<p>1:9&nbsp;<i>For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son</i>- Frequently Paul uses the word &quot;Gospel&quot; as meaning 'the preaching of the Gospel'; the Gospel is in itself something which&nbsp;<i>must</i>&nbsp;be preached if we really have it (Rom. 1:1,9; 16:25; Phil. 1:5 (NIV),12; 2:22; 4:15; 1 Thess. 1:5; 3:2; 2 Thess. 2:14; 2 Tim. 1:8; 2:8). The fact we have been given the Gospel is in itself an imperative to preach it. &ldquo;When I came to Troas for the Gospel of Christ&rdquo; (2 Cor. 2:12 RV) has the ellipsis supplied in the AV: &ldquo;to preach Christ&rsquo;s Gospel&rdquo; although there is no Greek word in the original there matching &lsquo;preach&rsquo; .</p><p><i>How unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers</i>- The idea of the Greek word is of remembrance. Paul was bringing others to remembrance before God. Paul is surely alluding to Is. 62:6,7: &ldquo;On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth&rdquo;. Paul saw the Gentile believers in Rome as spiritual Jerusalem. It&rsquo;s not that God forgets and needs reminding, but rather that by our prayers for others we as it were focus His special attention upon them. Paul several times states that he is day and night, continually in prayer for others. He likely had the Isaiah passage in mind; his brethren in Christ were now for him the Jerusalem upon whom his hopes were set, rather than upon the physical city as had been the case in Judaism.</p><p>There is a mutuality between God and His children in prayer. We &lsquo;make mention&rsquo; of things to God (Rom. 1:9; Eph. 1:16; 1 Thess. 1:2; Philemon 4). The Greek word used has the idea of bringing to mind, or remembering things to God. And He in response &lsquo;remembers&rsquo; prayer when He answers it (Lk. 1:54,72; Acts 10:31 s.w.). What we bring to our mind in prayer, we bring to His mind. Those who pray for Jerusalem &ldquo;keep not silence&rdquo;- and therefore they give God &ldquo;no rest&rdquo; (Is. 62:6,7). But the Hebrew word for &ldquo;keep not silence&rdquo; and for &lsquo;give no rest&rsquo; is one and the same There&rsquo;s a clear play on words here. If we give ourselves no rest in prayer, then we give God no rest. His Spirit or mind becomes our spirit or mind, and vice versa. And hence the telling comments in Romans 8 about our spirit / mind being mediated to God in prayer through Jesus, in His role as &lsquo;the Lord the Spirit&rsquo; (Rom. 8:26,27). Yet God Himself had stated that He will not rest nor hold His peace for Zion&rsquo;s sake (Is. 62:1). Yet His doing this is conditional upon His prayerful people not allowing Him to rest due to their prayers.</p><p>&ldquo;Unceasingly... always&rdquo;&nbsp;is a double repetition to emphasize how constant was Paul&rsquo;s prayer for others. In case it seemed he was exaggerating, he calls God as a witness. His prayerfulness- the hours spent on his knees and the amount of mental energy in daily life- was amazing, and inspirational.</p>