The Word of God and prayer should go together. The prophet Samuel told the people of Israel, “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way” (1 Sam. 12:23). Peter said, “But we [the apostles] will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). Paul had this same emphasis: “And now, brethren, I commend you to God [prayer], and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up” (Acts 20:32).
Jesus prayed for His disciples, just as Paul prayed for the Thessalonican Christians, that their faith would not fail (Luke 22:31–32). I ministered for several weeks in Kenya and Zaire, and when I arrived home, I was more convinced than ever that the greatest need of missionaries and national churches is prayer. We must also pray for young Christians here at home. It is not enough to teach them Bible truth; we must also support them in our prayers.
Paul prayed for three specific requests. First, he prayed that their faith might mature (1 Thess. 3:10). Paul asked God to make it possible for him to minister to them personally, but God did not answer that request. Paul longed to see them again; he longed to minister to them and help bring their faith to maturity. The word translated “perfect” has the meaning of “adjust, equip, furnish.” It is even used for the mending of nets (Mark 1:19). Our faith never reaches perfection; there is always need for adjustment and growth. We go “from faith to faith” (Rom. 1:17).
Abraham is a good illustration of this principle. God called him to the land of Canaan, and when he arrived, he discovered a famine. God permitted that famine so that Abraham’s faith might be tested. Unfortunately, Abraham failed the test and went down to Egypt for help.
Each step of the way, God brought circumstances to bear on Abraham that forced him to trust God and grow in his faith. Faith is like a muscle: it gets stronger with use. Abraham had problems with his worldly nephew, Lot. He also had problems with his wife and her handmaid, Hagar. The ultimate test of faith came when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac.
Faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted. God tries our faith, not to destroy it, but to develop it. Had Abraham not learned to trust God in the famine, he could never have trusted Him in the other difficulties. Paul prayed that the suffering Christians in Thessalonica might grow in their faith, and God answered his prayer. Paul wrote in his second letter, “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren … because that your faith groweth exceedingly” (2 Thess. 1:3).
Paul’s second request was that their love might abound (1 Thess. 3:12). Times of suffering can be times of selfishness. Persecuted people often become very self-centered and demanding. What life does to us depends on what life finds in us; and nothing reveals the true inner man like the furnace of affliction. Some people build walls in times of trial and shut themselves off. Others build bridges and draw closer to the Lord and His people. This was Paul’s prayer for these believers, and God answered it: “The charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth” (2 Thess. 1:3). Our growing faith in God ought to result in a growing love for others. We are “taught of God to love one another” (1 Thess. 4:9), and some of these lessons are best learned in the school of suffering. Joseph suffered for thirteen years because of his brothers’ envy and persecution. Yet he learned to love them in spite of their hatred. The Jewish legalists persecuted Paul from city to city, yet Paul so loved his people that he willingly would have died for them (Rom. 9:1–3).
When I counsel young couples in preparation for marriage, I often ask the man, “If your wife became paralyzed three weeks after you were married, do you love her enough to stay with her and care for her?” True love deepens in times of difficulty; shallow romance disappears when difficulties appear.
But true Christian love is shown not only to believers, but also “toward all men” (1 Thess. 3:12). We love one another, but we also love the lost and our enemies. Abounding love must not be bound. It must be free to expand and touch all men.
Paul’s third request was for holiness of life (1 Thess. 3:13). Again, it is the return of Jesus Christ that motivates the believer to live a holy life. Our Lord’s return is also a source of stability in the Christian life. Where there is stability, there can be sanctity, and where there is holiness, there is assurance. The two go together.
Notice that Paul’s prayers for his friends were not careless or occasional. He prayed “night and day”; he prayed “exceedingly,” which is the same word translated “exceeding abundantly” in Ephesians 3:20. True prayer is hard work. Epaphras must have learned from Paul how to pray for people: “always laboring fervently … that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Col. 4:12).
The entire Trinity is involved in this prayer. Paul addressed the Father and Son in 1 Thessalonians 3:11. In verse 12 “the Lord” may refer to the Holy Spirit, since “our Lord” at the end of 1 Thessalonians 3: certainly refers to Jesus Christ. If this is so, then this is the only prayer I know of in the New Testament directed to the Holy Spirit. The Bible pattern of prayer is to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier of the believer, and this is a prayer for holy living, the address is proper.
Paul ended 1 Thessalonians 2 with a reference to the place of the saints at the return of Christ, and he ended this chapter in the same way. He prayed that his converts might stand blameless and holy before God at Christ’s return. Since all believers will be transformed to be like Christ when He returns (1 John 3:2), Paul could not be referring to our personal condition in heaven. He was referring to our lives here on earth as they will be reviewed at the Judgment Seat of Christ. We will never face our sins in heaven, for they are remembered against us no more (Rom. 8:1; Heb. 10:14–18). But our works will be tested, and you cannot separate conduct from character.
Paul’s prayer teaches us how to pray not only for new believers, but for all believers. We should pray that their faith will mature, their love grow, and their character and conduct be holy and blameless before God. “And every man that hath this hope in him [Christ] purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:3).
As we review this chapter, we see how important it is to care for new Christians. Leading someone to Christ is not enough. We must also lead him on in the Christian life and help him get established. If he is not established, he will fall when the winds of persecution start to blow. If he cannot stand, he will never learn to walk.
What shall we do? We can be an encouragement and stand at his side as he matures. We can share the Word of God. We can pray. This is what Paul did—and it worked.