2 Thess. 1:1-12, A Prayer for Blessing in Affliction (2)

First, Paul prays that God would count them worthy of their calling.  He is praying they will be faithful through the trials, faithful as followers of Christ.

·       Request #2a: that our God would … fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness.

o   We underlined “His” because it is not in the Greek.  The “goodness” is that of the Thessalonians, not God.  You can say, if you wish, that all our goodness is from God, and that without Christ we can do nothing, and of course, you would be right.  But the point in this prayer is that the mature qualities of the Christian life, being lived out by the Thessalonians in the time of persecution, are what Paul is praying for.  He prays that their goodness will accomplish its goal.  What these believers are doing is what Christ told them to do: But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you (Mt. 5:44; Paul said the same in Rom. 12:14).

o   The “goodness” here is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22; Eph. 5:9).  It is a general term for kindness, but also includes moral excellence.  And notice Paul’s specific wording: that God would fulfill (to complete, make something to abound with liberality) all the good pleasure (their kind intentions) of goodness.  Christians under persecution have a totally different plan than people who live by worldly wisdom.  They have a desire to see their persecutors come to honor Christ.  Thus, the Christian seeks to love his enemy.  This is what Paul is praying for.

·       Request #2b: that our God would … fulfill … the work of faith with power. 

o   This is a similar request to the previous one.  Do you remember Paul’s thanksgiving at the beginning of 1 Thessalonians?  He was thankful for their work of faith.  This suggests something different and in addition to the “goodness” they are showing.  The work of faith is our obedience to Christ, that we make disciples in all nations (Mt. 28:19-20).  Thus, Paul is praying that the work of building the Body of Christ in Thessalonica will go on, even in the face of persecution. 

There is more to say about this prayer.  But for now, let us think about situations where this prayer should be prayed.  How about when a fellow-believer is ridiculed for his faith in the workplace?  Or when a brother or sister is under attack from their family, perhaps parents making life difficult for a believing child, or when being opposed by a spouse?  How about when a child is ridiculed by classmates in school?  What a great prayer in these situations, that the believer will not hold back righteous kindness, and will be faithful as a testimony for Christ!  As followers of Christ, we have such amazing opportunities to let our light shine in this world.  Let us pray for one another to do just that.