2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

There are 7 billion people on this earth. My mother told me I should pray for someone I didn’t care for. I told her that person was on my list, but that there were 6,999,999,999 people in front of him; yes, I am a smart aleck at times. This does illustrate that we cannot pray for everything and everybody. We have to make choices when talking to God.

Paul made a prayer request to the church in Thessalonica. He asked them to pray that the message of the Lord might spread rapidly and be honored. When Paul prayed that the Lord’s gospel might spread rapidly, much of the world had not yet heard the good news about Jesus. The same is true for certain parts of the world today, but it is not true for the Western world. The gospel can be heard and seen on any television set in America. It spreads with the speed of the Internet and radio waves. We have heard the gospel, but as a society, we are not honoring it.

Paul also asked them to pray that he and his ministry team would be delivered from wicked and evil people. Christians and ministers are relatively safe in the Western world today. In the US, asking for God’s physical protection, may not be the best use of our prayer time.

Paul told them that he prayed that the Lord would direct their hearts in Christian love and Christlike perseverance. I believe this is the prayer that is still most needed today. The Western world does not need to hear more of the gospel, they need to see more of the gospel in action. The church still needs our hearts directed by the Lord into Christian love and perseverance. The more like Christ we live, the more attractive the gospel becomes. Our world has heard the gospel, but they need to see the gospel at work. Pray that God’s love will work in us, and make the gospel attractive to the world.