Philippians 4:21-23 NLT
[21]”Give my greetings to each of God’s holy people—all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings. [22] And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household. [23] May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”

True to his nature, Paul left no one out of his circle of love and togetherness. He knew the people by name. He greeted them personally. He worked with them and for them individually and collectively.

True, he singled out some for special mention in some of his letters because they stood out in his mind for their love and loyalty to him and their labour in the work of God’s kingdom with him…but, for him, everyone was special, everyone was part of God’s family, and everyone was honoured and greeted with affection.

It’s not possible that the church in Philippi knew all the believers in Rome. How would they have been personally acquainted with those of Caesar’s household, for example, who were new believers in Caesar’s palace, the fruit of Paul’s witness in prison? How could they have know every believer in every church across Europe and Asia Minor?

It didn’t matter to Paul that these people had never met face to face. All that mattered was that they were one family, one body through their faith in Jesus. They were united in spirit, all facing the same trials in a hostile environment, all filled with the same Spirit, and all going in the same direction.

Paul’s greeting to all and from all without exception speaks volumes about a true and loving leader who wanted to bind them together by the personal assurances of love and participation in each other’s lives. They may not have been in physical contact, geographically connected, but they were one in spirit through their faith in Jesus.

So, Paul says, “Hello” from us to you and from you to us, God’s holy people, brothers and sisters, eternally joined as members of God’s forever family.

Should this not be our attitude to fellow believers all over the world? We cannot physically connect with them but we can be one with them in spirit through our prayers for them. If Paul instructed us to pray for the saints everywhere, does it matter that we don’t know them?

Ephesians 6:18 NLT
[18] Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for ALL BELIEVERS EVERYWHERE.

It’s in the Spirit, who is the omniscient and omnipresent God, that we pray for believers everywhere and can be confident that God hears and answers our prayers for His universal church because He is God. He wants us to partner with Him in accomplishing His will on earth as in heaven. Praying for the church is the perfect way to express our love for God’s people and our unity as Christ’s body on earth.

Let’s cultivate a perspective of togetherness. Let’s consider God’s people as one global family joined by God’s Spirit in us. Let’s experience together, as one body, the trials that God uses to shape us into one holy people, a witness to the world of His kingdom in us that prepare us for our eternity together in His presence.

Hebrews 13:1-3 NLT
[1] “Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. [2] Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! [3] Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.”

Although we don’t all suffer what others suffer, we are with them in our hearts, sharing their hardships as we pray for grace to endure, for God’s protection and provision in hards times, and for the witness of their live in places of terrible spiritual darkness so that, in all our circumstances together, we may present a powerful witness to God’s glory all over the world.

1 Peter 2:9 NLT
[9]”…You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”