Paul's Love for the Thessalonians

6 · Oswald provides historical-contextual grounding by recounting Paul's missionary journey from Philippi through Thessalonica to Athens, emphasizing the pattern of brief ministry interrupted by violent opposition—setting up the significance of Paul's inability to return

So this morning I want to look at Paul's prayer and see that I believe it's a result of his love and his affection for the people. Well, then we'll look at Paul's prayer and how it reveals a continued passion for these people. As we begin, I just want to confess this message is just as much for me as it is for you. I am well aware that many of you have a far richer prayer life than I do. As I spent the last few weeks studying this passage and preparing for this morning, I became more aware of my personal weakness in the area of prayer, and I'm hopeful and I'm encouraged and hopeful that God will take what has been a weakness in my life and make it a strength. So please remember to pray for me. So let's take a look. Paul's prayer, the result of love and affection for people. The first point here is that Paul longed to be with the Thessalonians. We can read about the founding of the church in Thessalonica in Acts 17. Paul and Silas had been beaten badly in Philippi. They were imprisoned there, and that's where that amazing thing where the earth shook and the prison doors fell open. That amazing story. But right after that, they were sent out of Philippi and they make their way to Thessalonica. Paul sets about the work of evangelism and church planting, which is typical of Paul when he gets to a new city. What's the first thing he do? He starts to preach the gospel. He starts to establish and plant a new church. And he does that as well here. But again, he faces opposition. And after just a few weeks, he's forced out of town. He flees and goes to Berea and again starts the work of evangelism, church planting, and again is forced out. And finally, he makes his way to Athens and he finds himself in a very challenging situation in Athens. Facing the enormous spiritual and intellectual hurdles of that great city at the time.

7 · Oswald unpacks Paul's emotional language—"torn away," "could bear it no longer" (repeated)—to demonstrate that Paul's longing to return was not professional duty but burning pastoral anguish

So it's in this context of going into a city, preaching the gospel, seeing people respond to the gospel, beginning to establish a church, and immediately having to flee. No more than a few short weeks most likely in these places. Thessalonica was one of those. So it was a church that he's beginning to look back upon He has recently planted the church there and he wasn't able to spend any time helping them to establish training and discipling them, establishing them in the faith. And this was not Paul's normal preferred routine. He probably saw this as a source of frustration for him. His preferred process was to preach the gospel, see conversions, establish a church, then spend time training and discipling and establishing these new converts in their faith. So he most likely had some concern for these new Christians in Thessalonica as he had preached the gospel to them and then had to flee immediately. So it's in this context that he writes, "But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time in person," not in the heart, "we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face." Paul wanted to be back with them again. It says, "We were torn away. Therefore, when we could bear it no longer," here is sense that we could bear it, "I could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy our brother and God's coworker in the gospel to establish and exhort you in your faith that no one be moved by these afflictions." "When I could bear it no longer," again, that same word, "when I could bear it no longer," wanted to be with them. He wanted to spend time with them. He wanted to pray with them. He wanted to teach them. He wanted to disciple them. When he could bear it no longer, he says, "I sent Timothy to learn about your faith for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and your labor would be in great vain." So here was a man who was so committed to these new Christians, especially the Christians in Thessalonica, that he's simply basically burning up inside to be back with them. He wanted to nurture them, to care for them, to help them. To feed them and to establish them and ground them in their faith. And when Paul is unable to do that himself, he devotes himself to praying for them. And in these words preceding his prayer, we can see the deep concern that the Apostle Paul had for the Thessalonians. Paul was a passionate man. He was deeply involved in the lives of real people, and he maintained that involvement even when he couldn't be with them by praying with them. Praying for them. Look at his words to the Corinthians and to the Romans as well. 2 Corinthians 11 says, "And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is made to fall and I'm not indignant?" And Romans 9:3 says, "For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers." my kinsmen according to flesh. Paul had a deep connection with whoever he came in contact with. He felt for them, he had a burden for them, he wanted to be with them. Whether it was the Thessalonians or the Corinthians or the Ephesians or the Romans, it didn't matter. Paul wanted to be with people, real people. He wanted to be with them.

8 · Oswald makes the theological move from emotional attachment to ethical orientation—Paul's affection was genuinely other-centered, seeking the Thessalonians' good rather than his own satisfaction or recognition

Secondly, Paul's prayer arises out of a passionate affection that seeks the good of others. Paul wasn't writing to the Thessalonians seeking his own praise, his own gratitude, or acceptance by them. He wasn't looking for a sense of satisfaction or personal fulfillment by praying for others. Paul's prayers weren't meant to draw attention to him. They were intended to seek to benefit the good of others. He wanted those who he prayed for to be encouraged and built up in the faith through his prayers.

9 · Oswald applies the principle to contemporary church life with an extended critique of self-centered ministry—both in prayer (performing for others, being intimidated into silence) and in service (seminary students refusing setup teams)

Sadly, that's not always the case when we pray. Yes, we want to pray for others, to ask God to do things for them. But it's too uncommon for our prayers to drift into attention, to essentially try to draw attention to ourselves. We want to show others how good we can pray. We use fancy words that we wouldn't otherwise use in conversation. We go on and on, often repeating ourselves to just to show how good I can pray. Look at my fancy word. Look how long I can go. And we drift away from praying for others to trying to draw attention to ourselves. We often use our prayers as an opportunity to pray, as an opportunity to communicate an idea or a concept or a belief to others rather than simply talking to them about it at some other point in time. These prayers become more about us than they do about the people we're praying for. The opposite, there's an opposite of this that can be true as well. We can often be intimidated by by others who would be around us. We don't think that I can pray with those fancy words or I can't pray as long as they can. And I become intimidated and I feel inadequate and I then close my mouth and don't ever actually pray for anyone. We become intimidated into silence. If this is you, look at Paul's prayers. Paul was not a man of many words. His prayers were typically a few sentences long, maybe a paragraph at the most. But he was very sharp and to the point. He knew what he wanted to pray and he prayed it and he was done with it. So if you can't go on for 5 minutes praying in one prayer, take encouragement from Paul. He prayed, it would be, you know, a sentence or two often in Paul's prayers. Again, the purpose of prayer is not to draw attention to ourselves. It's to seek the good of others. And it doesn't have to be a long prayer to do that. The same tendency can be true when it comes to ministry. There are pastors who declare their passion for preaching so loudly and so vehemently that it becomes unclear whether they're doing that, whether they're preaching for their own benefit and the power that they've been captured by, or is there a true desire even left in them anymore to preach and minister to those who might be listening to their words? So maybe you're a musician or a vocalist or a care group leader or a ministry team leader, it doesn't really matter. You could be a pastor. There's very real temptation for anyone in a position of power and authority to easily slip into the mindset that our position makes us important. How could the church possibly survive without me? Our ministry becomes all about us. Look what I do. Look at my position and my responsibilities. It's about me and my gifts and my talents. Well, no, it isn't about you. If you're a pastor who's up here on Sunday mornings on a frequent basis, or you're just one who comes in once a week and cleans the toilet, your ministry isn't about you at all. It's about serving others. It's about caring for them, praying for them, putting their needs first, and dying to self. We lead and we serve for the benefit of others, not for ourselves. Our previous church out in California, we were at a church out there in Pasadena. Pam and I lived there for about 14 years. And there was a very popular seminary close by. And it wasn't uncommon for students who would come to the seminary to study would eventually, many of them eventually made their way to the church. It was close by. It was a well-known church. And over the course of time, many of these students would come and ask, "Can I serve somewhere?" in the church. And you know, that's a great— what pastor, what administrator doesn't love to hear those kinds of words? I want to serve in the church. Absolutely. There is a never-ending supply of needs to be met at a church. So we'd say, absolutely. We need help on the setup team. We need help with the custodial teams. We need help in children's ministry. And they would send me— I was in charge of the setup teams back then— and they would send these names to me and I would call them up. Say, "Hey, I heard you want to serve. I'd love to put you in on one of the setup teams. Come down here at 7 o'clock, help us set up chairs, set the worship music up and all that stuff. I would love to have you." And then it only takes about a half hour afterwards to put it all away. We are always looking for help there. But they'd also come back and they'd answer something like this, "Well, you know, I don't really feel called to the setup team." It's not really what I had in mind. I was thinking more like leading a Bible study. I like to teach. I'm at seminary, you know. And when I have taught, people have told me how great a job I do of that and how blessed they are, how encouraged they are. I feel called to be a Bible teacher. Don't you have any openings in a Bible study or maybe I could start a new one for you? We certainly do want to place individuals in positions that they are gifted in and have the skills for, but it's rare that someone would be placed immediately into a teaching position at a church, at least in my experience. We need time to get to know them, to know what their beliefs are, what their doctrines are. Are they gifted as a teacher? Do they want to serve? And are they willing to serve in any position? There's a heart attitude behind serving that we wanted to see and to observe. So we'd ask them, you know, "Are you willing to serve in any capacity?" Once in a while the answer was yes, most often it was no. Even if they were just to come and set up chairs, you can observe a lot about a person, about their heart, what motivates them to serve, if they're willing to come and set up chairs or clean toilets. It's quite easy to discern a person's heart and their attitudes towards service when you ask them to do something like that. It's quiet behind the scenes, a non-visible position. D.A. Carson, in a book I read recently by him, he shares a similar observation. He's an instructor at a Bible school or a seminary. And he had some similar experiences and he writes this. And he doesn't mince words. He says, "How pathetic. I know pagans who find satisfaction and fulfillment by teaching nuclear physics. In any Christian view of life, self-fulfillment must never be permitted to become the controlling issue. The issue is service, the service of real people. The question is, how can I be most useful? Not, how can I feel most useful? The goal is, how can I best glorify God by serving his people? Not, how can I feel the most comfortable and appreciated while engaging in some acceptable form of Christian ministry? The assumption is, how shall the Christian service to which God calls me be enhanced By my daily death, by my principled commitment to take up my cross daily and die. Not how shall the form of service I am considering enhance my career. This doesn't in any way insist that Christians shouldn't derive joy from work that is honestly offered up to God, whether that work is vocational ministry or research or sales or engineering or farming or working in a restaurant. It doesn't matter what our job is. What our profession is. The question is, how do we evaluate the choices that we face in life? Should our happiness be the primary goal, or should we find joy in the work to which we've been called regardless of what that call may be?

10 · Oswald returns to the primary text to reinforce the point—Paul's repeated "could bear it no longer" reveals genuine agony over the Thessalonians' welfare, not concern for his own reputation or satisfaction

So Paul again, he says, "So when I could stand it no longer, we sent Timothy to strengthen and encourage you in your faith so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer," he kept repeating that, "when I could stand it no longer, when I could stand it no longer," Paul was about the other people. It wasn't about him. He wanted to go and find out, "How are you doing in your faith?" Through this, we see a man whose affection and concern for this group of believers in Thessalonica guarantees essentially that they will not serve to feed his ego or give him a sense of importance. Paul is in agony. Think about his words. He's in agony about his concern for these people and for their good. Paul wants to be assured that they are standing up under the persecution.

11 · Oswald notes Paul's prayer strategy—not deliverance from persecution but strength through it—and flags this as a recurring Pauline pattern worth further study

If you look at the Thessalonian church, they are a church that's under persecution and Paul, the Apostle, had only been with them for a few weeks and now they're on their own suffering persecution. And he's rightly and justifiably worried about them. He didn't want them to struggle in their faith. He didn't want them to be unsettled. If you look in 2 Thessalonians, you can read more about that. There, his prayer there, I'm kind of diverging here a second, but his prayer to them, you know, they're in the midst of trials, of persecutions, and his prayer for them is not that God would take them out of that and release them from it, but that God would strengthen them and encourage them through that, that they would stand strong in the midst of those trials. And that's a whole other message for some other time, but God, looking at how Paul prays for people. It's very interesting to note what Paul thinks is important to pray for people, especially in the midst of trials.

12 · Oswald establishes the Christological foundation for other-centered service—Jesus' incarnation and death were entirely for our benefit, not His own, and John 13 commands us to love with that same self-sacrificial orientation

So Paul not only wants to be with the Thessalonians, he wants to be with them for a reason. He wants to be with them for their benefit, for their good, for their encouragement. And this is Christianity 101. Why did Jesus come to us? Why did Jesus come to die on the cross? Why did He choose to be with us? Was it for His benefit? No, Jesus came because it was for our good, for our benefit. Jesus chose the path of self-denial and dying in excruciating pain and humility and shame so that others might live. In John 13, Jesus said, "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. And by this, all people will know that you are My disciples." 'If you have love for one another.' Jesus wants us to love others the same way. He wants to serve the same way, not by lording it over them. And Paul had a grasp on that. He understood that he served for the benefit of others. So when we serve, are we seeking the benefit of others or are we seeking to bring some recognition to ourselves? To serve others is a benchmark of the Christian life. Paul understood it and he lived it. Paul's prayers for the churches, including this one in Thessalonians, were simply an extension of his love for the people in those churches.

13 · Oswald introduces the third point by reading 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 and highlighting Paul's initial thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' faith, love, and hope—the triad that shaped his memory of them

Third, Paul prays. Paul's prayer flows from joy at reports of the Thessalonians, their faith, their love, and their perseverance. Paul begins his letter to them back in chapter 1, he says, "We give thanks to God always." 'For you.' Sorry, 'God always for all of you constantly mention you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.' Paul, again, had only spent a short time with the Thessalonians, but he had fond memories of that time. And what memories they are. He remembers their faithfulness. Work that was produced by faith. He remembers their love, their labor that was prompted by love. He remembers their steadfastness, their endurance that was inspired by hope in Christ Jesus. Those were Paul's memories of his time, his short time with the Thessalonians.

14 · Oswald traces the narrative arc—Paul's concern during absence, Timothy's mission to check on them, and Timothy's return with a good report that brought Paul profound relief and comfort

Now he's been away from them for a while, and his absence has created a concern about how they might be doing in the midst of their persecution, in the midst of their trials. That's why he sends Timothy to go back. And to inquire and see how they're doing. So Timothy returns and he brings this report. He says, "But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you, for this reason, brothers, in all of our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live." if you are steadfast, if you are standing fast in the Lord.

15 · Oswald uses the contemporary cultural fixation on bad news as an analogy to challenge Providence's focus—should the church's narrative center on financial difficulties or on evidence of God's grace?

Have you ever noticed in our society, in our culture today, turn on the news at 5 o'clock or 6 o'clock, what do you see? What do you hear? Typically, it's all the bad things that took place during the day. School shootings, someone's complaining about their rights being trampled on, there's a war going on somewhere, there's politics, political battles are taking place, there's destruction caused by tornadoes, All of the bad news is the first thing that you hear or see when you turn on the news. It seems like the only interesting news to our society, to our culture, is the bad news. I want to challenge us. What do we focus on here at Providence? Everyone who's a member of the church is well aware that we're experiencing some financial difficulties at times. We've had to slash budgets. One of the pastors is being furloughed for a while. But should that be what we focus on?

16 · Oswald answers his own challenge by cataloging specific instances of God's grace at Providence—a family's faith through cancer, a conversion through international student ministry, seekers attending church, and two upcoming baptisms

What about the confidence and the faith that we see in Stephen and Sarah Johnson as they walk with their 6-year-old son as he battles brain cancer? It's been a 6-month battle so far, and I see steadfastness. I feel— I see a confidence in them as they walk with Dominic through his battle. There's a young lady that recently gave her life to the Lord as she heard the gospel preached through the ministry of Matt and Lydia Brody as they reach out. Administer and care for the international students. How many have noticed that there are now several people that are coming and attending Providence who have little or no knowledge of the Bible? God's crossed their paths in a variety of ways. They've been made aware that something is missing in their lives. God has created a hunger in their hearts, and while they don't know all the Christian words to describe that, it's clear that the Holy Spirit has awakened them, awakened their spirits. The hunger that they have is a hunger for God. And a hunger to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Later today, we're going to celebrate with, with two individuals, Madison Gimity and Chris Acker. They're going to stand up before their church, before their family and friends, and proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

17 · Oswald applies the principle—like Paul, we should focus more on evidence of God's grace in people's lives than on institutional challenges, making thanksgiving for spiritual growth a regular part of prayer

There are a lot of good things going on at Providence, and what do we focus on? Are we more consumed by the challenges that we face, or are we more aware of about the wonderful things that God is doing in people's life. For Paul, every report of growth in the fundamentals of the Christian life, their growth in faith, their growth in love, that was an occasion for rejoicing, for great rejoicing. It should be the same way for us. We want to pray for strength, we want to pray for endurance as we face our trials, but let's never forget to thank God and to celebrate and rejoice in the growth and the evidence of His grace that we see in the lives of those around us. Paul's prayers spring in part from the incredible delight that he takes in the good report he gets back from Timothy regarding the Thessalonians.

18 · Oswald signals the major structural transition from contextual material to the prayer itself, reiterating that the prayer's fervency is genuine rather than manufactured because it flows from real affection

Paul's prayer, which we're going to look at in a second, I believe is a product of his passion for those people, his love and affection that he feels for people. His prayer is a fervent prayer. It's not a manufactured emotionalism. It's not something he drummed up on himself. He truly loved these people. He truly rejoiced with him in the good report he got back from Timothy. And that's how I want to encourage us to pray. So let's look at Paul's prayer here a little bit more in depth. Paul's prayer, it's a continuing passion that Paul had for people.

19 · Oswald establishes thanksgiving as Paul's consistent prayer pattern across all his letters, noting that Paul returns to thanksgiving even after already expressing it—he cannot overdo gratitude to God

And one, first of all, it's a prayer of thankfulness for the people of God. We've already talked a little bit about Paul's thankfulness, his appreciation, and you would think that Paul had gotten through that and gotten over that, but no, it's exactly how he begins his prayer. He can't get away from being thankful. In chapter 1, he began with thanking them. He talked about the report that he got from Timothy. But Paul doesn't see that as that I can overdo that. He begins his prayer by again giving thanks to them. In 1 Thessalonians 3:9, he says, "For what thanksgiving can we return to God?" for you, for all of the joy that we feel for your sake before our God. For Paul, giving thanks was an important and vital aspect of prayer. In nearly every prayer that he offers up on behalf of the churches he's writing to, thanksgiving is always, almost always, a part of it. Go look at the prayers for the Ephesians, the Philippians, the Corinthians, the Colossians. Paul thanks God for all of them.

20 · Oswald unpacks the rhetorical sophistication of Paul's thanksgiving—directed to God (maintaining proper theological orientation) while simultaneously encouraging the Thessalonians by letting them overhear his gratitude for God's work in their lives

But take a minute to look closely at who it is that Paul is thanking. Paul's thanksgiving is not addressed to the Thessalonians themselves. His thanks, his gratitude is expressed to God for the Thessalonians. It's worded in such a way— Paul's just an amazing guy. He has a way to word these so that it's clear that he's thanking God, but at the same time the Thessalonians can take encouragement by reading of his his thanks. Paul encourages the fellow Christians by thanking God for his grace in their lives, and then Paul encourages those Christians by telling them that he thanks God for his grace in their lives. So in this way, Paul is simultaneously drawing attention to the spiritual growth that he sees in the Thessalonians, which should encourage them, by insisting at the same time that anyone, that the one to be thanked for that growth is God and God alone. He's not thanking the Thessalonians for the growth, he's thanking God for the growth he sees in the Thessalonians. So God and God alone is to be praised for the signs of grace that we see in people's lives. Simultaneously though, that would encourage them, that should bolster their hope, bolster their faith, be encouraged to see that Paul has observed and heard about them and takes encouragement by that. By witnessing what God has done in their lives. And this is typical, this is vintage Paul in prayer.

21 · Oswald models the practice he's advocating by publicly thanking God for specific members of Providence—youth who attend faithfully, office helpers, children's ministry workers, and setup/custodial teams—demonstrating how to simultaneously give God glory and encourage people

How much more would our church be transformed if each of us made that kind of practice part of our prayers? If we would make a practice to thank God for what we see in others' lives, when we see God doing something in someone's life, if we thank God for that, and then letting them know that we that we see what God is doing in your life. So Joshua and Matthew Protratz, Ransom Purvis, Jacob Arrowood, Michael Gimity, and Nathan, I want to thank you for your steadfastness in coming to the youth group this year and making those times special as we studied God's Word together when there were many other things that you could have been doing on Wednesday nights. Vera, Alexandra, I can't thank God enough for the two of you, for all the things that you do to help me around the office each week, and in many cases for, for been doing that for years. Jill Hegarty, she's teaching this morning, but I thank God for her and for the love that she shows our children in making sure that our kids are well cared for in children's ministry each week. Steve Potratz, Chad Palatychuk, Alicia, Randy, I thank God for your faithfulness in ensuring that our Sunday mornings, that the church is cleaned, that the lawns are mowed, that there are smiling faces at the door to greet us, that the sanctuary is ready to go by 10:00 a.m. so that we can come in to worship God, to come into His presence and be undistracted by weeds growing in the yard, dirty bathrooms, chairs messed up. These folks labor. Week after week, and I thank God for their work, their commitment to do all those things quietly and behind the scenes so that we can come in here in an undistracted way and enter into God's presence. I could go on and on. There are so many people who serve, who use their talents that they've been given by God, and I'm grateful for each one of them.

22 · Oswald unpacks the theological depth of Paul's joy—it is not self-centered satisfaction but participation in God's own joy over His people's growth

If our prayer life doesn't regularly include giving thanks to God for what we see in other people's lives, for the growth and the maturity that we see God doing in them, for their increase in faith. We need to add that to our prayer life. We need to make that a part of our prayer life. The Apostle Paul did, and we need to do that as well. So Paul's thanks to God for the Thessalonian Christians, and in some measure, the way that Paul thanks God for his own greatest source of joy. Consider his words again in 1 Thessalonians 3. He says, 'For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you? Why, for all of the joy that we feel, that I feel for your sake before our God.' Paul's wording here is important. He speaks of the joy that he has, that he, Paul, has before our God or in the presence of our God because of the Thessalonians. He doesn't use such language lightly. The joy that he experiences, the joy that Paul is experiencing Far from making him the center of the universe, it's along the lines of the joy that God would experience that we would see in heaven when an unbeliever gives their life to the Lord. Talks about the angels rejoicing when one sinner repents. Paul shares this kind of joy with God based on the things that make God himself joyful. Paul's values are so aligned with God's that what brings joy to God brings joy to Paul. So his exuberant testimony here discloses, I think, that aspect of Paul's joy. Paul finds joy in what God finds joy in. He's basically saying, I love you so much, the Thessalonians, that when I see God's grace in your life, I am utterly elated. Your spiritual growth affords me so much joy in the presence of God that I am profoundly indebted to you. I am impelled all the more to thank God for you. So Paul found joy in observing what God was doing in others' lives.

23 · Oswald unpacks 1 Thessalonians 3:10-11 to show Paul's prayer as the prayer of a servant—regular (day and night), focused on others rather than himself, and crucially, integrating petition for their growth with personal commitment to be the answer to his own prayer

Second point, Paul's prayer is the prayer of a servant. "We pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith. And may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you." This is the prayer of a servant. There are a couple of things that we can take note of about Paul's prayer here. First, Paul notes that his regular times of prayer, whether it be day or night, he remembers the Thessalonians in those prayers. So we can learn much about imitating Paul. We see the importance of regular prayer. Day and night Paul prayed. We can see the importance of remembering the right things, including the right things in our prayer. And most importantly, I think, we can take note that Paul is constantly praying for others. Paul spends very little time praying for himself. There are a few instances where Paul is praying for himself, but if you look at over the bulk of material that we have about Paul and his prayers, the predominant focus of those prayers is others. He spends very little time focusing on himself. Second burden that Paul has in this prayer, or in his constant prayer, is that he might see them again. Because he wanted to supply what was lacking in their faith. The deficiency of faith that Paul was concerned about is not out of rebellion or disobedience. He's not trying to correct them here. It's probably just out of ignorance. Again, Paul just spent a few precious weeks with them. So Paul was wanting to go back and supply what was lacking in their faith. Why did he want to go back? Because he wanted to supply what was lacking. So this prayer shows us not only what Paul felt was important, but I think it reveals Paul's commitment to these Christians. Notice how Paul intermixes prayer for the believers and his own service to them. He didn't simply pray that the Thessalonians would be built up in their faith, that they would be strengthened, and then leave how that would be done out of his prayer. He included himself. I want to go back. I want to be a part of that. He wasn't leaving it up to chance or to choice. He wasn't saying, you know, God send Joe, or God send Timothy, or God send Peter. He was, Lord, I want to go. It kind of reminds us of— or when I read that, I'm reminded of Isaiah's words back in Isaiah 6:8. It says, here am I. What does he say then? Send me. Paul's doing the same thing. For Paul, just praying for people isn't a substitute for actually serving them. It's a part of it. Paul couldn't pray for these believers without longing to serve them himself.

24 · Oswald applies the principle with concrete examples—prayer should move us to action, whether writing notes, befriending the struggling, starting Bible studies, or bringing correction

So we should all pray with that kind of mindset. It's true that we certainly can't and won't be able to go minister and care for everyone that we pray for, but quite often we can do something in order to help and to encourage those we're praying for. As we pray for believers that we know, we might be able to write them a note of encouragement. Maybe we can befriend a teenager who's beginning to drift. Maybe we can start a Bible study for new Christians in the church. Maybe we can bring a word of correction to someone whose words are harsh and are hurtful to others. We need to do these things with prayer, but like Paul, we need to— our prayers should motivate and encourage us to go and actually be a part of the answer of those prayers. We need to ask, not only pray for someone, but ask, how can I be a part of the solution? How can I help?

25 · Oswald commends Providence for already practicing this integration of prayer and service, cataloging specific examples including childcare, meals, financial help, hospital visits, and care packages to a deployed serviceman

So I want to stop and just, I want to hear, just stop and commend you all. I think Providence does a great job at this. You not only pray for others, but I see, I witness, my position here at the church, I'm well aware of many things that you're doing to help others. Children are cared for when parents are sick, when parents need to go out. There are meals prepared. For families with new babies. There are financial gifts that are given to help supply the needs that are, that are there. We gather at the hospital to support and encourage each other through sickness. You know, I'm encouraged that a lot of people are helping out to send, send care packages on a biweekly basis to Micah Madden. Micah is deeply encouraged by those packages. We've been praying for him. He's in a difficult situation over there in Afghanistan, needs our prayers, and even though he's thousands of miles away, we can still encourage him through the notes, the letters, the goodies that we send to him. So I know that Micah appreciates that. I know his parents do as well. So we pray for him, then we take the next step and we actually try to do something to help him and to actually encourage him.

26 · Oswald exposits 1 Thessalonians 3:12, noting Paul's prayer for overflowing love among believers as a missional imperative—in a harsh world, genuine Christian love is a powerful apologetic

Third, Paul prays that there might be an overflow of love among the believers. Verse 12, he says, "May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you." Considering how little instruction in the faith that the Thessalonians received before Paul was forced to leave, is it any wonder that this is one of the burdens of Paul's prayers? He doesn't restrict his prayer simply to doctrine and praying only that the understanding of the believers there in Thessalonica might increase. He prays that their love for each other might increase and overflow as well. We live in a tough, harsh, brutal world. There are many faults or token signs of affection that we see around us, that we experience. There's superficial love, whether it was in the ancient Roman world back in when this letter was written or it's today. There's the unconditional love that Paul is is praying for and asking for is a fairly rare commodity. When it is displayed, it speaks volumes to the society, to those around us. It opposes the self-interest, the power, the greed, the instant gratification that people seek. It speaks against the mutual admiration that we see. Consider again Jesus' words. He said, "A new commandment I give you." that you love one another just as I have loved you, and you also are to love one another. And by this kind of love, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. That's why Paul turns to this petition, I think, repeatedly. It surfaces in one form or another that we would abound in love in other of his prayers. It's a theme that Paul comes back to time and time again. But for the moment, just consider, do our prayers match that? Do we pray that we would have that kind of love for each other? If not, we need to make that a part of our prayers.

27 · Oswald exposits the climax of Paul's prayer in verse 13—petition for hearts strengthened to the point of blamelessness and holiness at Christ's return

And fourth and finally, Paul prays that the believers will be so strengthened in their hearts that they will be blameless and holy when the Lord returns. Verse 13, he says, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all of His saints. In biblical thought, the heart is not only the center of our personality, it's the seat of our will, it's the seat of our understanding. It's also the place where hidden motives hide out, where they're shaped. And if our hearts are strengthened, if our resolve and our allegiance to Jesus Christ is established, then we will not need to fear the day of the Lord. Paul prays that Christians will be so strengthened that they will become blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father, not according to temporal worldly standards, but blameless and holy in the presence of a holy God. In Philippians, Paul prays for us and says that we would become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which we shine like stars in the universe. Paul had an eternal perspective when he prayed.

28 · Oswald applies the principle by challenging the congregation's prayer priorities—do we focus on temporal circumstances or eternal transformation? He affirms that Paul prayed for immediate needs but never lost his "laser-like" focus on eternity

There's no prayer that we could pray that would be more fundamental than that, that God might strengthen our hearts so that they will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father on that last day. When was the last time that we offered up a prayer like that for someone, that they would be holy and blameless in the presence of God? Do we pray with a focus and perspective on the here and now and get more wrapped up in the circumstances and the situations that we're facing right now? Or do we have a focus on eternity? Paul never lost sight of the here and now. We can see him praying. He prayed for his own healing. He prays for traveling mercies. Paul never lost sight of those things. He was focused. He was laser-like in his focus about praying with an eternal perspective. And we need to do the same thing. Paul prays for them in light of the end and says, "At the coming of the Lord Jesus with all of His saints." He prays with eternity in view. We need to do the same thing.

29 · Oswald steps out of the expositional flow to confess his personal conviction—Paul's prayer pattern challenges him because Paul focused on transformation through trials rather than deliverance from them

It's— I'm just challenged. By Paul when I read his prayers again. He's, he's more concerned about what God is doing in a person's life through the trial and the tribulation, sickness, whatever the case may be. I believe Paul wants to see them out of those difficulties, but that's not the focus of his prayer. His prayer is when people are in difficult times, when they're struggling, when they're suffering, his prayer is that God would give them strength endurance, that he would help them through that, that he would help them to be steadfast. He was focused on what God was doing in their lives through the trial, through the tribulation, through the difficulty, through the persecution. Less concerned about the circumstances they faced here and now, but what is God doing?

30 · Oswald makes the theological claim explicit—citing James, he argues that transformation through suffering is a higher good than immediate deliverance

James says, count it all joy in the midst of trials and difficulties. And why? Because God is using that to make us pure and complete and lacking in nothing. I love all of you. I mourn when I— it's hard to see some of you go through difficult times. And I pray that God would heal those who need healing, that He would deliver out of difficult situations those who need deliverance. But more than that, we need to see God and rejoice in the midst of those times that God would make us pure and holy and complete and lacking in nothing. I would rather see someone endure through a difficult time and come out the other end complete and lacking in nothing than to be immediately delivered from the difficulty. As hard as that may sound, Paul prayed that way for us. He prayed that way for the Thessalonians, that we would be made complete and lacking in nothing, blameless and holy when the Lord returns.

31 · Oswald reiterates his personal challenge and extends it to the congregation—are we focused on temporal relief or eternal transformation in our prayers? He repeats the "laser-like" focus language for emphasis

That would be— I'm challenged by that when I read from Paul, when I read his prayers. I want the rest of us to be challenged as well. Think about how we're praying for people. Where are we praying? For the here and now? Do we have eternity in focus when we're praying? Paul concerned himself with the here and now, but he was laser-like in his prayers for eternity. He had an eye on eternity, and that's where the majority of his time praying for people was spent.

32 · Oswald closes by synthesizing the sermon's argument—Paul's prayer was driven by burning passion for real people, evidenced by his longing to be with them, his urgency to supply their needs, and his eternal focus

All right, I got off my notes there. So Paul prays for the Thessalonians in light of the end. He prays with eternity in view, and he does that with a burning passion for those people. He loved the Thessalonians, and he prayed for them. He longed to be with them. He desired to be with them. He wanted to give them something. He wanted to edify them, build them up in their faith. We can see that passion in his words leading up to him. He was so concerned that he sent Timothy to find out because Paul himself couldn't go. It's a man who loved the people that he prayed for. He loved the people that he ministered to. And that was reflected in his prayers. All right, let's pray.

33 · Oswald transitions to closing prayer

All right, let's pray.