For Increasing Faith Series

From time to time, I enjoy reading prayers parents share that were prayed by their children. Here are just a few prayers of thanks that I have come across. Dear Lord, thank you that we can come to church today and thank you that no one got their head crushed or lost their arm on the way here. Dear God, thank You for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy. Dear Jesus, Thank you for the bee. Thank you for the beetle. Thank you for the cockroach. Thank you for the caterpillar. Thank you for the butterfly. Thank you for the ladybug. Thank you, Jesus. Good night, Jesus! Dear Lord: Thank you for the nice day today. You even fooled the TV weather man. Dear God, thank you for these pancakes... when his parents asked him why he thanked God for pancakes as they were having chicken, he told them, "I thought I'd see if He was paying attention tonight."

As we look at how to pray like Paul, today we’re going to talk about his prayer for increasing faith. Read 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12. Pray.

Paul begins his second letter to the Thessalonians by giving thanks for three reasons. It’s the right thing to do, he sees that their faith is growing, and their love for one another is increasing.

Giving thanks is the right thing to do. When Paul concluded their first letter, he tells them (read 1 Thessalonians 5:18). In the movie Facing the Giants, the coach has encouraged his team to praise God in good times and bad.

They had an amazing season, but then they lost as they entered the playoffs. As they gathered in the locker room with their heads down, crushed that their season is over, one of the players reminds them- we’ve praised God in the good times, we need to praise Him in the bad times, and they prayed to give thanks.

Paul is consistent in applying this in his own life. He wrote 13 different letters to 10 different recipients. In 9 of those letters, he expresses gratitude for 8 of the recipients. He gives thanks for things like their faith, love, steadfastness, spiritual gifts, partnership in ministry, and their history. He sees all these things growing in believers and it causes him to give thanks.

Specifically for the Thessalonians, he sees that their faith is growing abundantly. The author of Hebrews defines faith in Hebrews 11 (read Hebrews 11:1). We can look at faith as the growing vertical relationship between God and man. When asked, Jesus declares that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. With all your being, grow in faith.

What does that look like in Thessalonica? In his first letter to them, Paul describes how the church had become imitators of Paul’s group and of the Lord. How they had received the gospel message in affliction with joy. How their reputation has spread throughout the world. How the Thessalonians had turned away from idols to serve the living and true God and now they are waiting and watching for Christ’s return.

Paul also gives thanks because their love for one another is growing. This love is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (read). If we look at faith as the vertical relationship between God and man, we can look at this love as a growing horizontal relationship. Jesus says that this is the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. Now, while the command to love God with all your being seems rather self-explanatory, the teacher of the law needed a little bit more explanation about what it means to love your neighbor.

In youth group, we’re wrapping up a series of lessons about being true friends. Last week, we talked about being loyal and how we should be the friend we want others to be for us. Elizabeth had sent me a reel on Instagram the week before that I shared with the group. After a teen saved his friend from falling off a bridge, they got to talking about what is a friend. They defined friendship as being in the same place at the same time going through similar struggles. And then it occurred to them that could be any person in the world- we should be treating people like they’re friends.

While watching the video, it struck me that the teacher of the law was asking a very similar question. Substitute the word friend for neighbor and you have the same question. So I shared the parable of the Good Samaritan and it was interesting to see their reactions. I told them about the man getting beat up and left for dead. Then I told them a priest found him and asked them what he did. “He helped the man.” No, he crossed the road and kept on going. I told them a Levite found the man and asked them what he did. “He helped the man.” No, he crossed the road and kept on going. Then I told them a Samaritan (and all the cultural baggage) found the man and asked what he did. They all hesitated, after all, they’d already gotten it wrong twice. The Samaritan helped the man- he was the neighbor.