Prayers of Paul 08

1 Thessalonians 3
9How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
11Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

Paul wants the Thessalonian believers to be complete in their faith. The Greek work translated as “supply” means to complete thoroughly. He prays a similar thing for the Corinthian believers in 2 Corinthians 13:9, “And this also we pray, that you may be made complete.” Evidently, even Epaphras, one of Paul’s team members, had picked up Paul’s heart, since in his letter to the Colossians Paul writes, “Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”

A building is only as strong as its foundation. Before a building can be completed its foundation must be secure. The same can be said of believers. Before a believer can grow to maturity, his or her spiritual foundation must also be secure. In preparation for Paul’s visit, during which he hopes to build into the lives of the Thessalonian believers, Paul prays for their foundations to be strengthened in two ways.

First, Paul prays, “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else.” It’s no surprise that Paul considers love to be an important part of a believer’s foundation. Jesus summed up the whole of the law in one word, “Love.” But there are two interesting aspects to Paul’s prayer regarding love. First, he identifies God as the source of love—not the believers. God lays this foundation in us. It is not something we can manufacture ourselves. Second, he prays that the Lord would make their love increase and overflow. The bigger the foundation, the bigger the building that can be built. Paul wants large capacity believers, so he prays for large foundations.

Second, Paul prays, “May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” Again, he identifies God as the source—this time of strength. Foundations need to be strong, first to support the weight of what is built on top of them, and then to resist the storms that will threaten to destroy the building. The Greek word translated as "heart" means the thoughts or feelings. Our mind is a powerful gift from God. What we think and feel determines our response to adversity. But we can be angry and not sin. We can be disappointed without becoming hopeless. We can be sad without becoming lost in depression. All these are possible, not in our own strength, but as God strengthens our hearts.

Today, let’s pray that…
Our foundation of love will increase to overflowing.
Our hearts would be strengthened and able to withstand every storm.
God will finish His work in us, making us complete and mature.