Seeking for Prayer Partners
- Rev. Jerry Lepasana
- Apr 27, 2008
- Series: Passion to Pray
Passion to Pray: (Part II)
SEEKING FOR PRAYER PARTNERS
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 (NIV)
1 Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.
2 And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.
3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
4 We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command.
5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.
Prayer is absolutely vital in the Christian life. Since Christianity is a relationship with God, this relationship can never become intimate without the consistent communication between us.
That is why God is truly honored and pleased when we as believers take the time to pray. Jesus himself communicated this:
John 14:13 (NIV)
13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.
When Jesus was sharing his heart to his disciples during his last dinner with them prior to going to the cross, He left them a great promise that He will do whatever they ask in His name. But don’t miss what He added, that the Son may bring glory to the Father. I believe with all my heart Jesus defines for us the very reason why God answers our prayers, so that He will be glorified. Therefore, the more you pray, the more you bring glory to God.
This morning, as we continue with our theme Passion to Pray, I would like to emphasize another element in our prayer lives. You see, to achieve balance, we must also include the prayer of intercession. This is often known as the prayers we make on behalf of other people or causes.
Indeed, we have to pray for ourselves. And there is nothing wrong with that. I believe God wants to hear about us as individual believers. Apostle Paul indicates this:
Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Clearly, God doesn’t want us to worry about some of the things that are going on in our lives because we can take them to Him. He is enormously sufficient for all our concerns.
However, we must not only pray for ourselves, we must also intercede on behalf of others. When you examine the Bible, you will be impressed with the fact that this is one of the responsibilities that God has bestowed upon all the believers. The prophet Samuel himself considered it a sin if he fails to pray for Israel:
1 Samuel 12:23 (NIV)
23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.
On this basis, we must do our best to consistently incorporate intercessions in our prayers. So, do you regularly pray for others? Now, as we consider our main text, I hope to help each one of us understand that intercession has a significant relation with what God is trying to accomplish in our world. One way believers can really be involved in the work of the Lord is to be involved in intercessory prayers. Let’s study together Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians and discover three essential truths about intercessory prayers:
I ACCEPT YOUR INSUFFICIENCY: (v. 1a)
The Lord had given the apostle Paul the privilege of planting the church in Thessalonica. You would find this recorded in Acts 17:1-9. The passage in Acts also allows us to see that because of the growing persecutions against Paul and the Gospel, his ministry in Thessalonica was cut short. To be able to follow up those who responded favorably to the Gospel in that great city, Paul wrote the First and Second Thessalonians in order to ground them in the Christian Faith. Before ending his letter he took the opportunity to seek for prayer partners. Notice the words, “Finally, brothers, pray for us.” There are two important truths that can be emphasized:
First, Paul was willing to be vulnerable and accept his insufficiency. Most often, we have the tendency to think of great men and women of the Bible as super Christians who are always capable and sufficient. Absolutely not! They are just like anyone of us who need the help and support of other believers. What I admire about Paul is that He was not embarrassed to ask for prayers. Do you sometimes hesitate to ask for prayers? This leads me to my next truth:
We need to stress the word – Brothers. There is a natural partnership among brothers and sisters in the Lord because of the relationship that exist among us. You see, the family of God is naturally interdependent. We need each other. That is why we are encouraged to carry each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), and to pray for each other (James 5:16). Just like Paul, we need to see our brothers and sisters in the Lord as partners in life. In times of crises and needs we have people who can support us and bring us to the throne of God. We should never be embarrassed to seek for prayers. If Paul needed prayers, how much more you and I? Here at BCI, you can be a valuable partner in the ministry, if you commit yourself in intercessory prayers. Janice Hughes captured this truth when she said: Rich is the person who has a praying friend.
II ADDRESS YOUR IMPEDIMENTS: (vs. 1b-2)
It is truly a great blessing when you have brothers and sisters in the Lord praying for you in times of your material and physical needs. But I also would like to emphasize in the passage our partnership in the work of the Lord. Looking at our text, Paul was calling for the Thessalonian Christians to be sensitive about the ministry by praying for two specific requests:
A. Unhindered Message
I am using the word impediment in order to drive across the idea that there are barriers or obstacles that the devil build to hinder the preaching of the Gospel. If you go back to verse one, Paul’s request is first for the message to spread rapidly. Literally, the idea is like a runner being able to quickly run because all the obstructions had been removed. And then, for the message to freely accomplish what God had purpose, which is bringing honor to Him.
Now, you might be asking, “What is the significance of the Word of God to the Gospel?” The key is understanding Romans 10:17 - Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. You see, faith is acquired in the preaching of the Word, so the devil will continually attempt to distract, confuse, or do everything he could to keep people from listening to it. With this fact, Paul acknowledges that as a preacher his success is solely based on God’s help and blessings.
I challenge each one of you to pray for every occasion you know the Word will be preached. Every time you come on Sundays, pray that Satan will not get the advantage, instead that the preaching will be effective. And as a result, God gets the honor meaning people will go home with the sense that they met with God during the preaching.
B. Unharmed Messengers:
Another request centered on God’s messengers themselves, that God will protect them from evil men. Well, the truth is just as the Holy Spirit uses dedicated people to share the Word; Satan also uses wicked people to oppose the work of God. Of course the Thessalonian Christians would have some idea of what Paul was talking about because of what happened when Paul came to their city:
Acts 17:5-6 (NIV)
5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.
6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here,
On the other hand, Satan can use even believers to hinder the work of the ministry as demonstrated by Peter:
Matthew 16:21-23 (NIV)
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
We all need to be conscious of the schemes of the devil and pray that he won’t be able to hinder both the message and the messengers of the Gospel. Remember, there is a spiritual battle being waged every time the Word is preached, so please be faithful in taking the ministry of prayer.
III AFFIRM YOUR INSPIRATION: (vs. 3-5)
Finally, Paul closes this section by encouraging the believers to stay faithful in the Lord. Plainly, Paul was trying to drive the truth that it is not enough for them as missionaries to share the Word, every believer must play their role in this vital ministry. Looking at the text, he provides the inspiration in two ways:
A. The Character of God:
Indeed, it is true that Satan will do his best to oppose everyone who wants to make a difference in the lives of others in the name of Christ. But, Paul impresses to them the fact that God is faithful. God will be true to all His promises to His children; He is faithful to provide for all their needs. God’s faithfulness can be a great source of confidence to all believers who are serving the Lord.
B. The Confidence for Believers:
Lastly, another way he inspired them is to declare their confidence in them. Paul declares his deep trust in them that they would be obedient to the instructions he gave them in his letters. And he conveyed clearly to them that this confidence is founded on the fact that they are in Christ, and that He continues to work in them to ground them in His love and perseverance.
Amazing! Paul understands that these believers were his vital partners in the Gospel. He needed their prayers and active involvement in the ministry of the Word. Therefore, he inspires them to be faithful, but at the same time, he has the assurance that God will be involved in every step of the way. This concept immediately reminds me of Paul’s word to the Philippian believers:
Philippians 2:13 (NIV)
13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Beloved, God is constantly at work. He is at work in our lives as believers, and He is definitely working through us to touch others who are not yet His. Let’s remember that we can continually partner in life in order for all of us to be victorious. I want to emphasize that Prayer Partnership could be the most strategic partnerships we could forge. I hope we would be open and make