Praying for Us, Praying for You

You have your Bibles, do you turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verses 1 through 5, 2 Thessalonians chapters 3 verses 1 through 5.

Finally brothers pray for us the Word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored as happened among you and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men for not all have faith, but the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one and we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. Let’s pray.

Father, we come to you tonight and as we prepare to hear your Word we ask that your Word would already be working in our hearts, that they would already have sped ahead in our hearts and minds and so we pray now that you would prepare us to receive the Word that you have for us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

I think it’s safe to say that most little boys who are growing up have one quality in mind, especially on the playground, that they prize above all else. This quality is not their ability to think or to reason. It is not their ability to sing or to memorize or to excel in school, it is likely not even some other athletic quality such as how hard you can throw a ball or how high you can jump. No, I’ve seen that the quality that most every little boy prizes, the quality that most every little boy envies, the quality that most every little boy measures himself up against is the quality of speed. Who is the fastest kid in the grade. I still have vivid memories from growing up and having straight line races during recess, I see that now even as I drive around and see our schoolboys and girls running on the field. They would line up and test themselves. I can still remember, maybe you can as well with precision my fourth grade mile time. I will not share that with you, but I will say that I was and still am proud of it. That period of my life represented apex mountain in terms of the category of speed, it was all downhill from there. Growing up there was no quality like speed. And that’s a little bit of what our passage is about tonight, speed. But it’s not about athletic accomplishments on the playground, it’s not even the speed of ministry and seeing how fast ministry can grow or spread out, no tonight our passage is about a prayer of Paul’s for his ministry that the Word of God would speed ahead of him and do its work in the world. Tonight, we’ll look at Paul’s two prayer requests in this passage, his two prayer requests for himself, and then we’ll address two questions toward the back half of our passage. Two questions that maybe as you read it might have alerted your heart and mind to these same questions. Two prayer requests and two questions.

We’ll start with these two prayer requests. Paul starts the final part of his letter to the Thessalonians; brothers pray for us. During the season in the evening we’ve been looking at Paul’s prayers for others. Tonight, we conclude that series, I believe we conclude that series and we see that our passage here is not like the rest of the passages that we’ve been looking at in that this is actually not a prayer that Paul is praying for others. Here is Paul praying and asking for prayer for himself, and for his traveling companions. Paul begins by acknowledging that he has two traveling companions with him, Silvanus and Timothy. He is likely writing this second letter to the church in Thessalonica likely from Corinth somewhere between 49 and 51 A.D. and he asked for prayer, which is not unusual for Paul. At least seven times in the New Testament we have recorded that Paul asked for prayer in his letters. We see that in Romans 15, he asked the Romans to pray for his deliverance from unbelievers in Judea. Cite Corinthian chapter 1. He requests prayer for deliverance from deadly peril. Ephesians 6, 19 through 20 he asked for prayer that he may boldly proclaim the Gospel. He asked again for deliverance in Philippians 1. In Colossians 4 he asked for prayer for an open door for the gospel and in 1 Thessalonians 5 he simply says brothers and sisters pray for us. Paul was not afraid to ask for prayer. He wasn’t too shy; he certainly wasn’t too proud. He wasn’t overly self-dependent. Yes, he often shared as we’ve learned through this sermon series that he was praying for others and we got a glimpse into what he was praying for, but he was also ready to ask for prayer for himself and his traveling companions. Voice found Christ Covenant to be a place where we are ready to make our prayer request known. You didn’t know every Tuesday the staff gather for a time of prayer for the needs of the congregation, share updates with one another and we spend time praying for you all, the people of this church. But Paul’s request here at the outset has me evaluating my own personal response to prayer requests. How often do I actually pray for prayer requests that are shared? Now, that may sound terrible for a pastor to stand up here and say that, how often does your pastor pray, but we’ve all been there, haven’t we? At the end of a conversation, maybe you can, if you think about it would you pray for this or maybe it’s a text message that goes, hey if you thought about it would you pray for that. Almost instinctively most of us respond with oh sure brother, absolutely, maybe the prayer hands emoji if it’s on text, and before you know it, if you’re like me, too often you’re on to the next thing. If I am honest, I’ve found that too often I’ve confused sympathy in my heart for interceding on behalf of another. Maybe that’s just me. But sympathy in my heart is not the same as stopping and praying. So, friends, I just want to encourage us that at the onset of this passage, where there is a prayer request, let us stop and pray. It doesn’t always have to be in the moment, but I found for me that if I don’t stop and pray right there right then that sometimes the moment can slip away, and life can get busy. Even if it’s awkward, even if it’s not timely, you and I are prone to forget to pray, so it might be good for us to pray right away. I found this to be so beneficial and in some ways so powerful in a conversation to stop and say, can I actually stop and pray for us right now?

Ephesians 4 tells us that we should not let the sun go down on our anger, that is we should not turn the page to something else before handling the issue in front of us and likewise I think that we should not let the sun go down without praying for what has been requested. It’s not inappropriate to let people know that you will pray for them, that’s a good thing, we should continue to pray for people even after we’ve parted ways with them, but if you’re like me, you may do well to stop right there and to pray. Let’s be quick to stop and pray so that the sun does not go down on prayer requests.

So, what does Paul actually pray for, what’s the content of his request? As I mentioned, he has two prayer requests. First, he prays for the Word to speed ahead, to speed ahead of him. Calvin translates these words that the Word of the Lord may have free course, it may move forward unencumbered, that there would be nothing that would stand in its way, that the Word would go ahead with hindrance, without barrier. I hope you caught it in psalm 147:15. We read it in our Salter reading. Psalm 147:15 says God sends out his commands to the earth that his Word runs swiftly. A beautiful image that is. This is a prayer for God’s will to be done, for his purposes to be accomplished, for the Gospel to be received. He’s asking that the Word might speed ahead of Him. So, what does he mean by this, how can God’s Words speed ahead of God’s servant? Well, imagine with me, as I think Paul intends us to imagine, a runner who is sprinting ahead. If you watch the Olympics there was probably many things that you watched, the various events that went on. One of the most fascinating events that I was unexpectedly enthralled by was the 1500-meter men’s race in the Olympics. It was one of the most exciting races. The American Cole Hocker was not the favorite but by the end of the race he upset the field in one dramatic victory. If you watched that race before you’d know it’s not a race that normally gets a lot of attention. It’s the 100, the 200, maybe some of the relays, but these distance races are actually a good illustration of what I think Paul may be describing here. Here’s the field in the 1500 all bunched up together until one runner speeds out ahead and sets the pace for the rest. Paul intends us to picture to Word of God as one of these athletes whose running the race, an athlete, a runner who is striving, who is straining, who is stretching to win the race and is out in front of the bunched up group behind. We know what happens when these athletes win, don’t we. They are honored, they are glorified, they are held above every other athlete as the one who has won. They stand on top of the podium triumphant over the rest.

So, Paul pictures the Word of the Lord running ahead of him in the world and he prays that the ministry of the Word would speed ahead, that it would speed ahead of every obstacle, it would speed ahead of every barrier, that it would be triumphant and honored and glorified and exalted above every other competitor to Jesus Christ. Paul prays in this short period that every other religion and philosophy and ideology would fall short and that the Word of God would triumph over everything. That’s what he says when he says, may the Word of God speed ahead. Would it move swiftly to accomplish its purpose, would it be honored and glorified and I think it’s right for us to notice that Paul is praying that the Word itself would speed ahead, not the workers. It’s not Paul who is the one who is speeding ahead, it’s not Silvanus, it’s not Timothy. These traveling missionaries are not the ones who are speeding ahead, it’s God’s Word that Paul is asking to go before them. Maybe you might read this, and the casual reading might make us think of Hebrews 12 where we exhorted to run the race with endurance, but that’s not what Paul is asking for exactly here. I think this might teach us a very subtle, but valuable lesson. That’s the Word who accomplishes the work in the world, not the workers primarily. Paul asked the Thessalonians to pray for him that when he goes on that the work would have already begun because of the Word. It’s a beautiful prayer and one that we can all heed. You might think about our own context. Pastor Eric led us so well to think about evangelism over the course of the year. Maybe you have one of these in your Bibles or at your desk, you’re thinking about how to intentionally engage with others in the months of February and March. If you’re thinking about that maybe there could be a tension that could arise, a tension that maybe we are placing two great a burden on ourselves to accomplish the work and so we have that friend in our neighborhood or that dad on your son’s little league team and we’re working and working to be intentional placing the burden on ourselves to accomplish the work. So Paul prays that the Word would speed ahead of the worker.

It’s very easy for us to get ahead of God’s work, to ask that we might speed ahead, but Paul prays the opposite, he prays that the Word would do the work in the world. Now we know that that doesn’t negate Paul’s actions. Paul writes and in just a short amount of time he’s going to be leaving on a missionary journey, so he was active alongside the Word. He knew what he wrote in the Book of Romans, chapter 10, how will they hear unless someone teaches them, praying that the Word would speed ahead is not a reason to park yourself on the bench, but rather it’s an understanding in the right prioritization of who really does the work. So, this can be a great prayer request for us. If you’re wondering, “What do I pray in my relationships with nonbelievers? God, I don’t know what to do all the time, but would your Words speed ahead of me, would it go before me, and do its work in the lives of these people that I know, and I love, and I want to see come to love you.”

Last week we had our missions conference. We got to hear about just a small taste of all that the Lord was doing around the world. This short prayer request is a wonderful thing to pray for our missionaries and supported workers. God, we want to pray for these people, for their needs, for their ministries and so we pray that the Word would speed ahead of them. We pray that your Word would accomplish your work in the world. Such a wonderful prayer request. And that’s Paul’s first prayer request. His second is found in verse 2. He prays that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. Paul understands that as the Word goes about its work in the world, that there will be those who actively and sometimes aggressively oppose it, and so Paul prays for deliverance from those would be in opposition to the Words work. Paul was no stranger to danger. He would encounter and face much in his life. In fact, Paul likely knew that as the Word was glorified it would mean that his life could be jeopardized. And such is the case for many of our missionaries around the world today just as it was for Paul. We forget sometimes that there are still wicked and evil men who would seek to oppose the work of God’s Word in the world. Again, we think about just coming off our missions conference and it is good and right for us to consider places where these wicked and evil men still have strongholds in the world today.

According to the ministry, Open Doors tracks persecution across the world. They estimate one in seven Christians are persecuted in the world today. One in five Christians in Africa, two in five Christians in Asia are persecuted for their faith. In 2024 they estimate that four and a half thousand Christians were murdered for their faith. The country in which persecution is most extreme by their estimates is North Korea where they again believe that there may be as many as four hundred thousand secret believers who if discovered could be treated as political criminals, deported to labor camps, even killed on the spot. Friends there are Christians and missionaries around the world who need our prayer that God would deliver them from wicked and evil men. We may experience but a taste of that here in our own context, but there are millions and millions of Christians around the world who live amongst wicked and evil men who would want to harm them. We would do well to pray for them. And yet despite this need for deliverance I think it would be wise for us not to miss the ordering of Paul’s prayers. He prays first for the Word’s work to speed ahead, he prays second for deliverance from wicked and evil men. It’s certainly not wrong for us to ask for prayer for safety, but if the ordering is safety first and then the work second, we are missing God’s priority. We can and we should ask for prays of deliverance, but for Paul the Word and its work would take priority and deliverance would come after and so Paul asked for prayer for two things, that the word would speed ahead and be honored and secondly that he and his traveling companions would be spared and delivered from wicked and evil men.

So, we come to the end of verse 2 and there’s a perplexing pivot that seems to happen, at least it was perplexing to me in my study. Paul opens his heart in verse 1 and he asks for prayer, but not even two verses later, if you notice he shifted the focus from himself back to the Thessalonians. He writes at the end of verse 2, “For not all have faith, but the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” We have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we commanded you. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. Maybe this is what you think pastors do. Here’s a quick prayer request. Now this reminds me of a lesson. Let’s talk about this thing over here. Does Paul just go off on a tangent? Upon an initial reading that kinda seems like what he’s doing. But paying even a little attention to the grammatical structure becomes obvious that there’s a shift that Paul has made. Verse 1 Paul and his companions are the direct objects, “Finally brothers pray for us.” If you think back to your literature classes, the direct object is the recipient of the action and so Paul is the focal point of these first two verses, you pray for us, but in the final three verses the direct object has shifted back to the second person plural, you Thessalonians. They are once again the focal point of Paul’s writings. He will establish you and guard you and we have confidence about you, the things that you are doing, may God direct your hearts. So, the question we have to ask as good students of the Bible is why does Paul make this shift? Why does he begin asking for prayer for himself and then so quickly turn the tables. Once would imagine that Paul might ask the Thessalonians to pray for his establishing, his guarding, and his confidence, but in a roll reversal Paul reminds them that because the Lord is faithful, they will be established, they will be guarded, and we have confidence in them. And here this gives us some indication of Paul’s heart. Why does he turn the attention back to the Thessalonians? It’s because he genuinely loves these people and as a pastor, he can’t help but think about the Thessalonians. Yes, Paul asked for prayer for himself and for his companions, but he reveals his greatest concern if for this flock, for this church, for his friends. This teaches us that pastors ought to have great concern for their people. You think with me about what Peter tells us, elders should do, Elders are to shepherd the flock as it says in 1 Peter 5. Pastors job these days may have many different components, many different gift sets and skills that could be required in any particular vocational calling as a pastor. Maybe there are some organizational skills that are required, there are certainly gifts of teaching and oratory that are needed. Maybe there’s a strategic mind, but at the end of the day the pastors need to be able to exert a great level of spiritual care and concern for the flock that God has entrusted to them. And I think that’s why Paul shifts so quickly his attention away from himself and back to God and to the people he’s writing to. It’s because he cares about these people. He’s not entirely focused on himself, he’s not also entirely focused on them, but his heart is evident for those that he is writing to.

For me one of the most encouraging things about our pastoral team, and this extends to our elders as well, is how much they care for you, the people of Christ Covenant Church. Friends, you should know that your pastors love you and care for you, seek to know you, and pray for you. Yes, it would be hard to be fully known by everyone in this church, our pastors do our best to know everyone, but we know and love and care for you. It’s deeply encouraging to me to serve alongside these men. Why does Paul immediately shift his attention from himself back to the Thessalonians? I think it’s because of his pastor shepherd’s heart. And that brings us to the second question. What is Paul doing here in these last three or four verses? Why does he shift his attention to the Thessalonians? It may be because of his heart for them. But what is he trying to accomplish, what is the point he is trying to get across? I think that Paul is instilling in his people a much needed sense of confidence. Here’s a pastor who sees these people and he loves them, and he cares about them and he is worried about their confidence. It seems as if Paul knows that this is a word that they need to hear because if you look back with me at the previous chapter, the Thessalonians were struggling with fear. Chapter 2:2. He tells them not to be quickly shaken in mine or alarmed by either a spirit or spoken word. Some Thessalonians were fearful, some may have even thought they missed the day of the Lord, and they were frightened at that prospect. Now that is not a fear that I think any of us struggle with, but it was in the Church of Thessalonica. And you have to put yourself in their shoes there just for a moment. If we were in their shoes and we were tempted, wouldn’t we be tempted to be full of fear as well? Just imagine we’re in a church and there are real rumors and real talk from real church leaders in the church that Jesus Christ has already returned. That would create a sense of fear and anxiety, would it not?

Now certainly Paul points the people back to God’s Word and what he has taught them, but you can at least imagine in the moment a sense of fear and anxiety. People who thought we missed it, we missed Jesus coming back, what does this mean? So, there could be an understandable sense from a human perspective of fear, anxiety and panic that may have set into these people and so Paul seeks to reassure them of what is true. Again, chapter 2:5. “Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? Saying we’ve talked about this, don’t you remember what I told you? We don’t have to fear about this, we don’t have to be worried that we missed the day of the Lord.” So, Paul takes the time to reestablish their confidence like any good shepherd, like any good pastor would do.

Notice all the action oriented words that Paul uses in verses 3 and 4. He uses words like faithful and establish and guard and confidence. What’s the link between all these words, they all have to do with safety and security. Hey Thessalonians, don’t forget he will establish you; he will guard you against the evil one. I have confidence in you. What’s the basis of this confidence, where does Paul find this confidence. Well, it’s right there at the beginning of verse 3. “For not all have faith, but the Lord, the Lord is faith.” So, all the protection and provision and safety and security and reassurance that these people may need Paul says comes from the faithful one. Men, they can be fickle, they can be wicked, they can lead you astray, they may lack faith, but God, He’s never failed you, He’s never forsaken you, He’s always been faithful, and He always will.

Early in the service we sang the sweet song, Jesus Strong and Kind. Just look at the lyrics there for a moment. “For the Lord is good and faithful. He will keep us day and night. We can always run to Jesus. Jesus strong and kind.” Friends, that’s where our confidence comes from, that the Lord is good and faithful, that He will keep us day and night. We can always fun to Jesus because He is strong and kind. That’s why Paul could have confidence in the Thessalonians, because his confidence was not ultimately in them, it was not ultimately in him, it was in the Lord. You know we began this sermon looking at Paul’s prayer requests for himself and his ministry that the word would speed ahead, and his band of missionaries would be delivered from wicked and evil men and so while Paul begins this passage by praying for himself, he once again ends it by praying for others.

Verse 5, “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.” Isn’t this a great prayer, isn’t this a simple prayer that we could all use in our own lives? God, would you direct my heart towards your love and towards the steadfastness of Christ. As you’re sitting down and praying with others, would you pray for that brother and sister or would you direct their hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. It’s a wonderful prayer, that our hearts would be directed, they would be aimed, and they would be pointed, they would be drawn closer to the love of God and that in times of darkness and despair and discouragement we would be reminded of the steadfastness of Christ.

You know as we conclude this sermon series, we’re reminded of what they other pastors and preachers have laid out before us. We’ve learned through this short sermon series of the power of prayer, the majesty of prayer, the importance of praying for our church, how God works through our prayers, giving thanks in prayer, how Jesus is glorified in our prayers. There’s a lot to pray through and maybe all these prayers, maybe they’re all summed up in another short exhortation that Paul gives to the Thessalonians where he writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” Don’t stop praying. As Christians we have the great privilege of being adopted sons of our heavenly Father, a father who loves to hear from his children and there can be times where we are unsure of what to pray, there can be times in which maybe we’re unsure of how to pray and maybe these sermons might help us. I pray that they would. But though we may at times be at a loss of what or how to pray, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us when we should pray and it’s always. Yes, we may not know what or how, but we always know when we should pray. We should pray without ceasing, in the morning and in the evening, at the dinner table and at the bedside, publically and privately, in times of sorrow, in times of rejoicing, everywhere and every way let us pray. Amen. Let’s pray.

Father what a gift it is to be able to pray to you and to know that our prayers are not just empty musings, but they are heard, and they are answered by you. So tonight, we pray that the word might speed ahead, we pray that those who are preaching your Word, especially in difficult places might be delivered from evil and wicked men. We ask God that you would give us confidence in your faithfulness, and we pray that our hearts would be directly towards the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ. Amen.