2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 Pray for God’s Word to Run Swiftly
Good morning, everyone! As you can see from our Bible reading, this passage is about prayer. Last week, from Noah’s message we learned about God’s discipline for his people. We all need discipline from a young age. Otherwise, we may grow up like wild roots, just following the whims of our passions and desires. One of the disciplines we need in our spiritual life is prayer. Prayer is an essential part of a believer’s spiritual walk with God. Someone described praying for believers as breathing. Guess what happens if you don’t breathe? Who likes to go swimming regularly? What is one of the most important part about swimming? Yes, it’s the breathing. If you don’t breathe properly, you panic or don’t swim with proper form and get exhausted. You feel like drowning. [Pic 1] It is the same with prayer in the believer’s life. Without regular prayer one gets exhausted and tired in the life of faith. Maybe we feel like the person in the picture sometimes. Some believers may need a spiritual oxygen tank to help them to pray and breathe normally. So, let’s learn from the Apostle Paul today about the importance of prayer and what we should pray for.
Pray for God’s Word to Run Swiftly
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
Key Verse: 1:
“Finally, brothers,[a] pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,[b] as happened among you.”
Look at verse 1. “Finally, brothers,[a] pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,[b] as happened among you.” Apostle Paul knew the importance of prayer. This is why he had a prayer request for the Thessalonians to pray for him. Prayer is not just a social activity we do at church. “Oh, everyone is praying. I better pray too.” Wayne Grudem gave this definition of prayer, “Prayer is a personal communication with God.” [Pic 2] Though most Christians know this, many still find it hard to pray regularly. Prayer is hard and prayer is humbling. Prayer can’t be superficial either. I remember once attending a conference which was located in a children’s conference site. One of the workers at the site prayed for lunch with the Flintstones “Yabby Dabby Do” prayer. “Yabby Dabby Do, thank you God for this food.” Maybe to God’s ears some Christians’ prayers sound like Yabby Dabby Do. “God help me get this new jet plane or sports car, Yabby Dabby Do.” The Scottish preacher Alexander White said, “If you find your life of prayer to be always so short, and so easy, and so spiritual, as to be without cost and strain and sweat to you, you may depend upon it, you have not yet begun to pray.” [Pic 3] He also said, “if you want to humble a man ask him about his prayer life.” Let’s do a 30 second activity with one another. Without any pressure and just for fun ask a neighbor around you and briefly discuss, “Hey, how’s your prayer life.” It can be a humbling thing to be asked that question. (Who prays more than twice a week? Show hands and keep it up. Etc.) Prayer is hard and humbling. But nothing tells us as much about our spiritual life as our prayer life and Bible reading. It reveals who we really are. Also, our prayer life reveals who we believe God is. It reveals what we believe God is like. It reveals our priorities. It reveals our passions and desires. The Bible even says that God gives us the desires of our hearts, when we delight in him. (Ps. 37:4) So, it’s really important to know what to pray for because it shows what’s in our hearts.
Look at verse 1 again. “Finally, brothers,[a] pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,[b] as happened among you.” Paul asked them to pray for two things. First, he says pray for us. Second, that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified. And that we will be rescued from perverse and evil man. Let’s look at the latter prayer topic first. He’s praying here that the word of God will go and that it will grow. When he says here that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly, that’s a word in Greek. It means to run or literally to sprint or to speed ahead or to have free course. The word of God here is personified as a runner. Psalm 147:15 reads, “He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.” When Paul was writing this letter, he’s in Corinth. While Paul was there the Isthmian games, like our Olympics, would have had taken place. [Pic 4] They had the games every other spring. So, in the spring of A.D. 51 when Paul was there at Corinth, he would have had seen those games. Paul is likening the gospel message here to an Olympic runner who’s running across the countryside. Paul is praying here for the success of the word of God. He’s asking the believers to pray for it—that the word of God to run swiftly.
Paul also prayed that the word of God may be declared without hindrance. Colossians 4:3 reads, “At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison.” Though Paul wrote some of his letters from prison, he knew that the word of God could not be chained or contained. The word of God cannot be imprisoned. God’s word can never be locked up. God’s word can never be quarantined. Kent Hughes puts it like this: “God’s word can no more be chained than God himself.” [Pic 5] Nothing can stop the word of God. We can write and we can preach and we can teach, but the word of God does everything. We do nothing. It’s God’s word that bears fruit. Isaiah 55:11, “…so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” As Bible teachers and messengers of God’s word we have to study and prepare a lot. The purpose of the study is to have a deeper understanding of God’s word. When we share God’s word with the meaning God intended, then the word of God will itself bear fruit in the lives of those who hear it. We cannot just convince others with our good sounding arguments and logical explanations. Though these are important. God’s word must touch others’ hearts and souls. Once, in one day Jesus lost many potential disciple-candidates because of his hard teachings. It reminded me of Bishop Barron’s lectionary about serious discipleship, which is high octane. So, Jesus asked his disciples if they wanted to leave too. But Peter answered in John 6:68, “Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’” Peter, and the other disciples, could not leave Jesus because they had tasted that Jesus’ words gave them eternal life. God’s word was working swiftly in their hearts and souls. They could not stop because they were on high octane.
Paul also prayed that God’s word would be glorified. We use that word a lot in the Christian circle. God be glorified in our worship service. God be glorified in our music. God be glorified in our lives. What does it really mean? The word glorified really has the idea of shining or brilliance. [Pic 6] But it really carries the idea to put on display or to make known. In other words, to be seen for what it really is. We pray for God to be glorified. What we’re saying is God, we want you to be put on display. We want you to be made known. We want you to be seen for who you really are. He’s saying that we want to pray that the word of God will be glorified. That it will be seen for what it really is. It will be seen for the saving power that it contains.
Let’s go back to Paul’s first prayer topic for a moment. He had asked the Thessalonians to pray for us. This included Paul, Silas, Timothy, and other servants of God who were working hard to proclaim the gospel. God’s servant, wherever he or she is, is engaging in a spiritual warfare. All the powers of hell are arrayed against him. Like the rich young man whom Jesus asked to follow him. He could not because of his love of money would not let him. There’s a battle spiritually whenever one tries to do something for the Lord. No one can win the spiritual battle alone. Even in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked his sleepy disciples to pray for him. There never has been a preacher used of God who is not supported by God’s people in prayer. Even an ordinary person without extraordinary gifts can accomplish a great deal if God’s people pray for him. Paul was a gifted leader and God had given him wonderful gifts. But Paul had to confess, I can’t do it alone. I need your prayers. So, he says brethren pray for us. Behind every victory for the word of God there must be a victory in prayer. God’s servants and God’s work makes progress through prayer. As a church, we need to continuously pray for those who preach and teach the word of God. They need our prayers as well. Praise God who has been working in WL ministry to raise up young messengers of God’s word. Last week, Noah gave his second message. Next week, Abhinav will give his debut message. After him, David will give a message. We really need to support them in prayer. Lord, raise these young men as powerful messengers of God’s word. Raise them as good Bible teachers. And of course, Lord, give them godly wives soon as well. Also, Maria and I could serve as missionaries in UA nearly 20 years because of many coworkers’ labors of prayer and support. [Pic 7—with Ben and Christy in 2021] This past week was the 15th anniversary of Podil ministry, which they celebrated today. In spite of the terrible war there, God’s work is going on through the many prayers of God’s people all around the world.
Paul prays for the safety of the messengers for the spread of the message. Look at verse 2. “…and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith.” This request is logically connected to the first one. Because if the word of God is to run and to be honored and glorified, the proclaimers of that word have to be rescued. Delivered from evil people who are thwarting them from carrying out their evangelistic activities. Satan doesn’t want the word of God to run unhindered and to run swiftly. So, he puts up roadblocks in the way of God’s servants. He puts up opposition and puts up distractions. Paul often asked people to pray for his protection. Romans 15:31, “…that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints.” Paul wasn’t afraid to say look there’s a lot of people out to get me. pray for me that God will keep me safe. The reason Paul wanted to be kept safe is because he wanted to continue to get out the message. It was not just for himself. He wanted to see the message get out. He says here that we’ll be “rescued from perverse and evil men.” Also, he said, “for not all have faith.” Now what this means is faith in the gospel. We hear people that they talk a lot about faith. Many people may say, “I’m a person of faith” or “I have faith.” Even one famous atheist said, “I like the Christian culture.” Faith doesn’t do anything for you. It’s the object of your faith. Paul means faith in Christ. Not everybody put their faith and their trust in Jesus Christ. And those who don’t have their faith in Jesus Christ are opponents of the truth. Paul humbly asked for prayer for the spread of the message and for the safety of the messengers. And we need to be praying that as well for those in leadership over us.
We live in an evil world and we need to pray. Two weeks ago, there was a terrible shooting in a Catholic school, in Minnesota, where two children were killed and many injured by a shooter. It was during a Catholic mass for children. Some liberal news outlets implied that praying didn’t help these children. One liberal leader implied that instead of praying kids should be playing. But it doesn’t make sense because a shooter can kill kids while playing. Maybe also to some Christians prayer doesn’t seem to be effective. So, they don’t pray on a regular basis. But prayer, more than asking God for our wants, is our act of worship and testimony of our faith in God. Actually, there have been many martyrs in Christian history who testified to the world their faith in God and died in prayer. For example, Stephen, the Apostles, and many Christians martyrs sang and prayed in the Roman Coliseum while being killed. And the greatest example of all, is Jesus on the cross. While dying he prayed, “Father, forgive them. For they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus’ prayer on the cross has changed the hearts of so many believers, including mine, in Christian history. More than victims, and they were, the children who died during mass were martyrs for their faith. Then why do we need to pray if evil continues forcefully in the world? Because God is faithful.
Look at verse 3. “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.[c]” If our God isn’t faithful prayer is an exercise in futility. We are just praying to the air. Why pray if God’s not faithful? But God is faithful that’s what undergirds and supports all of our prayers. Notice it’s a play on the word faith here. Because he just said not all have faith. But then he says but the Lord is faithful. Not all have faith in Christ. But God is faithful. In the New Testament it says repeatedly that God is faithful. But here it’s the Lord is faithful. The word Lord is mentioned four times in these five verses. That’s talking about Jesus. So, Jesus and God are equal. God is faithful in many ways. God is faithful in forgiveness. First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” When we sincerely repent of our sins before God, he’s just to forgive our sins. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God is faithful in providing for his children. God provides for our needs, not necessarily for what we want. Philippians 4:19, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” But God’s faithfulness doesn’t mean that we’ll get everything we want and everything we ask. For God is far too wise to give us everything we want or everything we ask for in life. God is far too wise for that. As Dale Carnegie once said, “Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.” [Pic 8] More than just getting human success. God wants us to be happy and content in him.
Trusting in God’s faithfulness includes believing God knows what’s best for each of us. God isn’t at work producing the circumstances you want. God is at work even in bad circumstances to produce the you that he wants. That’s what God is doing. And God is faithful to that purpose. God is faithful to produce the you and the me that he wants. God is faithful even when things don’t go the way we want them to. God is producing in you and in me what he wants. Romans 8:29, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” We live in a world of undependable people. We live in a world of unstable governments. People are fickle and people are failing. But God is faithful. God will never rescind his promises. He’ll never delete his love. He will never edit his mercy. He’ll never renege on his faithfulness to you and to me. God will demonstrate his faithfulness. God is faithful. Verse 3, “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.[c]” God will ground us. He’ll strengthen us. And he’ll guard us from the enemy. This is why we can put our confidence in him.
Look at verse 4. “And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command.” Paul’s confidence is not grounded in the Thessalonian believers themselves. His confidence is in the Lord, that is in Jesus. And what he’s doing in these believers. He says “we have confidence in the Lord concerning you.” Paul’s confidence was in the Lord. Last week, I learned from the priest Mike Schmidt that in Latin confidence is “con fido” which means “with faith.” We have confidence because of our faith in the Lord. Paul’s confidence was in the Lord concerning them. As much as Paul loved these Thessalonians, he placed his confidence in the Lord, not in them. More than putting our confidence in any person, no matter how qualified they may be, we must put our confidence in Jesus our Lord. It’s who we are and what we can do in the Lord. Even with Paul, the Thessalonian believers’ confidence was in the Lord not in Paul. Sometimes we’re so tempted to place our confidence in people. But Paul says we have confidence in the Lord concerning you. So, any person you meet, no matter how competent they may be, our confidence is not in that person but our confidence is in the Lord concerning that person. Of course, God uses his servants to help others in their time of need. But it’s what God can do in and through their life. Paul prays for the assurance that we have the confidence in our faithful God. God is working in our lives daily. Paul brings this section into a close with another prayer for the Thessalonians.
Look at verse 5. “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” The word direct there means to open up the way by removing obstacles. May the lord remove all the obstacles so that your heart can grasp the love of God. This verse is one of the few New Testament prayers directed to Jesus. Most of all the prayers in the New Testament are directed to God or to the Father. But the Lord here would be Jesus. There are common practices to pray to the Father, but he’s praying to the Lord. He prayed to Jesus to direct their hearts into the love of God. He is praying here; may God remove all the obstacles so you can grasp more fully how much God really loves you. And then he says and into the steadfastness of Christ. The King James Version here says, “and to the patient waiting for Christ.” So, it has the idea that he’s directing our hearts into patiently waiting for Christ for his coming. This fits in well with the Thessalonian letters. Where there’s so much about waiting for Christ’s return. But it can also mean “into the steadfastness of Christ.” In other words, it’s the endurance and the perseverance demonstrated by Jesus. May God direct your heart into reproducing in your life the patience
and the endurance that’s exhibited in the life of Christ as he faced his trials on earth.
In conclusion, we have been studying about the importance of prayer. As I mentioned, prayer is our act of worship. Our communion with our heavenly Father. So, we must discipline ourselves in our prayer life. To do this, we must decide to set some time in prayer during the day. Or even join a Christian friend or prayer group. Our daughter MJ says she sometimes joins Jenny in an early morning prayer walk. We can pray early in the morning or in the evening. In the OT, Daniel disciplined himself to pray to God 3 times a day, facing the temple in Jerusalem. Even Jesus, the Son of God, got up early in the morning to pray. And when we pray, we need to have a clear purpose. Recently, I have been reading a short book titled, The Prodigal Prayer Guide. One Christian mother, Francine Perry, was devasted when her daughter came out as transgender and had taken hormones and had surgery. But through prayer and trust in God a miracle happened and her daughter came back to Jesus and happily accepted her feminine identity before God. Through this miracle, Francine and other mothers of prodigal children began to meet and earnestly pray for their children. Through their prayers, 22 prodigals returned home, and many more are reportedly on the verge of return. We can also pray for any prodigal children with faith in God; that they will return home someday. We can also begin to pray for our grandchildren or anyone that we know that don’t yet have a personal relationship with Jesus. That God may work in their lives and draw them to him by the help of the Holy Spirit. Most of all, we should pray that the word of God may work swiftly in their hearts. And in the hearts of people all around the world. Amen.
2 Thessalonians 3 1-5 presentation
Footnotes
a. 2 Thessalonians 3:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 6, 13
b. 2 Thessalonians 3:1 Or glorified
c. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 Or evil
d. Based on message by Dr. Hitchcock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw__J48KMDg&t=1279s
Bible Study Questions:
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
Key Verse: 1:
“Finally, brothers,[a] pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,[b] as happened among you.”
1.Read 2 Thess. 3:1. Paul asks for prayer that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly. Why do you think he emphasizes the need for prayer in the spread of the Gospel? (1 Thess. 5:25) How does the word of God speed ahead? (Ps. 147:15; Col. 4:3; 2 Tim. 2:9)
- Read 2 Thess. 3:2. Paul mentions being delivered from wicked and evil people. How can we apply this to our own lives today, particularly regarding the challenges we face in sharing our faith? Why is it important to pray for fellow servants of God? (Ro. 15:31; Ac. 18:9)
- Read 2 Thess. 3:3. Verse 3 reassures believers that the Lord is faithful. How does this assurance impact our daily lives and decisions, especially in times of uncertainty? In what ways is our God faithful? (1 Thess. 5:24; 1 Cor. 10:13; 1 Jn. 1:9)
- Read 2 Thess. 3:4. In verse 4, Paul expresses confidence in the Thessalonians’ obedience to his instructions. What does this say about the importance of community and accountability in the Christian faith?
- Read 2 Thess. 3:5. Verse 5 speaks about the Lord directing hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. How can we cultivate a heart that is directed towards God’s love in our daily interactions?
- How can we practically encourage one another in faith, as Paul encouraged the Thessalonians? What are some specific ways we can do this?
Finally, brothers,[a] pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,[b] as happened among you, 2 and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.[c] 4 And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
Footnotes
- 2 Thessalonians 3:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 6, 13
- 2 Thessalonians 3:1 Or glorified
- 2 Thessalonians 3:3 Or evil
