.

Keeping with this principle, during his ministry while on this earth, the Lord Jesus Christ taught Bible doctrine every day, LUK 19:47.

The early church met every day. Acts 16:5 ; NET

The principle of the daily intake of Bible doctrine is taught throughout scripture in passages such as PSA 61:8; PSA 72:15, 119:164, 145:2; Acts 2:46, 5:42, 20:31, HEB 10:25.

We see from these passages that a daily commitment to spiritual exercise and self-discipline is dogmatically taught in the Scripture. It is only by developing spiritual strength from the repetition of their application of Bible Doctrine that the believer can have the spiritual capacity to fulfill their own personal sense of destiny.

When believers lack self-control, and exit the PPOG they are defenseless against the attacks that the kosmic system engages them in through the OSN. James 1:13-15;

Only the disciplined believer inside the PPOG who is living the unique spiritual life of the Church age who is prepared to withstand the pressure battle in the angelic conflict. Eph 6:11-12;

1Cor 9:25; Those who compete exercise self control.

There were (2) groups of people in the training regimen of the ancient games. the "agonistai" who were those who worked out for the purpose of staying in shape, who did not qualify for the games and were unable to compete and the "atheleti "who trained to actually compete in the games.

The Greek word "agonistai "is the source of the English word "agony," and is analogous to the believer who comes to Bible class and hears, but does not metabolize or apply the doctrine and consequently remains in the arrogance of the cosmic system trying to fulfill the mandates of the PPOG in the energy of the strentgh of their OSN and as a result God is unable to produce anything in their lives and they are unable to engage in the angelic conflict. James 1:22-25;

The "athletai "(athletes) Paul is referring to trained under the strict rules of the national gymnasium for ten months. They were not allowed to leave the large walled area of the gymnasium, and had to exercise under the authority of the gumnasiarch, the director of the gym (analogous to God the Holy Spirit).

They were all on the same strict diet (other foods being analogous to distractions of the cosmic system). Everyone participated in group exercise naked outdoors, regardless of the weather (analogous to everyone getting the same doctrinal teaching). Daily trumpet calls had to be met each day at various times; to miss one was to be disqualified. Everyone there had equal privilege and opportunity to participate just as every believer has equal privilege and opportunity inside the PPOG.

Paul uses the self discipline and games illustrations and expands them to encompass the "imperishable" rewards that is on deposit for all church age believers. 1Tim 4:8; 1Cor 9:24-27;