Paul's prayers for the Thessalonians
1Th 3.12-13, “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”
This prayer is close to those that Paul addressed in favour of the Colossians, Ephesians and Philippians. There is always this concern about the need to growth in love, stability in Christ and holiness/consecration. Maybe, instead of us spending our time praying for material things, we should rather spend more time praying and watching that we grow in love –the only criterium for recognising a Christian according to the LORD-, stay rooted in Him and are totally consecrated unto Him – holy.
1Th 5.23, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We know that Paul had a real burden for sanctification; and here, he seems to acknowledge that this will not be possible/easy unless God Himself comes to help them. He is the One who works both to will and to work in us (Phil 2:13). To think that we can do this by ourselves is sheer madness: the lonely one achieves nothing. In other words, we must pray God to grant us the grace to walk in holiness; without Him, we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5). Paul wants this transformation to affect their whole being: the spirit (the realm of thoughts), the soul (realm of will and feelings) and the body. His prayer is similar to that of John concerning Gaius: “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.” All sorts of interpretations have been given of this verse. Till now, I had always understood that it meant that our material, financial, social, professional, and spiritual or more prosperity is directly proportional to the prosperity of our soul. In short, if your soul prospers, the rest prospers automatically; hence the focus in prospering the soul. However, about two months ago, it appeared to me that it wasn’t exactly that. It rather seems that John had noticed that while Gaius’ soul was obviously prospering, the same was not to be said with other areas of his life. So, he prayed that Gaius’ prosperity be more harmonious and that every other domain of his life may prosper as his soul did. This makes me think of some Christians who are more than zealous in prayer and fasting, in reciting verses and in church activities; but who strive to make ends meet, sweat to find a job, toil to get married and struggle to see their businesses prosper etc.: prosper in the soul, but dry and ‘sterile’ elsewhere.
2Th 1:11-12, 3:5 and 16, “…Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ... 3.5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ… 16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”
If Paul prays that God may count the Thessalonians ‘worthy of their vocation’, it means there is a risk not to be found worthy of the Lord’s calling: I pray that this never happens to us. Then, he sort of implores God’s grace so that this can be done and comes back on the recurrent theme of God’s love.
Paul also prays for peace: May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. Nobody can receive or give even one thing unless it is given him from heaven: the Lord and Prince of Peace is the only One who can give peace (Jn 3:27). It is absolutely pointless looking for peace in the things of this world: riches, marriage, kids, work, leisure, yoga, Buddhism, alcohol, food, drugs and so on. Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the source of peace: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (Jn. 14:27) His peace surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7) and keeps your heart untroubled, un-palpitating and unshakable, even under the most alarming situations. That’s why the lack of peace also causes many stress-related diseases. You can possess all the riches of the world; but if you do not have peace - because of a health issue, a bad marriage, a wayward child; the collapsing economy, the fear that your investments and savings will vanish- your life will be hell. Peace proceeds from the ability to rest on the fact that God is in control, knows what is going on, and is taking care of it. Peace proceeds from the ability to believe that in spite of what we may see, hear or feel; in spite of what is befalling us, God is good and is working towards our welfare and well-being. It is the quiet assurance that the best is yet to come. In the Old Testament, peace, shalom, is a condition of freedom from disturbance, whether outwardly or inwardly. It primarily meant soundness or health, but also came to signify prosperity and well-being in general. Therefore, peace is a priceless treasure; and knowingly, Paul did not want the Thessalonians to experiment a temporary peace: he wanted them to abide in it. So, he prayed and asked God to use any and every resources to ensure/guarantee them peace during good or ‘bad’ days.
Have a ‘wonderblessed’ week,
Shalom!
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