The Power of Prayer
2 Thessalonians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewDo we pray for our leaders and pastors? Do we ask God to direct our hearts to those that need Him?
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Transcript
Tonight we start wrapping up our series in 2 Thessalonians by diving into 2 Thessalonians 3 and we will only be looking at the first 5 verses and I believe that these 5 verses tonight are incredibly important for our lives because our application of these 5 verses will have far-reaching ramifications. Back in the 1800’s, a handful of college students that were in London made a trip to the famous Metropolitan Tabernacle because they were interested in seeing the church that had been made famous by the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon. When they arrived to the church one Sunday morning, a man met them at the door and asked the five young men if they would like to take a tour of the church and they accepted the invitation. I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen the Metropolitan Tabernacle but it is a massive church. At any point it could have as many as 6,000 people in it, possibly more which was really unheard of in the 1800’s. As they made their way through the church, the man giving the tour said to them, “gentlemen, would you like to see the heating plant of this church?” Now the men didn’t really care about this because it was the middle of July so it was already incredibly hot and they did not really see the point in going to a room that was designed to heat the church but they didn’t want to offend their guide so they continued to follow him down a flight of stairs towards the basement. When they got to a door, their guide quietly opened it and whispered to them, “Gentlemen, this is our heating plant.” What these five men saw was not a room filled with heaters and pumps but a room filled with 700 people on their knees praying and asking God to bless the service that was about to begin in the auditorium above them. Quietly the tour guide closed the door and introduced himself to the five college students as none other than Charles Spurgeon himself. Why am I telling you this story? Because the church needs to be a house of prayer and the leaders of the church need their congregation to be their heating plant. Charles Spurgeon was a great preacher. I consider him to be one of the greatest preachers to ever live but I don’t think Spurgeon got to where he was without the people of God lifting him and his work up in prayer. So, where do you come in with all this. To be completely honest with you, I need you to pray for me. Pastor Wayne needs you to pray for him. The church you attend on Sunday morning, your pastor, your Sunday school teacher, they need your prayers. Christian leaders need to be prayed for because the work of the Church is hard work and this is what Paul asks in the verses that we are going to be looking at tonight. We’re going to look at 3 things tonight: 1. The need to pray for our leaders. 2. What a faithful God does with prayer. 3. What the pastor should pray for his people. Let’s open up in prayer and then we will read 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
The Need to Pray (Verses 1-2)
The Need to Pray (Verses 1-2)
Let’s look first at what Paul asks the Thessalonians in verses 1-2. He asks that they would pray for Paul and his ministry partners and I think something worth noting is that Paul does not ask for the success of them individually. He doesn’t say, “Brothers pray that we would be healthy, wealthy, and carefree.” Instead, Paul prioritizes the Gospel mission and I think this needs to be at the heart of the pastor. A pastor’s greatest desire should be God first, family second, congregation third and this is difficult for many pastors. Paul recognized that glory must be given to God alone and that he existed for the purpose of making disciples. So, he asks first that the Thessalonians pray that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored and he references how this is exactly what happened with the Thessalonian believers. Paul asks that the believers pray that the Gospel would not just meander into town but that it would run full speed ahead to reach the lost. Paul visualized the Word of the Lord going out like an Olympic runner that didn’t move out of the way of anyone but ran rapidly ahead as to obtain the prize. What we need to understand is that the Word of the Lord has legs. It has power to it that we don’t fully understand. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” There is a power in the book, there is an authority in the book, where the Word of God speaks, God Himself speaks. We need to pray that the Word of God, wherever it may move might move with power and be honored. Paul prayed that wherever he went, that the Gospel would speed readily ahead of him. He prayed that wherever the Gospel went, it would be honored by those who heard it and we need this prayer today. Look at how the world views the Bible and tell me that we should not pray that the Word should quickly and authoritatively intervene in the lives of those around us. Pray that the Bible would impact your schools, pray that the Bible would radiate throughout your homes, pray that the Bible would infiltrate government offices and impress mightily upon the leaders of the land. Pray! Pray that God’s Word would be honored and before you pray that it would be honored in the highways and byways, perhaps you need to first pray that it would speed ahead into your life and be honored by you. You cannot run free and loose with the Bible. If I were to ask how many of you believed that God and His Word have an authority over your life, I assume that many of you would say that you agree with that statement and yet, how many of you live with that reality? You claim that God’s Word is the authority of your life but you don’t live like it. You look at God’s commands as suggestions for morality, not as commands to lead you into a greater sanctification. Is the Word of the Lord honored in your life? If the Word be honored anywhere, surely it must be in our lives first before it goes out to the world! I pray for that in your life, there’s nothing I desire more than to see you all being faithful and I hope that you would be willing to pray for that in my life as well. I would love if you would pray for me that I would love the Bible more, that I would honor it more, that I would grow deeper in my understanding of the Word, I need that. Every pastor needs that. Paul needed it in his life and he was pretty much the greatest Christian to have ever lived. Pray for our work. Pray that God would work in my life so that I can do all that I can to take the Word of the Lord to those that need it. Paul then goes on in verse 2 to ask the believers to pray that they would be delivered from wicked and evil men. The very reason that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians so quickly after his departure from them is because wicked and evil men came, stirred up trouble, and practically drove them out of town. Pastors need their people to pray for them so that they can endure through persecution just as much as any believer needs it. The pastor is like a shepherd that stands to take care of the sheep and part of that care involves protecting the sheep from the wolves that seek to harm them. This is a heavy load. We’re not invincible. Words and actions hurt us like any other person. Pray that we would be delivered. We see in this the dance that exists between the pastor and his people. We see the harmony that needs to exist: the pastor needs to preach and his people need to pray. As the Gospel is preached, it will make friends and it will make enemies and the messengers of that Gospel will need to be able to handle both. John Stott wrote, “It is one thing for the Gospel to win friends who embrace it; it is another for the evangelists to be rescued from its enemies who oppose it.” Pray that your pastors would know what to say when they must give a defense for what the believe, pray that your pastors would be delivered from those who wish to silence them and the Gospel. You play such a vital role in the success of the ministry. In the words of Francis Schaeffer, there are no little people in the Body of Christ and there are no little prayers that they utter. What we need to remember is not only that we need to pray but we also need to be mindful of the One whom we pray to and we see this in verse 3.
What God Does with Prayer (Verse 3)
What God Does with Prayer (Verse 3)
What does God do with prayer and how can we be sure that our prayers will do something? Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” Notice the great contrast between the end of verse 2 and the beginning of verse 3. Paul says at the end of verse 2, “not all have faith” and then in verse 3, “but the Lord is faithful.” Philip Schaff wrote, “The contrast between the mischievous opposition of wicked men and the protecting care of Christ, is sharpened by the slight and easy play on the word: men are faithless, but faithful is the Lord. Their faithlessness prompts them to hostility; but His faithfulness will alike prevent your faith from failing, and their efforts from being destructive.” How can we know that the Lord will work toward us? How do we know that He is for us and not against us? Because God is not like wicked and faithless man, He is faithful. We can trust God because God is not like man. That is how we know that He will act positively and powerfully for His people. Psalm 50:19-21 “You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.” Israel assumed that God would just accept their sinful ways and they were free to live and act however they wanted. They assumed that God would respond in the same ways that they respond but God says to the people, “I’m nothing like you. You don’t know me.” Man is faithless but God is faithful. God says look at the faithlessness of the world and understand they are nothing like me. I am faithfulness and truth incarnate. So, what does God do with our prayers then? He guards us and establishes us. Your prayers never come upon deaf ears and the prayers of the faithful are always answered. Even the no’s of your prayers are often the no not now but later. Prayer is not a magical wish list that automatically gets granted. Just because you pray for a billion dollars doesn’t mean that you’ll get it. Instead God always answers prayer in the exact way that we would want Him to if we knew everything that He knew. I look at my former church and how I prayed desperately for God to remove me from that situation and even when it seemed like He didn’t answer, He was actually saying, “Trust me and my timing. I won’t just give you what you want but I’ll give you exactly what you need.” Think about that and apply that to your life. When we pray to the Lord, we need to remember that He is faithful and that He alone will establish us in our faith and guard us against the evil one and the forces of Satan. Notice that Paul does not say that we should pray that God would remove us completely from the world but that God would guard us against the evil one. Isn’t this what we read at Great Wolf Lodge in John 17? Jesus says in John 17:15 “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” That is a prayer that we should never tire praying and a prayer that God never tires of answering. What does God do with our prayers? He remains faithful and He responds faithfully and as we seek Him first, we will see every fulfilled prayer as a prayer that was answered positively. May we all have eyes to see answered prayer in the way that God does. He alone will see to it that His people endure, that they will be established and He alone can guard them against the evil one. Let’s quickly look at one last thing in verses 4-5. What should the pastor pray for his people? What was Paul’s prayer for the church and what is my prayer for you? Let’s read 2 Thessalonians 3:4-5 again:
And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
What the Pastor Should Pray For (Verses 4-5)
What the Pastor Should Pray For (Verses 4-5)
A pastor needs to pray for his people. As pastors, while we may not understand all that you are going through, we do understand that each and every one of you is going through something. We as pastors recognize that no one comes into the church with everything in their lives all together. No one walks through these doors skipping and hollering, we all walk in with a limp. We all have baggage, we all have struggles, and pastors understand that because they suffer the very same things. We’re all human and we all need prayer. My great hope for you is that you will do the things which I have passed on to you. I want to see you grow in your faith, I want to see you do the things that the Lord has commanded you to do, I want to see you fall in love with the Word of God. I’ve told you before, that is why I choose to take you verse by verse through books of the Bible because I believe that is the best way that I can teach you from God’s Word and the best way for you to fall in love with God’s Word. I don’t want to just take you through the greatest hits and most well known verses. I want you to see the heights and the depths that is God’s Word from point A to point Z. Part of the Lord’s commands to us is that we would go and reach the lost. I pray all the time that you would do the work of the Gospel. My prayer for you is that you would recognize that there is nothing that you can give up here in this existence in the service of the Lord that will not be made up thousands of times over in Heaven. My prayer is that you would give all for the sake of the Gospel and that you would recognize that nothing is worth hanging onto here if it were to cost you an eternity with the Lord. Many years ago, a man named C.T. Studd came to this realization. You may have never heard of the name C.T. Studd before but you may recognize part of a poem that he famously wrote and I actually have part of this poem hanging up above the window in my office. The famous line written by Studd was, “Only one life ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” How did Studd come to this mindset? In the early 1880’s Studd was known in England as one of their greatest up and coming cricket stars. He was really called at one point, “England’s most outstanding player.” This was like the Michael Jordan of 1880’s cricket. He had a bright career ahead of him in cricket and not only that, he was part of an incredibly wealthy family. His father Edward made a fortune in India planting and selling indigo and other items and C.T. believed that once he retired from cricket, he would just settle back down in the family business but the Lord grabbed hold of C.T. Studd and Studd decided that instead of embracing his cricket career, instead of working with and taking over for his father, he would go to China on mission. While Studd was in China, his father passed away leaving to him a vast fortune, close to 2 million euros, or $52 million dollars in 2023. Many assumed that C.T.’s time in China was just a passing fad and now that his father was gone and this great fortune was his that he would get serious about the family business but that didn’t happen. Instead, C.T. gave away practically every single dollar. The only money he kept was for a wedding gift for his fiance but all the did was go ahead and take that money and give it away too. Studd and his wife began their life with only 5 euros to their name. People said to C.T. what are you doing? How can you give away all of this? People dream to have this kind of money, how can you possibly make this kind of sacrifice for the ministry? Studd said this, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” If Christ is willing to make the greater sacrifice of putting on human flesh, leaving the glory of Heaven, and die for someone like me, then there is absolutely nothing that I can lay down that could possibly compare. No sacrifice is too great in comparison. My prayer for each of you is that you would recognize that. If Jesus Christ be your Savior, nothing in your life is off limits from Him. If Christ died for you, there’s no sacrifice that you can make that could compare to the glory that lies ahead. My prayer for you is that God would direct your hearts to His love and that you would stand firm in Christ. Every pastor should desire that His people would know Christ. That is my great prayer for you that you would be faithful. Paul writes in Colossians 1:28 “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” That is my goal and that is my prayer. When the day comes and I stand before the Lord, I want to be able to say to the best of my ability, “here are those that you have trusted to me and I have strived with all the strength that you have provided to present them mature in Christ.” I hope that I am able to say that when the time comes. Are you doing what the Lord has commanded? Is your heart directed to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ? If not, what can be done to get you to that? What sacrifice do you need to make in order for this to happen? The greater sacrifice has already taken place. Christ has died and Christ is risen and we know that Christ will come again. Are you ready? Or do you still need to lay parts of the old life down? Are there still lifestyles and choices that you need to put to death in order to be presented mature in Christ? Make the decision today and recognize that no sacrifice can be too great for you to make to Him. Your pastors are or should be praying for you. Are you praying for them? Because I need your prayers, we need your prayers, because pastoring needs a lot of prayer. The wolves are looking at the sheep waiting to devour them but the shepherds in your life are trying to fend them off. Give them the support that they need and let me know how I can support you. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer.