Praying with Paul
Faith, Love and Strength!
I Thessalonians 3:10-13
A preacher by the name of Ray Ortlund said, "Prayer is not everything but everything is by prayer.” I think most Christians would agree with that statement. No matter what our background and no matter how diligent we are in our own prayer life, we know that prayer is important to the Christian life.
Most of you are familiar with Corrie Ten Boom. Her family hid Jews in Holland during World War II. After being released from the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp near the end of the war, she had a speaking ministry for Christ around the world for four decades. Her story is told in the movie The Hiding Place. How important is prayer? Let Corrie Ten Boom answer that question:
When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops reading the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy. (cited in Prayer Powerpoints, Victor Books, p. 109)
Since we all know there is much more God wants us to do and much more he wants to do through us, I think it incumbent upon us to learn how to pray effectively. To that end, we are spending some time praying with Paul, listening to and learning from his prayers and what he says about prayer.
Our text tonight records a prayer by the Apostle Paul for the young church in Thessalonica. If you read all of chapter 3, you discover that the church had been going through a time of severe testing and spiritual opposition. The situation was so grim that Paul worried that perhaps the Thessalonians would give up their faith altogether.
Listen to what he says in
verse 5
Paul actually feared that under such pressure, these new believers would cave in and give up on Jesus. Tom Landry, longtime coach of the Dallas Cowboys, was fond of remarking, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” Most of us can handle a little bit of adversity, and some of us can handle a lot of adversity, but everyone has a breaking point.
None of us are as strong as we think we are. The mightiest oak tree in the forest looks invincible, but if you hit it in just the right place with a tiny ax, it comes crashing down. The ax may be small but it can bring down a tree in just a few minutes.
Paul knew the Thessalonians were near the breaking point and that’s why he sent Timothy to check on them. When Timothy came back with a good report that the believers were standing firm under the pressure, Paul’s joy knew no bounds. He was encouraged (v. 7), the news was like a new lease on life to him (v. 8), and he couldn’t stop thanking God for them (v. 9).
And that brings us to Paul’s prayer in verses 10-13. Here is an excellent way to pray for those going through a hard time. It’s worth pondering because every week we’re asked to pray for people in difficulty. Very rarely does anyone say, “Things are going great. Pray for me.”
In this prayer there are three petitions that are always appropriate to pray when our friends are going through hard times. And these petitions are really three things we all need when the heat is on and we feel like giving up.
Request #1: Faith without Holes
Verse 10
Notice his prayer was constant. Paul says he prayed day and night. When was the last time you lost sleep because you were praying? Effective prayer engages the heart and mind at all hours of the day and night.
His prayer was fervent. Paul uses a very unusual expression, a double Greek compound. It has the idea of going above and beyond all normal measures. You might translate it with the phrase “super abundantly.” Prayer must be earnest to be effective. Weak, shallow, half-hearted prayers produce weak, shallow, half-hearted results.
God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13) and James 5:16 reminds us that it is “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man that accomplishes things”. has great power and wonderful results”
We talked last week about prayers that are “boiling” in their intensity. Boiling prayers get God’s attention because they bubble up from a heart wholly focused on the Lord.
His prayer was practical. He said he was praying “that we may see you again.” Do you pray about your everyday affairs? If you are a salesman, you should pray about your appointments. If you are a doctor, you should pray for your patients. If you are a teacher, you should pray for students. If you work in an office, you should pray about your projects and also for your fellow workers.
Paul understood that all of life is to be lived under God’s watchful eye. Nothing is too big or too small to bring to his attention. If it matters to you, it matters to him.
His prayer was purposeful. “And supply what is lacking in your faith.” Paul had a particular goal in mind. He wanted to supply what was lacking in their faith. The word “supply” was used for mending torn nets and setting broken bones.
He used the same word in Galatians 6:1 for restoring sinning saints and in Ephesians 4:12 for equipping all the saints for the work of ministry. It’s what an equipment manager does before the start of a football game. He makes sure the players have their helmets because if they go into the game without a helmet, they are going to get clobbered in the head.
The same thought is found in Ephesians 6 where Paul describes our spiritual armor. In that passage Paul prays that the believers would be fully equipped so that they could stand in the evil day when the devil attacks with all his might.
So here’s the prayer: “O God, my brothers and sisters are in a great spiritual battle. I pray that they will be fully equipped for whatever they might face. Grant them strong faith with no holes so they can stand and fight victoriously no matter how hot the battle may be.”
Request #2: Love without Limits
verse 12
I think we all understand these words. Love is the supreme grace. You can never have too much of it. You can never have enough of it. Paul is saying, “I pray that God will make you an overflowing fountain of love.” He is praying that they might become “Super Lovers.”
Back in 1996, Diane Keeton and Meryl Streep starred in a movie called Marvin’s Room. Bessie, played by Keaton, has cared for her ill father and her aunt for 20 years. After learning that she has leukemia, she receives a visit from her estranged sister Lee, played by Meryl Streep.
Bessie tells Lee, “I’ve been lucky to have had so much love in my life.” Lee says yes, her father and her aunt really do love her. Bessie seems taken aback for a moment. Her sister doesn’t understand.
Bessie doesn’t mean she’s lucky to be loved. She means she is lucky to have had so much love to give to others.
Isn’t that an amazing perspective? Do you ever think about the impact you have on others because you show the love of God to them? If we are full of God’s love, it will overflow to others. It’s not enough to be kind and polite. Our love must constantly be growing.
So why does Paul pray for overflowing love for the Thessalonians? How is that relevant to their suffering? The answer is that when hard times come, we naturally start to pull away from other people and start focusing on our own problems. It’s so easy to be self-centered and only think and talk about our own struggles.
If our marriage is in trouble, that’s all we talk about. If our children are not doing well, that’s all we talk about. If we have health problems, that’s all we talk about. If we have lost a job, that’s all we talk about. It’s all about us, our problems, our struggles, our hardships. We hardly have time or energy for anything else. And sometimes our distress is so great that we become vicious, turning on those we love the most.
And sometimes Christian love is the first casualty of hard times. Suffering believers can become very demanding and very self-centered. But you need to realize you aren’t the only one going through stuff. You aren’t the only one with problems. Those problems and tragedies aren’t the time to build walls and keep people away.
They are the time for God’s people to build bridges to connect us together. That’s why Paul is praying that will show love without limits.
Request #3: Strength without Flaws
verse 13
There is a flow intended in these prayer requests. First there is faith and from faith comes love. So what is produced by the love? The result of love is holiness. Faith, love and holiness go together so that you can hardly have one without the other. Faith leads us to God where we encounter the love of God.
The love of God love leads us away from ourselves and our selfishness so we can become like Christ and on be holy. As God’s love fills your heart, it will burn out the dross of sin.
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The word “establish” or “strengthen” means to build something up. If we are going to stand strong in the time of trial, our hearts must have a strong foundation, one that is free of cracks, flaws, and weak areas. Nothing reveals the true condition of the heart like difficulty, setbacks, opposition and hardship.
Most of us can be strong while the sun is shining and life is good, but when the thunder clouds of trouble rumble overhead, all the inner flaws are likely to be revealed. Whatever is in the heart must come out eventually. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45 KJV).
If there is anger in the heart, it will eventually come out. If there is greed or lust, it too will come out. And if there is love and kindness and forgiveness and mercy, that will also be revealed. And nowhere will your heart be on clearer display than in the trials of life.
Most of us never realize the tremendous opportunity we have during hard times to share Christ with those around us if we will respond with grace and dignity. The world watches closely to see if our religion works as well in the darkness as it does in the sunlight. Many people have been converted not by a sermon but by the testimony of God’s grace shining through the pain a believer endures.
So when you pray, ask God to make you strong in your weak places so that you will be like the house built on the rock. Though the rains come down and the floodwaters rise, your house will stand firm because it is built on a solid foundation (Matthew 7:24-27).
So there’s the prayer Paul prays for folks going through a hard time.
Faith without holes, love without limits and strength without flaws.
Think about this way. When your faith has holes, you are easy prey to every temptation that comes your way. You make foolish decisions under pressure because you are not well equipped for hard times.
When your love has limits, you become self-centered and prone to outbursts of anger.
And when your strength has flaws, you look good when times are good but your life collapses when the storm clouds gather overhead.
I close my message with the words of S. D. Gordon:
The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is to pray. It is not the only thing. But it is the chief thing. The great people of the earth today are the people who pray—not those who talk about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer; nor those who can explain about prayer; but those who take time to pray. (Prayer Powerpoints, p. 184)
Think about this for a moment. You are where you are today because somebody prayed for you. Somebody prayed and you came to Christ. Somebody prayed and you found a job. Somebody prayed and you were healed. Somebody prayed and you won a game. Somebody prayed and you were rescued in the middle of the night. Somebody prayed and your marriage was saved. Somebody prayed and you didn’t give up. Somebody prayed and you made the right decision. Somebody prayed and you experienced God’s power. No one knows how much sin and sorrow we’ve been saved from because somebody prayed for us.
So what is the application? Pray! Pray, pray, and keep on praying. Do for others what others have done for you. When we can serve people in no other way, we can pray for them.
Let’s pray.
