Paul’s Prayer
1 Thessalonians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 4 viewsNotes
Transcript
Call To Worship
Call To Worship
Incline Your ear, O Yahweh, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy.
Keep my soul, for I am a holy one; O You my God, save Your slave who trusts in You.
Be gracious to me, O Lord, For to You I call all day long.
Make glad the soul of Your slave, For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
For You, Lord, are good, and by nature forgiving, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.
Give ear, O Yahweh, to my prayer; And give heed to the voice of my supplications!
In the day of my distress I shall call upon You, For You will answer me.
There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord, Nor are there any works like Yours.
All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And they shall glorify Your name.
For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God.
Turn to me, and be gracious to me; Oh grant Your strength to Your slave, And save the son of Your maidservant.
Show me a sign for good, That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, Because You, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.
Old Testament Reading
Old Testament Reading
O Yahweh, You have enticed me, and I was enticed; You were stronger than I, and You prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me.
For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I call out violence and devastation Because for me the word of Yahweh has resulted In reproach and derision all day long.
But if I say, “I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name,” Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot prevail.
For I have heard the bad report of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!” All my trusted friends, Keeping watch for my fall, say: “Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against him And take our revenge on him.”
But Yahweh is with me like a ruthless mighty one; Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed, because they have not prospered, With an everlasting dishonor that will not be forgotten.
Yet, O Yahweh of hosts, You who test the righteous, Who see the mind and the heart; Let me see Your vengeance on them, For to You I have revealed my cause.
Sing to Yahweh, praise Yahweh! For He has delivered the soul of the needy one From the hand of evildoers.
Gospel Reading
Gospel Reading
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.
“It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
“Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.
“And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
“Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
“So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
“But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
“For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
“He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
Intro:
Intro:
AG: Thomas Boston, Scottish Theologian said:
Prayer:
Lay no weight on the quantity of your prayers; that is to say, how long or how many they are. These things avail nothing with God, by whom prayers are not measured, but weighed.
Thomas Boston (Scottish Theologian)
Charles Spurgeon said, “A single groan may have more fullness of payer in it than a fine oration of great length.”
TS: Paul had weight in his prayers.
Today’s text marks the halfway point in this letter. In it, Paul lifts a prayer to God and includes two requests, one for himself, and one for the church. Both are ultimately for the glory of God and that His mission be carried out on Earth.
RS: We should follow Paul’s example of fervent prayer today.
Let’s notice Paul’s Prayer in
For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God because of you,
as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith?
Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you,
and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you,
so that He may strengthen your hearts blameless in holiness, before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
Paul begins with….
1. Requests For Himself
1. Requests For Himself
For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God because of you,
as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith?
Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you,
Paul rejoices (3:9)
Paul rejoices (3:9)
Like all who make disciples, Paul rejoices that they are growing and walking in the truth.
A disciple maker has no greater joy than in seeing the next generation of believers grow to maturity and in turn begin winning the next generation.
The church at Jerusalem grew phenomenally.
They were scattered when persecution came and as they went, they planted churches.
Then, Acts and church history record intentional mission trips, such as Paul’s 3 recorded journeys to plant churches.
The faith grew as churches planted churches and discipled the new believers.
Paul, an apostle—not sent from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead—
and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:
Galatia was a province! This letter was written to a group of churches!
It would be like addressing the churches of Texas.
Paul Requests (3:10-11)
Paul Requests (3:10-11)
He prayed night and day
They were on his heart continuously!
The Thessalonians were prayed for!
He asks to be able to return to them
To see them- Fellowship
as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith?
He wanted to enjoy more time with them.
Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you,
He prayed for the Father to direct his way to them.
Satan had hindered his return (2:18)
Paul followed the the Biblical admonition:
Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward doers of unrighteousness.
For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb.
Trust in Yahweh and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Delight yourself in Yahweh; And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to Yahweh, Trust in Him, and He will do it.
To complete their training- discipleship
He wanted to complete what was lacking
They had yet to reach their full maturity and potential.
They had little time with Paul as new believers.
Probably didn’t go too deep into the faith.
He wanted to complete their training and preperation.
As we move into chapters 4 & 5 we see some of the areas in which they were lacking.
AP: We should pray like Paul
Notice in this text, Paul’s request were not selfish.
He didn’t pray for a better job, a nicer ship, more money, etc.
He prayed to be better able to carry out the ministry!
Though praying for himself, his focus was so that he could bless others!
Similar to a request he asked the Colossians
praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been bound,
That is different than us taking a laundry list of things we want to God which benefit us.
Instead of praying to be healthy, wealthy, and wise….
Pray for opportunities to share the gospel
For ourselves
For others- pray for me
Pray for grace to keep serving Him
Ask God to strengthen our resolve and perseverance I trials
Pray for understanding in how to live for Him.
Direct us and enable us to live righteous lives
I am not saying that asking for God to meet our needs is in any inappropriate. After all it is in the model prayer.
‘Give us this day our daily bread.
I am saying to be careful in your prayer life.
If our prayers are all focused on our desires, we are in the wrong.
What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
You lust and do not have, so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Examine your motives!
Paul not only presented his own requests, he made…
2. Requests For the Church
2. Requests For the Church
2 Details:
Love will increase and overflow
and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you,
This is one of the “one anothers” found in the New Testament.
In fact, love is a common theme and/or motive throughout the majority of them
For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;
And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He gave a commandment to us.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Loving each other is a focus for all believers in every church.
Paul prayed that their love would grow
to abound:
For one another
For all people
hearts strengthened in holiness
so that He may strengthen your hearts blameless in holiness, before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
Paul prayed for holy hearts
Not just outward deeds, but that the very center of their being be holy.
Holiness is important!
but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your conduct;
because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
We are to grow to be like Him
God our Father is holy, so we should be holy!
Warren W. Wiersbe said:
Our English word “holy” comes from the Old English word halig which means “to be whole, to be healthy.”
What health is to the body, holiness is to the inner person.
The related word “sanctify” comes from the Latin sanctus which means “consecrated, sacred, blameless.”
We use the word “sanctification” to describe the process of growing to become more like Christ, and “holy” to describe the result of that process.3
Warren W. Wiersbe
Paul wanted them to grow so much like Christ that they will be holy when they stand before God.
That brings us to the timing:
He sought their growth and maturity so they were blameless at Christ’s return
at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary
His saints. Since this exact term is not used elsewhere in the NT of angels , but is commonly used for believers, it is best to understand the coming of the Lord to rapture all His church [chapter 4] and take them to heaven to enjoy His presence.
AP: We should pray for each other.
To be a loving people
Each other (in the church)
Pray that our relationship to each other continues to grow stronger.
They enemy wants nothing more than to divide us.
Pray for unity!
All people (outside the church)
even our enemies!
“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
If you are praying for someone, it is difficult to hold onto bad feelings for them.
Sometimes it may start out of obligation, but our hearts will be changed as we genuinely lift them before the throne of God.
Pray that the know God and are transformed by Him.
To be a holy people
Pray for us to walk in righteousness
We are to be peculiar people
set apart
Different
Values
Desires
Goals
Conc
Conc
Paul made
Requests for himself
He requested to return for fellowship and discipleship time with the Thessalonians.
Requests for the church
He requested
IS: As we stand and sing, use this time as an opportunity to respond to God.
Examine your prayer life.
Renew your commitment to pray.
