²²At the same time also prepare me a lodging, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you.

I once visited in a home where the man of the house and a college student boarder had an intense conflict. The two carried on a vigorous personal disagreement by email. They never talked it out face to face, but hid behind the technology of email. Needless to say, the conflict was never resolved. The apostle Paul didn’t write letters of instruction where possible conflict might result, and then leave it at that. He sought to deal with things face to face.

Not only was he sending the runaway slave back to Philemon, but he himself was planning to visit Philemon and stay in his home. The casualness of this statement suggests that the tenor of their relationship allowed for what might be presumptuous in other, less familiar relationships. In fact, the friendship between Paul and Philemon seemed to be quite close.

Paul’s phrase “I will be given to you” suggests his dependence on God. We are reminded of what James wrote,

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit…” Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” (James 4:13, 15)

The prospect of Paul’s coming to meet Philemon face to face and stay in his home adds weight to his appeal. Additionally, Paul expects Philemon will be praying for his arrival, invoking in the latter his understanding of God’s ultimate direction for the affairs of our lives. Again, one must ask, “How could Philemon do anything other than what Paul says, to accept Onesimus, the former runaway slave, as a brother in Christ?” Very compelling.

In calling on Philemon to “prepare me a lodging,” Paul shows that indeed, there was a partnership between the two (Philemon 1:17). Giving to help the needs of others was something Paul modeled and what he came to expect in others. As he told the Ephesian elders:

“You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. In everything, I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:34–35)

Lord, I want to live so that others will know I am ready to help when needed.