Paul's Prayer List
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Paul has just told the believers that he is praying night and day for them and here we have the substance of Paul’s praying.
It is significant that Paul addresses the prayer to God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ closely linking the two together. This was certainly Paul’s way of reinforcing the deity of Christ.
In fact the verb “direct” is in the singular pointing the fact that God the father and Jesus Christ are one and the same.
We find Paul praying for:
Divine Direction
Divine Direction
Paul has communicated time and again to the believers at Thessalonica that he has a sincere desire to return to them in order to exhort and strengthen them.
This desire was for a good thing and was motivated by a good reason. If it were wholly left up to Paul it is likely that he would have immediately made his way to Thessalonica.
Yet Paul makes no guarantee of his return to them because his direction is determined not by his own desires, but by the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit of God.
Paul certainly had his own ideas about the places he should travel and the regions he would reach but he was always willing to defer to the Holy Spirit’s leadership.
- an example of Paul’s yielding to the Spirit’s leadership - bound in the spirit
You and I ought to also have such a desire to be led of the Spirit.
Illustration- leaving Clovis, but what if the Spirit of God says stay?
We ought to plan and prepare and weigh the positives and negatives of any decision but the most weighty factor in any decision we make must be the leading of the Spirit of God.
Paul did eventually return to Thessalonica in God’s perfect timing and he did have the opportunity to exhort the believers there.
Deepening Devotion- among the Thessalonian believers
Deepening Devotion- among the Thessalonian believers
Paul also asked the Lord to increase the love that the believers at Thessalonica had for one another and for those who were unbelievers.
- it was not that the believers did not love one another, what Paul desired was that their love for one another would continue to increase.
The believers at Thessalonica were experiencing persecution and hardship, and Paul knew that their love for one another would be vitally important if they were to continue to stand stedfast in the faith.
Do we truly love our brothers and sisters in Christ? Much of the strength of any church is the strength of the love its members have one toward another.
We ought to be more than mere acquaintances, we ought to develop close personal bonds with our fellow believers. We ought to care deeply about one another - suffering and rejoicing with one another
Paul did not stop with their love for one another but included their love for all men which would include unbelievers and even those who persecuted them.
(KJV 1900)
It is not enough to have an ever-increasing love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, this love must extend beyond the family of God to those who do not know Christ and even to those who may oppose Christ.
- Jesus instruction on loving our enemies.
Paul then once agains sets himself forth as an example of the love they are to display.
Paul loved the people of Thessalonica before he knew them as brothers and sisters in Christ. It was his love for them that caused him to come to them, even at great personal risk, to bring them the gospel. His love only increased when they were born into the family of God and became his own brothers and sisters in Christ.
We can see that over time Paul’s love has only continued to deepen as is evidenced by his desire to return to them even knowing that persecution may await him there.
You and I ought to emulate Paul’s love as well. We ought to love all men. The evidence of our love will be our willingness to take the gospel to those who do not yet know Christ and our patient endurance at the hands of those who oppose Christ.
Deliberate Development- in the spiritual lives of the Thessalonians
Deliberate Development- in the spiritual lives of the Thessalonians
- love for God and love for man will ultimately lead us to do what is right
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Paul’s final request is that the Thessalonian believers would be able to stand before Christ at His return holy and unblameable.
Paul’s prayer was that God would stablish the hearts of the believers first. He understood that every action is the direct result of an inward motivation from the heart.
If our heart is right then our behavior will be right. God looks beyond our outward activity and sees the inward motivations for all that we do.
Illustration- never sharing the gospel- the result of a lack of heartfelt concern for the lost. We can also be very active in our attempts to share the gospel but our motivation may be to impress someone.
Paul had a sincere desire that the hearts of the Thessalonian believers would be established and that their right hearts would produce holy conduct.
When our Lord returns each of us will be called to give an account of how we lived our lives upon this earth. - we shall all give account.
Paul’s prayer was that the judgment seat of Christ would be a rewarding experience for the believers at Thessalonica, but he knew that this would only be the case if their heart was stablished and their conduct was holy before God.
You and I must keep the return of Christ in view and allow it to motivate us to keep our heart right with God and to live holy lives that are pleasing to God so that we may not be ashamed upon His return. - ashamed at His coming