Having spent the most past of the first 2 chapters of his letter praising the Thessalonians for their walk with Jesus Paul gives them a little more encouragement in the form of a prayer. I love this. I love it because it’s not something I would always think to do in the way Paul does it. He says,
“May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” (vs. 12-13)
What a wonderful, simple and powerful prayer to pray! What a reminder that sometimes the simplest prayers are the best. In essence all Paul is saying is Lord give them more of yourself! Give them more of Your love, bless them with more holiness, don’t look at their sins and errors just help them to keep their eyes on Jesus!
I wonder how much would change if we were to pray simple prayers like this over the people we meet each day. I wonder how much better the world would be if we dared to pray simple prayers moment by moment through our days on earth. Imagine the collective weight of those simple, effective prayers as they built up in the courts of heaven. And, more than that imagine the outpouring of God’s Spirit as they’re heard and answered. Paul built the church on prayers such as these shouldn’t we?
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Questions:
Who are you offering prayers for? How complicated do you make them? Could you pray simple prayers like Paul’s instead?
Prayer:
Lord God I pray that You would be increased in all those I meet today. I pray that You would look past all their mistakes and shortcomings and see the good in them. Give them more of Your love, bless them with more of Your holiness so that they are prepared for the coming of Christ Jesus. In His name I ask. Amen.