We need to understand why he is moved to such constant prayer. It is not simply that he wants to see them face to face. It is the reason he wants to see them: to perfect what is lacking in your faith. This is a truly young church, a new fellowship of believers. Paul had not been there long enough, perhaps even to appoint elders and give the instruction he would have desired to give. And remember how Jesus said about the seed that falls on rocky or weedy soil. The attack can be strong and with disastrous effects.
Does that mean it is doomed to failure? No! The work is always the work of the Spirit of God as the Lord Jesus, the Head of the Church, told us would be the case. Paul was concerned about their faith (v5). Thus he was in constant prayer that God would strengthen their faith (v10). God led him to send Timothy to establish and encourage them in their faith (v2) and has now received good news concerning their faith (v6-7). Now he is writing them a follow-up letter. Paul was not able to be there; but the Holy Spirit was there and was using the word of God that Paul had preached. It is as Paul said from prison: I suffer trouble … to the point of chains, but the word of God is not chained (2 Tim. 2:9).
Paul continues to ask the Lord to make it possible for him to make a return visit to Thessalonica. But in the meantime he continues to pray for them. And his prayer is a powerful illustration of how to pray for fellow-believers in Christ.
The request is that the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all. This is the command of Jesus (Jn. 13:34-35). But in addition it is the context in which we become mature. This 2-verse prayer in 1 Thess. 2 is similar to the longer versions in Eph. 3:14-21 (where maturity is being filled with the fullness of God) and Phil. 1:3-11 (where maturity is being filled with the fruits of righteousness). In our passage maturity is defined as having hearts established blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. In other words it is the culminating picture of the believers when Christ returns to take them to be with Him.
One of the great studies in the Bible has to do with the prayers of Paul. We can learn a lot about how to pray the will of God for our loved ones, both our earthly kin and our brothers and sisters in Christ. I would encourage you to pray this exact prayer for your church and for those on your prayer list. We spend a lot of time explaining to God what we want Him to do in given situations. But prayer is about us asking God to do what HE desires to do. The best way to get it right is to pray Scripture and this is a great one.
To God be the glory!
No comments:
Post a Comment