A Prayer For The Church Series

A PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH

II Thessalonians 1:11-12

Leonard Ravenhill once said "The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying." He also said "As poverty-stricken as the Church is today in many things, she is most stricken here, in the place of prayer. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here (in prayer), we fail everywhere.

Prayer is vital to the life of a church. From the pulpit to the pew prayer must be a priority. I want you to know that this church is constantly in my prayers. I pray for our church collectively, and I pray for each of you individually. I know that many of you do the same. I also know that you pray for me. It is always special when someone tells me that they have been praying for me. But it is even more special when they tell me what it is that they are praying for. To hear the specific burden that they have for their pastor, and to know that they care enough to take the time to go to God on my behalf is a very special and encouraging thing.

For the next little while I would like to share with you what my personal prayer is for each member of this church. I want you to know exactly what I ask God to do for our assembly as a whole; and I want you to know my personal prayer for you as an individual. In the first few verses of this chapter Paul has sought to comfort and encourage the Thessalonians in the midst of the great persecution that they were facing. He has also commended them for their steadfastness in the midst of their troubles. In verses 11&12 he tells them that he is praying for them. Furthermore he tells them exactly what his prayer is.

- I want us to look to these verses and examine "A Prayer For The Church".

In these two verses Paul sums up his hearts desire for his brothers and sisters at Thessalonica. I trust that you will believe me when I say that this is my prayer for you as well.

- Notice that:

i. THIS PRAYER IS A PERSONAL PRAYER - v11a Wherefore also we pray always for you...

Paul was associated with many different churches. In each of his letters to the churches, he mentions the fact that he is praying for them. But it is never a generic prayer... he doesn't say "Lord, bless all of the brethren in all of the churches".

- He gets specific with each church:

In Colossians he says "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you" (Colossians 1:3)

In Ephesians he says "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers" (Ephesians 1:15-16)

In Philippians he says "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy" (Philippians 1:3-4)

In each of these Epistles, following each of these statements Paul goes on to explain what his specific request is concerning that church. That is the case in his letter to the Thessalonians as well. This shows us that each church was special to Paul, so special in fact, that he took time out of his day to go before God on their behalf. I want you to know that each of you are special to me. Obviously there are times when I pray for our church as a whole, but many times I go to God and pray for each of you specifically. I know that you do the same for me and that is a very encouraging fact!

- Verse 11 also shows us that:

ii. THIS PRAYER IS A PERSISTENT PRAYER - v11a Wherefore also we pray always for you...

I like this, Paul says "we pray for you always". This shows us that his prayers for the Thessalonian believers were not few and far between. The Church at Thessalonica was facing constant battles, and they needed constant prayer. The same is true for us! We may not be facing what the Thessalonians were facing but our church is always in need of prayer. Therefore I should always be praying for you, and I would certainly appreciate it if you would regularly pray for me as well!

Now that we have established the fact that we should pray for each other, let's look at what we should pray for each other. Some people tell me that they pray for me regularly, but I am not exactly sure what that means. They may be praying for me like David prayed for his enemies.