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Praying with Paul: Sincere Desires
Intro:
Tonight, we will continue [Praying with Paul] and the title of my message is [Sincere Desires].
Sincere means, genuine and honest.
When we hear the word sincere, we might also think:
honest
genuine
real
true
open
heartfelt
wholehearted
Insincere means, pretending what one does not feel
deceitful
lying
false
pretended
hollow
untrue
dishonest
How can we tell the difference between someone who is sincere and insincere?
Let’s think of apologies for a moment.
Two of my relatives once apologized to my mom.
One of them said, I am very sorry for what I said, will you please forgive me.
She was emotional and very sincere.
The other said, I am sorry you heard what we said.
My mother added, well it was very hurtful.
To which this relative replied, I already apologized, okay?
One was genuine and honest and the other was pretending.
When it comes to sincerity, it is safe to say that Paul was a genuine and honest man.
Throughout his writings we Paul included everything.
He did not shy away from what the Spirit directed Him to do or say.
His prayer life was also sincere.
He brought everything before the Lord.
He did not exclude difficulties or celebrations.
He prayed.
I think sincerity in our prayer life is of utmost importance.
If there is anyone we can be genuine and honest with, it is the Lord.
We never have to:
put on airs
hid our true feelings
minimize our experience
For one thing, God knows everything.
He also wants us to be completely honest with Him.
On the other hand, we need God to root out any insincerity in our prayer life.
As I read what Paul prayed in this part of 2 Thessalonians, I found three sincere desires we should bring before the Lord.
God is okay if we sincerely [Desire Open Doors], [Desire Deliverance], and [Desire Direction].
Let’s begin
1.
Desire Open Doors
Notice Paul’s sincerity.
He was an apostle, hand-selected by the Lord to take the Gospel to the world.
But he was sincere and humble enough to request prayer from the Thessalonians.
He was not too puffed up with pride to realize his need for help and the Thessalonians ability to touch heaven.
What was Paul’s sincere desire?
He wanted God to open doors for him to fulfill his assignment.
His specific task was to take the Lord’s message to as many people as possible.
Therefore, he wanted God to help him do this quickly and rapidly wherever he went.
We might read that and think, well that applies to Paul, but I am not called to be an apostle.
That much is true, God has called ALL of us to live out the good news of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives.
Whether it be with family, on the job, in the community, or in our relationships— each and every one of us have the responsibility to live out the Gospel.
We can never place our lives into compartments:
Church over here
Work over here
Family over here
Friends over here
Money over here
God is interested in EVERY part.
God wants us to desire that He open doors for us to do what He wants for and from us.
Paul sincerely desired that God would open doors.
2. Desire Deliverance
Paul also requested that the Thessalonians would ask God to deliver them from those who came against them.
Deliverance is an important part of our walk with God.
I feel at times we do not discuss deliverance too much because of a limited perspective.
It seems when I find a book on deliverance, it is about the work of demons and how God can deliver people from demonic strongholds.
And I believe that there are those who are under demonic influence, even possession, who need deliverance.
We should never shy away from the authority that we have over Satan.
BUT, focusing solely on deliverance from demons, we limit ourselves on the God’s power to deliver each and every day.
It helped me to read that even Paul prayed for God to deliver.
The word deliver literally means, to rescue from danger, or to save.
God sincerely desires to rescue or deliver us from the attacks of the enemy.
We must sincerely ask and believe that He will.
As the Lord delivers and rescues us, He will establish and guard us.
He will give us strength.
What a wonderful God we serve!
Paul sincerely desired God to open doors and to deliver.
Then he concluded his prayer by showing his...
3. Desire Direction
Paul now shows a key to successful prayer.
We are to have confidence that He will answer.
Sincere prayers trust that God will hear us.
When we think confidence, also think convinced.
God has convinced us through His track record that He is ABLE to delivery.
Paul’s confidence was properly placed.
His trust was in God not in the Thessalonians.
But he did believe that their prayers would reach God and He would answer.
Paul exuded confidence:
What did Paul emphasize confidence here, right after trusting God for deliverance?
Paul knew that satan does not let go easily.
He wants to keep a firm grip on our lives.
But Paul thoroughly convinced that as they continued to draw close to God in prayer, the Lord would help them do all that God called them to do.
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