To this end we always pray for you, that our God…
May fulfill every resolve for good…by His power.
(2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)
What are your “resolves for good”?
Everyone who has been born of the Holy Spirit of this God has holy things they would love to see done. Holy wishes, holy wants, holy hopes for our lives and our sphere of influence: the Spirit walks us toward these visions.
Maybe it’s certain people whom the Lord has given you a longing to see come to know Him, or has given you a burden to shepherd their faith. Maybe it’s a problem you see—in the church, in your community, in your industry, in the world—and you have a focused interest in seeing it begin to be healed. Maybe it’s an opportunity, an under-served demographic, a unique set of connections, that’s just been “troubling your mind” and calling to your imagination: “How can I serve Jesus and their faith in this?”
What would it mean for that to be “fulfilled”?
It would mean joy for the world, right!? It would begin to happen; the heart the Spirit has given you would begin to pour out. People would be helped. Problems would begin to be resolved. Opportunities-seized would begin to bear fruit.
In other words, you do it.
And this is what we most want. We—Father, Son, Spirit, angels, church, sinners, lost, all creation—want the heart of God in you to begin to appear in our worlds. You have a beautiful heart from God. We long to see the you-shaped beauty of Christ appear!
Of course it won’t be “perfect” or “sinless.” But it doesn’t have to be perfect or sinless to be beautiful.
The only question I have is, How can we help?!
“To this end we always pray for you, that our God… by His power…”
Our resolves will not be fulfilled by our resolving. They will result from God, in answer to the prayers of friends. “By His power,” means, “not by your power or mine.”
And this creates a moment of tension. When we feel like the world’s problems are on our shoulders—which is somewhat how a “resolve for good” can feel—we can slide into anxiety. Anxiety says, “How can I possibly get this done? I’m going to have to work harder, longer, smarter, and recruit more people.” Or we slip into apathy. Apathy says, “How can I possibly get this done? I don’t even have the energy to begin to consider how it might work. I’m just going to lay here for a little while…” (Onwuchekwa, Prayer 106)
But what if it’s not my work that works it?
Rather than anxiety or apathy, why not ask? Why not ask God? Why not ask friends to ask for you? This is what Paul is doing here: “we always pray for you.”
None of us are alone. You’re not alone. You’re not just “you.” There’s “us.” Holy hopes will never grow without prayers, without friends.
Your holy dreams will come to be by the power of God and by the prayers of your friends.
So dream holy dreams. Don’t stuff your heart away. Your resolves are beautiful and much-needed. Enlist helping friends. Every resolve you have for good may be fulfilled by God’s power, we pray.
So may we ask; so may we pray. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash
