1 Thessalonians 3:11-13

Stumbling into my father’s morning prayers…

When I was about 14 yrs. old, we lived in a two-story ranch-style home the bedrooms, living room, and kitchen were upstairs, and the basement featured a large open all-purpose room. Early one morning I walked down the stairs to the basement. As I reached the bottom, I took softer steps because I could hear something – someone – on the other side of the room by the sofa. It was my father kneeling in prayer.

I stopped walking and turned to go back upstairs but paused quietly for a few seconds. With tears on his face, he prayed for people he had served as a pastor, even for people who were no longer in the church. He prayed for God to bless them, but why? “Why would he pray for people who were gone?” I wondered. Now I know why.

Christian service requires supreme confidence in God.

My father prayed for these people because he understood that Christian service requires supreme confidence in God, which is the main idea for this study. We may feel a greater connection when we’re ministering to people in person, but while in-person ministry is crucial, we must recognize that whether we’re present or absent, near or far from a believer’s life, it’s God who makes the difference.

That’s why my father prayed for people even after they departed from the church. That’s also why Paul prayed for the believers at Thessalonica when he was no longer with them, as he revealed in the middle of the first letter that he wrote to them (1 Thess 3:11-13).

Prayer is the language of dependence.

It’s commonly said that prayer is the language of dependence. This is true because our prayers reveal which aspects of our lives we’re entrusting to his care (like my father praying for departed church members, for instance). Though Paul was no longer at Thessalonica, he continued to trust God. This reveals that he was trusting God to continue bringing about spiritual progress in their lives.

As we read these three verses, we get an experience similar to when I stumbled into my father’s morning prayers. A key difference is that while I unintentionally heard my father praying, Paul intentionally told the believers at Thessalonica how he was praying for them.

Why would Paul tell these believers what he was praying for them?

• He would have done this in part to show the sincerity of his interest in their lives, revealing that he fully desired to visit them again.
• He also would have done this to reveal the kind of spiritual progress he desired for them. He could have just told them to grow in love for one another, for instance. Yet by offering this information as a prayer request rather than a command, the expectation feels less direct but more important. Would they take the hint?

Altogether, Paul describes in 1 Thess 3:11-13 two ways that he prayed for the believers at Thessalonica, and these two prayers challenge us to trust God completely in our ministry to other Christians, whether we’re with them in person or not.

Sometimes God gives us hands-on, in-person opportunities.

One such in-person opportunity occurred for Paul during his first missionary trip westward into the European continent.

• Paul had traveled from the city of Philippi to Thessalonica (Acts 17:1).
• For three weeks, especially Saturdays, he taught the gospel in the Jewish synagogue and many people believed (Acts 17:2-4).
• Paul’s outreach enraged nonbelieving Jews who hired a mob to attack the house of a man named Jason who had assisted and housed Paul’s ministry (Acts 17:5-6).
• These people accused Jason and other believers of treason against Rome (Acts 17:7-9).
• In light of this fierce opposition, the local believers sent Paul away to the city of Berea (Acts 17:10).

During this intense, one-month stay, Paul had taken up manual labor to support himself financially (1 Thess 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:6-13) while also engaging in an intensive teaching ministry that reached many people (1 Thess 1:7, 9).

Some weeks later, Paul had traveled farther south to Athens and then to Corinth, where he ministered about one-and-a-half years. During this time, he sent this letter to the church at Thessalonica to provide them with additional spiritual guidance (“to perfect that which is lacking in your faith,” 1 Thess 3:10), even though he was no longer with them.

During Paul’s absence from Thessalonica, criticism had developed concerning his ministry. Some questioned whether he genuinely cared for them and deserved their attention, so Paul assured them of his care (1 Thess 2:1-16) and that his absence was for a valid reason and was not due to a lack of concern for their wellbeing (1 Thess 2:17-20). Furthermore, Paul explained how sending Timothy to visit them served as evidence of his care (1 Thess 3:1-10).

The prayers of 1 Thess 3:11-13, then, served as yet another evidence of Paul’s care for their spiritual well-being. This double prayer underscored his genuine care. It also served as a bridge (a transition) to the second half of his letter, in which he corrected some wrong ideas about morality and theology.

When can’t do what we want to do, we should pray.

From Paul’s first prayer we see that though Paul was absent from Thessalonica and had only been there for less than a month, he still wanted to visit them again (1 Thess 3:11). He didn’t just say that he wanted to revisit, he prayed that he could do so. In other words, this was more than a polite sentiment or wishful thinking. It was a real prayer request.

Though Paul had a return trip to Thessalonica on his mental to-do list, he took neither an active nor a passive approach to making the trip. Instead, he submitted his plans to God.

The words “direct our way” means something like “clear the way,” by removing obstacles and arranging circumstances to make a return trip possible and realistic. Surely the Thessalonian believers would understand that Paul could not simply will a return visit into existence. He needed God to make a way for him to come through providence. By revealing this prayer request to the Thessalonian church, Paul showed that he wasn’t actually avoiding them. That he hadn’t returned was due to God, not to him. How could they criticize Paul for that?

By pairing the Father and the Son together in this prayer, Paul further emphasizes God’s ultimate role in directing his ministry plans. By using both God and Father, then “by himself,” then the threefold Lord Jesus Christ, Paul emphasizing the oversized role that the Godhead plays in influencing his travel plans. Both persons of the Godhead were in charge of his ministry plans, so both he and they would need to trust God.

With this first prayer request, Paul not only revealed his desire to revisit the church at Thessalonica (and therefore revealed his genuine care for them), but he also demonstrated his supreme confidence in God – even when making his travel plans.

Other times we have to trust God with a hands-off approach.

Though Paul was unable to revisit Thessalonica for the time being, he didn’t stop trusting God to bring about spiritual change in the lives of those believers in Thessalonica. He didn’t shrug his shoulders and say, “Oh well,” when God didn’t make a return trip possible. He prayed for God to intervene in their lives without him.

Paul knew that spiritual change didn’t ultimately hinge on whether he was able to be with people in person and conduct hands-on service for them. It hinged on whether God was at work in their lives, even in Paul’s absence.

Paul knew that if he were unable to sit down with them face-to-face at Jason’s house or teach them at the local synagogue, he could still ask God to bring about spiritual improvement in their lives. That’s why he said, “May the Lord make you...”

Paul trusted God to grow their love to greater degrees.

“Make you increase and abound in love” describes a progression of growth by which the believers would both feel and express greater degrees of love for one another. This request highlights Paul’s special focus in his prayers for the believers at Thessalonica. He wanted them to grow in love for one another.

• Paul had already acknowledged a remarkable degree of love at work in this church from his memories of his one-month ministry to them (1 Thess 1:3).
• Paul also acknowledged that Timothy had observed the manifestation of love among them in his more recent visit to their church (1 Thess 3:6).
• So, for Paul to pray that God would increase the manifestation of love in this church did not indicate a failure or deficiency on their part but rather a need to keep on developing in a way that they had already begun (1 Thess 3:12).
• Perhaps more remarkable is how Paul told them that he didn’t need to tell them about the priority of growing in love because he knew that God himself was already teaching them this without Paul’s intervention (1 Thess 4:9).
• In particular, Paul urged the church to go out of their way to show love and support to those in the church who provided them with in-person spiritual leadership (i.e., their pastors (1 Thess 5:12-13).

From this simple survey of what Paul says about love in this letter, we learn that he was relying on God to increase their expression of love from what already existed to an even greater degree, esp. towards their pastoral leaders – the ones who were ministering to them at present. Rather than stewing over whether Paul cared for them or not, whether he should revisit them or not, and so on, Paul wanted them to focus their attention on loving the leaders who were there.

These words also indicate that Paul didn’t want the believers at Ephesus to be content with early levels of love or some prior status quo. He wanted their love to go from healthy to overflowing. Even though he wasn’t there to teach them this in person, he believed God could bring about this transformation in their lives. By praying for this to happen Paul showed his supreme confidence in God rather than in his own efforts and influence.

Even when we’re absent, we can still be an example.

Notice how Paul qualified his request for the church’s love to increase with “just as we do to you.” Even though Paul and his ministry companions were far away, the believers in Thessalonica knew enough about his life that they could learn from his example.

In less than a month of ministry, Paul had already exhibited enough love for those believers that the memory of his influence lingered in their minds. His example of love for the believers at Thessalonica had provided them with a model to follow. Though returning to visit them in person could be helpful if God allowed, Paul believed he had already provided them with a good enough example that they would be able to keep on learning from him by simply reflecting and imitating what they had already seen from his life.

Only God can produce genuine godliness.

Paul’s past example and present concern for this church aside, Paul prayed for the Thessalonian believers to grow in love for a very important reason: “so that [God] may establish your hearts.” He desired for God to bring about such transformation that they would stand firm in genuine godliness.

• “your hearts” – this refers to an internal, spiritual change of character, not just a mere outward change of behavior
• “blameless” – this means to be “faultless,” having no qualities of which God would be displeased
• “in holiness” – this refers to that which pleases God and is devoted to his desires and purposes

Altogether, these words point ahead to the second half of this letter in which Paul will teach the church how to avoid sexual immorality, how to work hard and not be lazy, and how to prepare to meet the Lord when he returns to establish his kingdom on earth. All of these important lessons for godly living come from a clear view of God’s purpose for our lives, and this perspective comes from a heart that’s being shaped by Christian love.

All believers will stand before God.

Paul said, “Before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This refers neither to God’s omnipresence nor his omniscience by which he is with us always and by which he sees all we feel, think, say, and do right now. It refers to a future moment when he will return to establish his rule and reign on the earth in person.

In this way, Paul wanted the Thessalonians to understand that their spiritual development (esp. in love) was important not just because he said so, but because they would eventually stand before God himself and should be prepared for this sobering moment. In this sense, their spiritual growth transcended Paul’s ministry not just because God was ultimately the one who brought about their change, but because he was the one to whom they would answer for their change (or lack thereof).

This future moment raises a fascinating irony when compared to the problem of Paul’s absence. You see, the Thessalonian believers were concerned about Paul’s absence.

• Paul had served them for three weeks then departed to another city.
• Meanwhile, Christ had served three years on Earth then departed to heaven.

Though Paul’s return to Thessalonica was uncertain (we don’t know whether he ever revisited them), Christ’s return was entirely certain. This return would be far more significant of course because, in part, it pertained not only to the church at Thessalonica but to “all the saints.”

Confidence in God keeps the bigger picture in mind.

This fact would remind the church about the bigger picture. The work of God was larger than Paul and larger than their local congregation. It was a worldwide work that encompassed other churches and believers, too. This is a humbling truth that would encourage the Thessalonian church to think larger than their own personal situation.

This truth also served as the basis for Paul’s supreme confidence in God through prayer. He knew that regardless of whether he, Paul, was able to revisit the church at Thessalonica (or any other church he had served for that matter), they would all answer to God, and he would be able to pray for God to continue bringing about spiritual their spiritual transformation.

Paul was wise to keep the return of Christ in the foreground because it’s easy for leaders to slip into a mindset that views themselves as the ones to whom people in the church must answer. What’s more, it’s easy for people in the church to fall into the same mindset, too, by viewing their spiritual leaders as larger-than-life figures.

Though a congregation should show appropriate respect to their pastoral leaders (Paul encourages such respect later in this later, cf. 1 Thess 5:12-13), they should be careful to focus their ultimate allegiance on Christ.

Earthly, pastoral leaders come and go. Not all will remain stationary in one place. The NT actually gives few examples of stationary pastoral leaders, while others like Paul, Peter, John, Apollos, Barnabas, Timothy, etc. move around. Knowing this, congregations should always keep in mind that whether their pastoral leaders stay or go, Christ is their ultimate shepherd, and he is coming back for them.

When Christ returned, would he find the Thessalonian believers focusing on loving one another or obsessing over their losses and relationships from a selfish standpoint?

The day my grandfather returned home earlier than expected …

When my mother was a girl, about 12 yrs. old, her parents (my grandparents) left the house for a day to fly in a private airplane with a friend who had just obtained his pilot’s license. The excursion was supposed to last all day, so my grandfather left my teenage aunt in charge of her two younger sisters, including my mother, the youngest.

For whatever reason, my mother decided to do whatever she wanted, much to her older sister’s dismay. At one point, she decided to go into her parent’s bedroom and jump on their bed as if it were a trampoline. Her sister insisted that she stop, but my mother laughed and taunted her.

Then her sister said something unexpected: “Daddy is home and he’s coming up the stairs right now.” “No he’s not!” said my mother. Little did she know that the flight excursion had been canceled due to bad weather. She realized too late that her father had returned early when he walked into the room and saw her dancing on his bed. Needless to say, she never behaved that way again.

Does your Christian service exhibit supreme confidence in God?

There are two ways to answer this question with Paul’s double prayer for the Thessalonian church in mind: (1) as a spiritual leader and (2) as a church member.

If you’re a spiritual leader, then what is your view of God’s role in your work for the church?

• Do you trust God in ministry by submitting your ministry plans to him before you push ahead with doing what you want to do?
• Do you serve people as though their spiritual transformation relies entirely on you, or do you recognize your limitations and trust God above all?
• When you’re not able to minister to certain people in person, do you pray for God’s ongoing transformation in their lives still, or do you withdraw from them even in prayer?

If you’re not a spiritual leader, then what is your view of the leaders God has placed in your church?

Spiritual leaders are not superheroes. They can’t do everything that needs to be done for believers to grow in love, neither can they be everywhere for all of us.

• Have you subtly allowed yourself to view your pastoral leaders as the permanent key to your spiritual growth rather than the temporary channel? God works through them for sure, but it is God who is doing the work. How would you respond if he moved your leaders along and gave you new ones? The answer would reveal whether your ultimate confidence is in God.
• Do you criticize pastoral leaders for their limitations and plans or do you show appreciation for what they do and respond well, while trusting God above all?
• Does the return of Christ alone motivate you to grow in your expression of love to the other believers in your church, or do you require a strong, persistent push from your pastor(s)? The more that you are aware of God’s direct, personal involvement in your spiritual growth (esp. your growth in love), the better.

Spiritual leaders are not superheroes. They can’t do everything that needs to be done for believers to grow in love, neither can they be everywhere for all of us. They’re just ordinary people who place supreme confidence in God for the ministry they do. The more we can embrace this same confidence in God, the more effective church leaders will be in their service, and the better prepared we’ll all be when Christ returns.