Explore the Bible: May 22

 Praying • II Thessalonians 2:13-3:5

By Cyndi Grace

One summer when I was in high school, our church had a week-long revival. Our area had been under severe drought conditions and the situation was becoming serious. The revival preacher announced the following night we would be having a special prayer service asking God to give us rain.

We came ready to pray but to our surprise the preacher announced that we were not prepared. We looked at him curiously, wondering what he meant. Then he said, “We were going to ask God to give us rain, and yet not a single one of you brought an umbrella.”

That sunk deeply into my teenaged mind and to this day, I approach God in my prayers wondering if I have my umbrella of faith. Prayer is a powerful means to combat the evil in the world, but do we truly believe?

It is with this mindset of prayer that the Apostle Paul spoke in today’s lesson. He had previously encouraged, taught, and advised the growing Thessalonian church. He knew there would be challenges to face and that those challenges would continue to increase.

He reminded them that they had a purpose in the Kingdom and they, because of their belief, were chosen vessels to spread the Gospel. They, if faithful, would obtain the glory of Jesus. What a strong encouragement this was. How reassuring it must have been to them as they struggled with day-to-day persecution.

Paul also advised them to “stand firm and hold to the traditions.” Don’t be confused by the word, “traditions.” He was not referring to things done in worship as we would define traditions. He was referring to the teachings they had received about the Kingdom. They were not to sway. No matter the situation, God’s truth would be all that mattered and is what would keep them to the end. 

He also reminded them that they had chosen God’s way and God is always faithful to those who stand in His truth. God had given them His love, His eternal encouragement, hope, and His grace. He was not about to desert them now. He promised to strengthen them for every good work.

Because of challenges, Paul presents to these Believers the key weapon they would need to get through: prayer. How much we must heed those words.

We have our own challenges in this world, a world that is growing more and more absurd each day. Some are giving up the fight, even within the Christian community. Many have fallen for the lie that the Gospel is unloving and harsh.

Others are frightened to “stand” because of the public humiliation they might receive. To stand firm, we must do as Paul encouraged this church in Thessalonica to do: spend much time in prayer.

For what should we pray? To our modern mind, perhaps we believe Paul should have prayed for the evil to disappear. Things then would be safer and much easier. That seems to be nature of many of our prayers are in horrible situations.

While that is not altogether bad, it shows that our prayers might lack the big picture of God’s purposes. Paul saw beyond himself and because of this view he prayed for three things.

— Through all the conflict, the Gospel would spread rapidly.

— In everything, God would be honored.

— They may be delivered from evil people so the Gospel would not be hindered.

Paul’s goal in his prayers was always about the message of Jesus. His prayers were not about his safety or comfort but for strength to spread the Good News.

Another teenaged memory I have about prayer is the phrase, Prayer Changes Things. We often grabbed on to those words like a rabbit’s foot when life became hard. We prayed selfish, me-only prayers, expecting one thing when God willed to do another.

We often questioned our faith, but what were those “things?” These long years later I think I better understand: Prayer Changes Me. As we in our country face more and more challenges, let us pray boldly like Paul so we can also stand strong for truth.

A pastor friend, Erik Reed, wrote a blog recently. Let me close with his words: Our society may be the Titanic at this point. The damage inflicted on our culture by the sexual revolution may be irreversible. Even so, let’s be those on the bow warning of the iceberg ahead, not the band playing music to comfort passengers as we sink.

First Church, Jackson,  and is a conference speaker and Bible teacher.