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.
Paul is thankful because this is the love that the church was living out.
After giving thanks, Paul shares about how he is boasting about the church. Their steadfastness and faith has remained firm in persecution and affliction. From the beginning of the church in Thessalonica when Paul came on his missionary journey, there has been persecution. In Acts 17, we’re told about how the Jews opposed what Paul was doing, forming a mob and causing a riot. This same opposition continues to attack the church even as Paul is writing. Despite the persecution, their faith and love continues to grow.
This passage provides us with perspective when it comes to persecution. I mean, who wants to be persecuted, to have to go through trials, to deal with struggles in life. How often do we, like Paul, ask for the thorn in our side to be removed and then get frustrated when it doesn’t happen immediately. That’s part of the appeal of the health and wealth gospel. God doesn’t want you to struggle, He wants to bless you, so if you’re having a hard time in life, you must be lacking faith.
But how should we perceive persecution? Paul is boasting about how the church is growing through times of persecution. He declares it to be evidence of God’s righteous judgment. How is that? As Paul tells the Thessalonians, it’s better to be persecuted now by man for standing up for God than to be persecuted later by God for following the ways of man today.
First, we need to discern whether we’re undergoing persecution or receiving just consequences for sinful behavior. Peter spells out the difference (read 1 Ptr 4:12-19). When you are caught up in sin or acting in a worldly manner, you’re not being persecuted when someone corrects or rebukes you, you’re receiving a consequence of your choices. Persecution comes when you’re enduring opposition for standing up to do the right thing by God.
When we recognize that we are indeed enduring persecution, maybe we need to change our point of view towards what we’re going through and look at a couple reasons this should give us hope.
One reason persecution should give us hope is that it may be God giving us an opportunity to learn. Instead of woe is me, look for what God may be about to do through you. What is the lesson that you or maybe someone you minister with is needing to learn? Over the years, when the hits just seem to keep on coming is when Terri turns to me and says, “I wonder what God is about to do that has the devil fighting so hard.” A ministry friend on Facebook shared this thought the other day- God is in the business of making stories our of our storms. Storms make the story worth telling.
Now, while we are trying to learn from the persecution that comes, I’m not suggesting we go looking for persecution. Trust me, it will come. Jesus tells us to expect persecution (read John 15:18-20). Consider Paul’s words to Timothy
(read 2 Timothy 3:12). Think about these words from James (read James 1:2-4). However, if we’re never facing persecution from this world, it should make us wonder why. We need to examine ourselves, are we living and growing in faith and love or are we coasting through life, just hoping to get by? There’s a saying out there- The devil wouldn’t be attacking you so hard if there wasn’t something valuable in you. Thieves don’t break into empty houses.
The other reason persecution should give us hope is that it shows us that God’s righteous judgment will prevail. Jesus is coming back and when He does, He’s going to flip the tables. Those of us who have been persecuted will find relief in His return. Those who have been persecuting us will be justly repaid. Paul writes about the flaming fire of vengeance for those who didn’t believe and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are going to be doomed to an eternal destruction, separated from God. So let’s hold on to the eternal hope that we have found through our faith in God and love for one another.
This brings us to the end of Paul’s prayer. He thanks God because it’s the right thing to do, because the church has been increasing in faith and growing in love, and now he is praying that the persecutions the church will face will empower them to be deemed worthy. This worthiness is not because of our actions, it’s because God is working in us and through us.
Our goal as a church in all that we do should be to bring glory to Christ. Our actions should demonstrate the grace that God has given each of us and when people see our faith and love in action, they should be giving glory to Christ.
Paul gave thanks for the increasing faith and love of the church. This is how we should be praying for each other. A lot of times, when we share prayer requests with the church, it tends to be about health concerns for friends and loved ones. It is good that we pray for those things. But what might it look like if we focused on praying for the same things for which Paul prayed? What if as a church we resolved to pray for each other, first, that our faith would increase- our vertical relationship with God will become stronger, second, that our love for each other would grow- the horizontal relationship with our neighbors, and third, that we will endure the persecutions that we are promised will come our way? Let’s start praying for these things together as a church, let’s try it now. Let’s pray.
