Lord Teach Us to Pray

Sunday, January 5^th 2025

 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12

 Introduction

 Grow in Faith and Love and Walk Worthy

 Giving Thanks to God

“faith is growing abundantly…”

Faith – pistis - implies both knowledge and action

One may receive knowledge of a certain truth and may even offer verbal agreement, but “trust” or “confidence” is not said to be present until one’s behavior reflects that truth

 Abundantly - as a good and healthy tree in a good soil; a fruit tree bearing an abundance of fruit to compensate the labor of the gardener.

 “love for each other is increasing…”

Love – agape - unconditional, sacrificial love; refers to a love that God is, that God shows, and that God enables in His children to display.

 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” 1 John 4:7

 Love is the family resemblance the world should see in followers of Christ.

 Worthy of the Kingdom of God

“To this end we always pray for you that our…”

 “God will make you worthy of his calling…”

We don’t walk worthily to obtain salvation, but because God has graciously saved us.

 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…” Colossians 1:9-10

 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called…” Ephesians 4:1

“…may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power…”

Paul prays that they would be filled to the brim with generosity which springs from the heart that is kind and will always take care to obtain for others that which is beneficial.

 “…so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him…”

The supreme purpose of Paul’s prayer for the people – that the name of the Lord Jesus may be glorified! Glorified in us and we in him!

And you in Him - This clearly speaks of the intimate union between Christ and believers, between Christ and His church. It speaks of the oneness we have with Christ. He is in us and we are in Him. 

 “The truth is that unless God works in us and through us, unless God empowers these good purposes of ours, they will not engender any enduring spiritual fruit; they will not display any life-transforming, people changing power…And unless the Lord fulfills our good, faith-prompted purposes, they will remain arid, fruitless – either empty dreams or frenetic activity with no life, but in either case spiritually anemic.” DA Carson

 Conclusion