Concern to Encouragement to Prayer

Introduction

Have you ever been concerned about someone you really cared about? Song writers Michael Christopher, Mark James, and Wayne Thompson wrote a song in the 1970’s titled You Were Always on My Mind, maybe you’ve heard it. The song has been recorded over 300 times since it was written, and it’s been a big hit for a number of singers over the years. It was a hit first for Elvis Presley in the early 70’s, and then Willie Nelson had a chart topper with the song in the early 80’s. The most recent singer I could find to have recorded the song was Michael Buble. The storyline in the song talks about a man who’s remembering all the times he spent with his love. He realizes that he didn’t make the most of the time they had together and in the end, he really wishes he would have treated the lady he’s writing to for better. Because of all the memories, he can’t seem to get her out of his head, hence the title, You Were Always on My Mind.

I bet if you’re honest with me you’d probably say that not a day goes by when a certain person, or maybe even certain people, don’t cross your mind. In 1 Thessalonians 3 Paul lets us know that the members of the Thessalonian church were always on his mind. Paul was concerned for their well-being in the gospel, so he’d sent Timothy to check on them. Upon Timothy’s return Paul was greatly encourage by his young protégé’s message and this led him to remember the Thessalonians in prayer. We can apply Paul’s words in these verses to our lives in the church today in the following manner, encouragement birthed out of genuine concern for believers should lead us to remember them in prayer. Let’s read the text.

1 Thessalonians 3:1–13 NKJV

1 Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, 2 and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, 3 that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. 4 For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. 5 For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain. 6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you—7 therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith. 8 For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord. 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? 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.

Prayer

Love Leads to Concern

1 Thessalonians 3:1–5 NKJV

1 Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, 2 and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, 3 that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. 4 For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. 5 For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain.

The first verse of chapter three begins with the word “Therefore”. That’s important because it connects what Paul is saying here with all that he’s said in the previous two chapters. Remember, in chapter one he talked about the good example set by the Thessalonians in their faith. In chapter two he wrote about his own conduct among them when he was there with them there in Thessalonica, not to mention the fact that while he was there, they converted to Christianity and became followers of Christ. At the end of chapter two, having been forced to leave Thessalonica because of persecution, we find Paul really wanting to visit his friends in Thessalonica once again. However, we’re told in 1 Thess. 2:18 that Satan had hindered Paul from doing so. That’s the point at which we arrive at the first verse of chapter three, and it’s because of his longing for some news from the folks at Thessalonica that Paul says he “thought it good to be left in Athens alone” so, he sent Timothy to “establish/strengthen and encourage [the Thessalonians] concerning [their] faith.” Paul describes Timothy in verse 2 as a “brother and minister of God, and a fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ.” Those are some pretty amazing words when you think about them aren’t they. Because Paul was unable to go back to Thessalonica, he put his trust in Timothy to go back and check on them. You see, he wanted to build up and encourage the believers there because his love for them had led to his concern for their well-being in the gospel. Were they still faithful? Were they persevering in the faith?

(Appeal) Do you think about your brothers and sisters in Christ, are they always on your mind? Does the love that you have for them lead you to have genuine concern causing you to check on their spiritual health?

In verses 3 to 5 we get a glimpse into the reasoning that was behind Paul’s concern. It centered on the persecution that the Thessalonians had endured and were likely still enduring when he wrote. You can see Paul’s heart in verse 5 when he says that he, “could no longer endure it …” Paul was concerned to make sure that the Thessalonians were “in Christ”. In other words, had the message he preached to them taken root in their hearts, or had Satan snatched it away! His love for them had led to genuine concern. When we read this, I think it should lead us to ask ourselves how often we have a heart for people like Paul does. Does our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ lead to genuine concern for their spiritual health, or are we so individualistic that we focus only on our own relationship with Jesus? You see, even though the church is a body made up of individuals, it’s still a body, and the whole doesn’t function correctly unless the parts are healthy.

Faithfulness Give Encouragement

1 Thessalonians 3:6–10 NKJV

6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you—7 therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith. 8 For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord. 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?

When moving between verses 5 and 6, you don’t really know exactly how much time had passed, but what’s certain is that when you begin reading at verse 6, Timothy had returned from his visit to Thessalonica and had spoken with Paul. (Pause) Paul says in verse 6 that Timothy shared the good news with him that the message of the gospel had taken root in the hearts of the Thessalonians and in verses 7 and 8 Paul says that he found encouragement in Timothy’s message. See, when Timothy gave Paul the good news from Thessalonica, he was encouraged because he knew they were standing firm in the faith, they were persevering, despite getting knocked down!

Illustration: During a Monday night football game between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants, one of the announcers observed that Walter Payton, the Bears’ running back, had accumulated over nine miles in career rushing yardage. The other announcer remarked, “Yeah, and that’s with someone knocking him down every 4.6 yards!” Walter Payton, the most successful running back ever, knows that everyone—even the best—gets knocked down. The key to success is to get up and run again just as hard.[1]

(Appeal) My question is this, when we get knocked down do we get right back up? Does our faithfulness to the cause of Christ encourage those around us? Sometimes our faithfulness, especially in times of trial, is the very conduit through which God opens the door for us to speak the gospel into the life of an unbeliever.

[1] Craig Brian Larson, 750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers & Writers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002), 397–398.

Encouragement That Leads to Prayer

1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 NKJV

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.

Let’s finish up by looking at verses 11 to 13. In these verses you see some of the fruit of what we just talked about in that last section. Here you can see encouragement that leads to prayer. (Pause) Paul began his prayer in the hope that God would ultimately “direct” his path back to the Thessalonians because he truly wanted to see them. Then in verse 12, he prayed that the love of the Thessalonians would “increase and abound”. Did you catch what Paul said there in verse 12, how he prayed for the Thessalonians? He prayed for God to “make” their love “increase and abound”. You see, Paul had complete confidence in the sovereignty of God in that he knew that the creator of all things was more than capable of doing this for his friends. Finally, in verse 13 we’re presented with Paul’s reason for praying the way he did, it’s “so that He (that is God) may establish the hearts of the Thessalonians in holiness” and doing so they will be prepared and ready when Jesus returns.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think we need to ask ourselves if Paul were alive today, would he, better yet, could he say this prayer of us? Would he even want to say it of us? Do our actions as followers of Jesus Christ make others who serve him long to be in our company? Are they encouraged by our standing firm in the faith we claim to have, and does this lead them to pray for us in the manner of Paul who prayed for his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica so many years ago? Can we say of ourselves, that our encouragement is birthed out of genuine concern for believers that lead us to remember them in prayer?

Invitation

Prayer