A Pastor's Prayer

I was in my dorm room on a Thursday afternoon in April 1994, studying for mid-term exams when the phone rang—I answered the phone, but I was not prepared to hear what I heard. In a broken voice my mom said, “Matt, Bro. Lynn died today.”

Bro. Lynn was my pastor. He was the man God used to change my family tree because it was through his preaching that my dad, my mom, my sister, and me were saved. Bro. Lynn was used by God to ground my entire family in the faith. When I was little, I would dress up like Bro. Lynn and set out my stuffed animals and preach to them just like Bro. Lynn preached to us—he was one of my hero’s.

Bro. Lynn was the first one to stop by when my dad lost his job. Bro. Lynn came to visit me when I was recovering in the hospital from a bought with Spinal Meningitis. My parents told him that the doctors were concerned because I was not eating—so he brought me a McDonald’s Milk Shake and told me to drink it. I did what my pastor told me to do—and my appetite came back.

Bro. Lynn was the one who gave me my first ministry as an adult. When I turned 18, I asked my pastor what I should do—he gave me a bus and a driver and told me we needed a bus route in Fairborn. So, I went and did everything I could to get children and adults from Fairborn to ride the bus to church every Sunday morning.

Bro. Lynn was the one who sat with me every Sunday evening, teaching me doctrine before the evening service because he didn’t want me to go off to Bible College without knowing the great truths of Scripture.

Bro. Lynn was one of my hero’s—so I was not at all prepared to hear the news that I heard that afternoon.

Following the funeral, I stopped by Bro. Lynn’s house with my youth pastor to see if his wife, Liz, needed anything. While we were there, Liz brought me a piece of yellow legal pad paper—it was Bro. Lynn’s prayer list. In the very first column, near the top of the page I saw my name. She told me that Bro. Lynn prayed for me every day.

I can’t express how much that meant to me—but it’s been more than 24 years and I’ve never forgotten that my pastor prayed for me.

There is something special about a pastor’s heart toward the people that God entrusts to his care. We see this truth clearly in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian church.

The first section of this letter is very pastoral—what that means is that Paul shared his heart with a group of people that he deeply loved and cared for. Through chapter three Paul talked almost exclusively about his ministry in Thessalonica and his burden for that group of people.

In chapter one Paul said he was thankful for their work of faith, their labor of love, their steadfast hope in Jesus Christ, and the example they provided to all the believers in their region.

In chapter two Paul mentioned how he and his team ministered to them like a mother and a father care for their child. They challenged them to live in a manner that was consistent with the salvation they had received from God.

In chapter three Paul told them how he could not stand to be away from them and out of communication with them, so he sent Timothy to find out how they were doing and report back to him. When he received the report that they had not abandoned the gospel and they were growing as followers of Jesus Christ, Paul was encouraged and revitalized even though he continually suffered as a servant of Jesus.

As we come to the end of chapter three, Paul is about to shift from expressing his heart for the people to providing instruction to the people—and the transition in this letter comes in the form of a prayer that Paul prayed for the church.

Today, I want to take a look at a pastor’s prayer for the church.

1 Thessalonians 3:11–13

11 Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

One of the great blessings of God is that He moved men like Paul to record their prayers so that we can learn how to pray, what to pray for, and the necessity of prayer. There are several prayers recorded for us in the New Testament—most of them were written by Paul—but every one of the them helps us learn and grow as we follow Jesus Christ.

The prayer we just read is important because it shows us what Paul wanted most for the Christians in Thessalonica. When we look at this prayer, we can see that Paul was first and foremost concerned about the spiritual condition of church. You can see that Paul did not pray that their weekly attendance would continue to climb. Paul did not pray that their offerings would increase. Paul did not pray for God to give them wonderful facilities. Paul did not pray that their next outreach campaign would be successful. Paul did not pray that they would be spared trouble and pressure that comes from being a disciple of Jesus.

Paul prayed specifically that the people in the church at Thessalonica would grow in faith and that they would grow in love.

Now, we should not look at this prayer and assume that things like weekly attendance, faithful giving, having a place to meet and a plan to reach people are not important—because it’s all important. However, wouldn’t you agree that some things are more important than other things?

Let me see if I can illustrate this—let’s say you have two children—one comes to you and tells you she’s hungry while at the exact same time, your other child falls, cuts his head and is bleeding everywhere. As a parent you are concerned about both children—but caring for the bleeding child is more important than fixing a sandwich for the other child at that moment.

Or, let’s say you’re building a house. Both the foundation and the roof are important parts of the home—so much so that none of us would want to live in a house that does not have a solid foundation or a functioning roof. However, when you’re building a house, what do you give your attention to first?

The foundation. Why?

You pay attention to the foundation first because if the foundation is not right, the entire house will not be right.

So, I think it would be wrong to say that Paul was not concerned about church growth, the generosity of the believers or any other thing. All of these things are important, but Paul knew, and we need to know that all of these other things will be what they are supposed to be only after we get the most important things right.

This is why Paul prayed they would grow in faith (v.11)

The first concern of any pastor for the people God entrusts to his care is their spiritual growth and we see this at the beginning of this prayer. Notice, Paul wrote “May God…direct our way to you”.

Now, you might look at that and wonder how that phrase means that Paul was praying for their spiritual growth—but look at what Paul wrote in verses nine and ten:

1 Thessalonians 3:9–10

9 For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God, 10 night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith?

Paul said that he and his missionary team prayed constantly and passionately that they might be reunited again so that Paul could continue to instruct them because they needed further instruction—they needed additional training in the faith. The term, “may perfect” or “may complete” simply means to make adjustments to what they know and how they practice their faith.

Paul prayed desperately to be able to connect with them again so that shortcomings in their faith would be corrected so they would not continue to struggle with some issues.

However, getting to them was not easy. In chapter two, verse 18, Paul said that they had tried to come back several times, but they were prevented by Satan from returning.

So, Paul turned and God and asked for God the Father and the Lord Jesus to direct their way to Thessalonica.

Let me tell you what Paul was asking God for—he was asking God to clear the path for them to return to Thessalonica. Paul was praying that nothing would hinder their plans—nothing would get in the way that would keep them from returning to the people they loved.

Is there anything more frustrating than needing to get somewhere but not being able to get there? Fortunately, our phones today have apps like Waze or Google Maps—the great thing about these apps is that they not only give us directions, but they also tell us when traffic isn’t moving. Sometimes the app will even tell us there is an alternate way we can take to avoid the slowdowns and make it to our destination on time.

This technology is valuable to us because we often need to get to a meeting, or to a child’s ballgame at a certain time and we don’t want anything to slow us down or prevent us from making the appointment.

So, it is important that we understand that Paul’s prayer request was not a only a request to be reunited with his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica. Paul was really asking God to make the way clear for his return to that church so that he could continue to instruct them so that they would grow in the faith.

Paul’s concern and prayer was that they would grow in faith.

But we also see that Paul prayed they would grow in love (v.12-13)

This was more than just a simple request—Paul’s great desire and wish for his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica was that they would grow in love.

Paul’s great desire and wish for his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica was that they would love to their full capacity and even beyond their capacity.

But notice who Paul prayed for them to love to a greater degree—he prayed they would love each other beyond their current capacity to love.

Not only did Paul pray for them to love each other, but then he prayed that they would love all people.

Now, loving other Christians in the church is challenging enough—but was Paul really praying that they would love people outside the church also?

Yes!

Paul’s prayer for them was that they would follow his example and love others in the same way Paul loved them and the way Paul loved those who drove him out of town and persecuted him.

But why would Paul pray for this with such urgency and conviction (night and day-v.10)?

Paul prayed they would grow in love for each other and for all so that they would live according to their identity as those who had been set apart unto God. In other words, because you are loved and because you have been saved, you must be committed to love.

But don’t miss the fact that loving others in the church and loving everyone outside the church makes us blameless—or free of guilt.

It is important that we realize that Paul is not talking about earning salvation by being a loving person! The only way to be saved is by realizing that we are separated from God by our sin and trusting Jesus Christ alone to restore us to God and to cleanse us from every sin.

So, what was Paul talking about?

When Jesus was asked to name the greatest commandment in the law he said:

Matthew 22:37–40

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

We need to know that when we fail to love others, we aren’t just being mean, we are disobeying the law of God.

You see, loving others is not just good advice, it is a commandment of God. Love is so vital to the Christian life that Jesus said every other commandment depends on those two. In other words, if you love God and you love others you will seek to do what is right toward others.

So, Paul was saying that Christians must love if they are to be obedient to God—to be strengthened in their faith so that they are without blame before God in this aspect of life.

There is something else we need to see—that loving others helps us anticipate the return of Jesus Christ. You see, those who are doing what they should be doing look forward to His return.

My mom worked at the local bank when I was a kid. This means I get home from school before Mom got home from work. But Mom told me I had to have the dishes done before she came home.

Now, as long as I got the dishes done before she walked in the door, I could look forward to seeing her when she arrived. But there were a few times when I would go out and play, or I would get interested in a TV show and I forgot to do the dishes. I would typically remember about the time she was supposed to pull in the driveway—so I would hurry to the kitchen and frantically begin to do my job—hoping against hope that something would cause her to come home later than usual.

Why?

Because I did not want her to arrive and know that I did not do what I was supposed to do.

Paul prayed that they would love so that they could look forward to and anticipate the return of Jesus with great joy—because they were doing what they had been told to do.

This means that Paul’s prayer for the believers was for their own good and their own effectiveness in the world.

Do you see the desire of the pastor for the people in Paul’s prayer? Can I tell you that Paul’s desire for them is my desire for you?

Paul’s prayer for them is the prayer I pray often for all of you—that you might grow in the faith and that you might grow in love.

Let me take a few minutes to make some applications from these verses.

1. God gives pastors to the church for your good.

God gave Paul to the church at Thessalonica for their good. The pastor’s job is not to be a divinely appointed baby-sitter. The pastor’s job is not to meet all the needs of the people. The pastor’s job is to preach and teach the people, so they grow in the faith. Listen to what Paul wrote:

Ephesians 4:11–12, 14-16

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

In other words, a pastor is not one who simply draws a salary from the church, and a pastor’s priority is not to do all the work of ministry in the church. God gives pastors to the church so that the people of the church will grow in faith through the preaching and teaching ministry of the pastors.

This is why Paul wanted to be with the people—by the way, this is why every pastor wants all the people under his care to be present whenever he is teaching or preaching the Word of God.

I don’t know a pastor who only wants people in the seats to pad the attendance stats of the church. Every pastor I know wants nothing more than to do what he is called and gifted to do—to help people grow in their faith. I wish empty chairs could hear the Word and grow spiritually and then go from this room to represent God in the world, but they can’t. Only believers are ambassadors for Christ and every believer needs to grow under the teaching and preaching of his or her pastors.

When you come to church you are encouraging the pastors of the church to do what they are called to do. This is why pastors do everything they can to get as many as they can to attend services as often as they can. I assure you, I do not pray for a full church for my ego—I pray that God will clear the path for us to be together, so I can supply what is lacking in your faith (v.10) so that you and I can grow together as disciples of Jesus Christ.

2. God does not always do what we ask Him to do when we want Him to do it.

Paul prayed for a reunion with the people of Thessalonica—but it did not happen during Paul’s life. For whatever reason, God did not give Paul what he asked when he asked.

This tells us that sometimes we ask God for things—for good things—but God does not give us what we want. In those moments, stay faithful to God, strengthen your trust in God, and understand that God always knows what He is doing.

Proverbs 3:5–6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

One more thing, God did answer Paul’s prayer and Paul was reunited with the saints at Thessalonica—but the reunion came after they departed this earth in death. This is the hope that we all have in Christ.

3. We must make love a priority.

We can’t miss the importance of love in these verses.

Listen, loving other Christians seems like a pretty basic thing. Loving other Christians seems like it would be natural—yet the Bible tells us to love each other fairly often—it’s almost as if God knew that it wouldn’t be easy for Christians to love one another. Listen to what the Bible says on the subject…

John 13:34

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

1 John 3:11

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

1 Peter 4:8

8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Romans 13:8

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Ephesians 4:2

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

1 Peter 3:8

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

Love for each other in the church is essential to the mission of the church. Jesus said: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

In other words, this church cannot do what God has called it to do if we don’t have an abundance of love—overflowing love for each other.

Why?

Because love for each other is one of the things that holds us together.

Because our love for others makes the gospel more attractive to others.

Our love for others allows us to treat each other with dignity and respect (even when we disagree with them politically, philosophically, etc.).

The pastor’s prayer for the church is for believers to grow in faith and grow in love—when those two things are present in the life of the church, the church will stand, the church will grow, and the church will impact lives for the glory of God.