The apostle Paul knew the importance of having believers pray for him. Among the things for which he requested prayers, Paul specifically asked for prayer that he might maintain a good conscience, living honestly in all things. He did not trust the condition of his conscience to his own efforts but depended upon the Lord’s willingness to hear and answer the prayers of the saints. Unfortunately, far too many Christians have become entirely self-reliant and self-trusting. As such, fewer believers request or take part in prayer for another man’s conscience. Instead, prayer has generally been reduced to one’s needs whether they are physical, material, or financial. Scriptural Christianity places a greater concern for the conscience.
Sin within a person’s life messes with man’s conscience. It begins by attacking man’s knowledge of God with the end goal of causing a complete rejection of God. Sinful man turns to many different devices in hopes of taking care of his sin-tainted conscience. He may seek to pacify his conscience by doing religious works. He also may try to forget that his conscience has been corrupted by a further turning toward the pleasures of sin. In both cases, he is left with a conscience in need of purging. Where can man turn to find the purging he so strongly desires? According to the Bible, only the blood of Jesus Christ can purge a man’s conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14).
The word of God makes things perfectly clear that God does not need anything from man. Yet, we see that God finds great delight in receiving those sacrifices from His creation. The apostle Paul plainly declared this truth to the Philippian believers when he said that their sacrifice was “an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18). He rehearsed the same truth to Hebrew believers when he said, “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:16). The sacrifices of men demonstrate a will that chooses to give something to God. Why? Because love constrains them to do so.
