Pay Close Attention When Paul Asks For Prayer

November 14, 2016

Pay Close Attention When Paul Asks For Prayer

“Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly

and be honored wherever it goes . . .”

2 Thessalonians 3:1

Paul begins this concluding chapter of his letter to the Thessalonians asking for prayer. I have learned to pay close attention when Paul asks for prayer, because his prayers are substantially different than the prevailing tone of prayer in churches today. (More on this subject in my book, First Think – Then Pray available on Amazon Kindle.) Paul asks for prayer that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes.

Last week on November 8^th I wrote, “2 Thessalonians is one of the shortest of Paul’s letters. But if 2 Thessalonians was all you had, you would have all you need. The theological summary here is more than sufficient to ground an individual and a church in Christian principles for life.” What I lifted up in my last four meditations reveals what Paul believed about “the Lord’s message.” (You can get easy access to these mediations on my BLOG at, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com ) Take a few moments and ponder the impact on your community if your church came together with one heart to pray that the Lord’s message would spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes in your community.

Paul recognized that there is much resistance to the spreading of God’s message, so he also asked for prayer that he would be rescued from wicked and evil people.  He ended his prayer request with an affirmation of the Lord’s Prayer: “But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3). (“And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13).

Verse five is an intriguing benediction that is quite similar to Paul’s affirmation in Philippians of God at work in our lives: “May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ” (2 Thessalonians 3:5 -- Compare to Philippians 2:13). Again, take a few moments and ponder the impact on your community if your church came together with one heart to pray:

for openness to the Lord leading your hearts

into a full understanding

and expression

of the love of God

and the patient endurance

that comes from Christ.

 What if . . .?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.