Prayer Thoughts, part 4

Prayer Thoughts, part 4

“For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?  Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3.9-13).

Sometimes it is easier for Christians to relate to Paul’s letters than it is the life of Jesus due to the context of each.  For example, Jesus lived under the law of Moses and changed things significantly with His death and resurrection.  Conversely, Paul wrote to Christians who had begun to form churches.  He wrote about practical, daily things concerning individual congregations.  Since we live in that framework today, it can be easier to apply Paul’s message at times.  Despite the immense differences in context between Jesus and Paul, their instruction and practice of prayer is remarkably similar.  Since we have spent some time on Jesus, we will direct our attention to the above prayer by Paul for the Thessalonians.

When you examine this prayer, and every prayer recorded by Paul, I encourage you to ask yourself the following questions.  What are Paul’s primary concerns in this particular prayer?  How does he feel about the people for whom he prayed?  Do my prayers follow the general pattern of Paul concerning content and priorities?  Let’s briefly do this with the above prayer.

Paul’s primary concern here is quite clear.  He wanted God to supply all that was needed to equip the Thessalonian Christians for their ministry.  Almost every detail in the prayer supports this desire.  Paul’s hope to come to them would be to supply what was lacking among them.  Brotherly love and holiness are necessary components for this task.

Paul’s love for the Thessalonians is obvious.  It is clear that he missed them, wanted their lives to improve, and desired to be with them for eternity.  Paul was able to pray “night and day” only because of his immense joy and gratitude for this church.  In other words, his continuous prayer was not out of obligation, but rather desire. 

Only you can assess whether or not your prayers are similar to Paul’s in content, structure, and priorities.  Are you as thankful as Paul for your church family?  Is your top priority their spiritual maturity?  Do you desire to be with them as much as Paul – both now and for eternity?  Personally, I realize that my desires do not always match both Jesus and Paul.  It is a reminder for me that my heart is still lacking its potential of what God can accomplish if I am willing to surrender myself.

Next week we will flip this idea.  Instead of examining the content of Paul’s prayers, have you ever noticed what is lacking in Paul’s prayers that are common in ours?  The answers are very enlightening.  My prayer for you this week is that your prayer life continues to grow.