October 20, 2021
Author: Pastor Mark Bauer
October 20, 2021
“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is
right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every
one of you for one another is increasing.”
2 Thessalonians 1:3
For our meditation this evening, I’d like us to take a few minutes to
remind ourselves about some of the characteristics of the Apostle
Paul’s prayer life. We have learned that Paul’s prayer life was
characterized by his fervent prayers for the lost. Romans chapter 10
describes Paul’s burden for the lost, and that it was Paul’s heart’s
desire that his brothers would be saved (Romans 10:1). This burden and
desire caused Paul to pray, to pray to God fervently, to pray to God Who
is sovereignly the One Who saves, God Who is the One Who shows mercy to
sinners. He prayed that God would save his brethren. While that was
an important aspect of Paul’s prayer’s life, this evening I want to look
at another aspect of Paul’s prayer life. I want to look at
characteristics of Paul’s prayer life as seen in his prayers for the
church, for God’s people.
I think in 2 Thessalonians 1:3 some of the characteristics of Paul’s
prayers for the church include constancy in prayer, thankfulness in
prayers, and prayers that are God directed.
So first, Paul’s prayers are constant. In v. 3 Paul writes, “We
ought always to give thanks.” Paul’s prayers for the church were not
something that he did just every once in a while, such as every six
months, or every three months. They were not even merely weekly. It was something constant. It was something he was always doing. He was always engaged in praying for God’s people.
We see that Paul was consistent in doing this. This wasn’t something
he just did this one time as he writes his second letter to the church
in Thessalonica. If we look back at I Thessalonians chapter 1 we see he
begins this letter with a similar statement regarding his constant
prayer life for the church. I Thessalonians 1:2 says this, “We give
thanks to God always for all of you, constantly…” Paul was praying
constantly for the church. He had been, and he continued to be even
throughout the different time periods he was writing letters.
So we see that Paul’s prayer life was constant, but it wasn’t
constant only for the church in Thessalonica. His prayer life was
constant for all of the churches. We see that similar statements are
found in his letters to other churches. In Ephesians 1:16 he writes
this, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my
prayers.” Paul did not cease. He continued. He was constant in
prayers for the church in Ephesus. In Philippians 1:3,4 he writes this,
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of
mine for you…” So again, always praying for the church. In Colossians
1:3, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we
pray for you.” Again, the word “always” is characterizing his prayers.
Then in I Corinthians 1:4, “I give thanks to my God always for you….”
Paul was always praying for God’s people. I think we can see in just
this aspect of his prayer life that Paul was constant in prayer for the
church.
Also, as we look at Paul’s prayer life, we can see that Paul’s
prayers were marked with thankfulness for the church. Being thankful—I
know it is so easy for us to be critical, is it not? I think we all
struggle with this at times. We can see the weaknesses and faults in
others. We can even see faults and failings in our brothers. But we
all are weak. We all fail and battle with remaining signs. This
mindset of being super critical can sometimes cause us to miss out on
seeing the graces that are evident in our brothers. And although in
Paul’s letters he had to deal with sinful issues in the churches
to with he was writing. Paul did not allow these issues cause him to
lose sight of the positive graces being displayed by the people of God
in those churches. In those same verse that we just looked at we see
Paul often using this phrase, “I give thanks to God for you.” He is
giving thanks for the people of God. The focus of his thanksgiving is
that he is focusing and seeing the graces of God’s people being evident
and displayed in the lives of God’s people. Graces of faith, graces of
love, graces that were seen by their works and their labors. Works
showing their love for God and love for their neighbor.
These graces of faith and love were not just static, but they were
growing. Look back at 2 Thessalonians 1:3,4 again: “We ought always to
give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is
growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is
increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of
God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the
afflictions that you are enduring.” The people there in Thessalonica,
their faith was growing abundantly. Their love was increasing more and
more. But it wasn’t just in an easy setting. No. It is described that
they are faced with persecutions and afflictions they are enduring.
But even in all of this, these graces were growing. Paul saw that and
he gave thanks for that and he gave thanks to God.
We see that Paul’s prayer life was increased by being thankful. The
final characteristic I want to mention briefly is that Paul’s prayers
were ones that were God directed. In all of these cases, Paul says, “I
give thanks to God.” The thankfulness Paul is giving is not directed
necessarily to the people, but it is directed to God as he is praying
for the church. I think it is because Paul knows that it is God who is
enabling God’s people to grow in faith, to continue to increase in love
even despite the afflictions that they may be suffering and the
persecutions that they face. We know that by ourselves and in our own
strength, we are so weak. We are not able ourselves to remain steadfast
and faithful under persecution, and to demonstrate love when we
are suffering affliction. But by God’s help, we can not only endure but
our faith and our love can actually grow. Paul’s prayers were directed
to God. God, Who is the source of these graces. Therefore, it is to
God that we should give thanks.
We had a brief look at some of the characteristics of Paul’s prayers
for the church. I hope that as we think of these for a moment, they
will help us. These are wonderful examples for us, are they not? We
need to make sure that our prayers are constant, that we are always
ready to pray for the church, for God’s people. And that our prayers
are characterized by being thankful for the good we see in God’s people.
And finally that our prayers are directed to God, directing our
thanksgiving to our God Who is the source of all that is good.
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