We've been studying 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12.
To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
But there are a remarkable set of similar prayers, praises, and blessings surrounding this one prayer that we’ve focused on. 2 Thessalonians is three short chapters. Yet it contains four beautiful prayers. These prayers all work together.
For example, already, by the time we’ve reached 2 Thessalonians 1:11, we read in verse 3:
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
This helps us understand Paul’s eager prayer in vv. 11-12. He sees that, in such a short time, their faith is “growing abundantly,” and their love for each other is “increasing.”
Their faith is growing abundantly. This is an agricultural image: corn just planted is suddenly waiving in a mid-July breeze. Paul had not been in Thessalonica too long, but we know that he left there in haste, under duress (Acts 17). Yet as he looked back over his shoulder at the folks he’d been serving, what did he see? Faith. Rich, green, steady faith. Persecution not fracturing the church or uprooting fledgling faiths but proving their health.
“We always give thanks to God for you.”
And not only is their individual faith flourishing, but their love is increasing. Love is always the first thing we throw overboard when storms assail us. “I gots to do for me and mine!” But, again, as Paul is sent away to Berea enroute to Athens, what does he look back and see? Love… increasing. The church is banded together, taking care of each other, stabilizing each other’s faith with love.
“We always give thanks to God for you.”
Paul’s prayer in 1:11-12 isn’t rooted in clouds and hopes, but in the confidence of seeing God already at work.
It’s a beautiful thing to see God at work. But then, you have to be looking for God to be at work.
Too often our prayers for the church are pre-shushed by our frustration with Christians. "They don’t get it! They don’t see it! They don’t do it! They don’t do it enough!"
We see the bad news—of which there’s plenty—as opposed to seeing the good things.
Paul gives thanks. Gratitude is how you see good things. When Paul gives thanks for the Thessalonican church, he remembers their faith—strong and shocking—and their love—like a new spring bubbling up in a dry-and-weary land.
Was he overwhelmed with evidence when he gave thanks? Or did he give thanks and notice the overwhelming evidence?
I’ll go with the latter, because, as you’ll again notice, he prays for their faith and love eight verses later. He isn’t necessarily over-awed by their maturity. But he’s hopeful. And he’s hopeful because he’s grateful.
I look out over our church. Just today I heard someone bemoaning things about our congregation—failures, missteps, oversights—failures of faith and love. Sure. You don’t have to be an astronomer to discover the moon. But you have to be pretty foolish to ignore the sun. But we often ignore the sun of God's good workings, and fixate on the mournful moon of human mistakes.
Here’s a congregation that has come through an extraordinary season. What do I see? I see faith growing abundantly. I see people turning to Scripture with renewed zeal, recalling God’s Sovereignty with renewed confidence, and looking to our precious hope with renewed joy. And I see love increasing. I see people eager to care for each other, to know how so-and-so is and whether they need help, or if anyone does need help “let me know,” and setting aside their “views” in order to make space for fellowship. I field emails and texts from people asking for ways to help. I'm thankful.
Give thanks, friends. Notice faith and love. For isn’t that what we’re called to nurture, water, protect, and serve in each other? It’s precisely this that Paul sees in praise that he turns to sustain in prayer moments later.
Praise sees truly.
What your praise sees, let your prayers support.
Photo by Libby Penner on Unsplash
