“In order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you
and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus
Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:12
Prayers that Paul prayed for
the churches and co-workers who were recipients of his epistles reveal a
great deal about the nature of prayer and God’s desire for us. They are
also guidelines by which we can learn to pray more effectively. In this
tenth devotional reflection of the series we get fresh insight into the
ultimate purpose of intercessory prayer.
Many of our public
prayers are quite general as we pray for God’s blessings or for those in
crisis, for our city and nation and for leaders without specifically
stating how we want God to bless or what we want Him to actually do. Our
private praying is often dominated by intercession for others with
special needs in which we ask God to comfort, heal or guide them. But do
we ever think through these petitions as to why we are asking God to
bless someone, heal the sick or reveal His will in a certain situation?
Paul expressed a lot of specific prayers, but in this passage he says, “To this end also we pray for you always” (2
Thess. 1:11). He then goes on to identify three objectives and an
over-arching result of his intercession regardless of the specific focus
on his prayer. He wanted God to answer his prayer, to respond to his
intercession, to meet the need of his readers (1) that God would count
them worthy of His calling, (2) that they would fulfill God’s desire for
goodness, and (3) in their lives would be manifested the work of faith
with power.
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