Deeper Reflection
PAUL ASKS THE THESSALONIAN CHURCH TO “PRAY FOR US” (v.1; also 1 Thess 5:25). The verb “pray” is a present imperative, which means to “keep on praying”²⁸. This implies that perseverance and patient waiting on God to answer is required (cf. Eph 6:18). It is as Jesus teaches us, that we “ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Lk 18:1). In the daily challenges in parenting our special needs son, God answers our prayer for help and deliverance one challenge at a time, while we wait on Him to answer our prayer for full deliverance. Until then, it is God answers our prayer today, and the challenges come again the next day, and we pray again.The present period before Christ’s Second Coming is “the era of the word”²⁹ in two senses: the church must spread the Word throughout the world (2 Thess 3:1-2) and the church must keep the Word and shine in the world (2 Thess 3:3-15). Paul’s prayer request to the Thessalonians is: “the word of the Lord may spread rapidly” (2 Thess 3:1, NRSV). The request “echoes the words of Psalm 147:15”³⁰: “His word runs swiftly.” The Word of God itself “runs swiftly” – a character of God’s Word. And since it is a prayer to God, it is God Himself who will “spread rapidly” His Word. It is a divine work – although there is the human part in proclaiming the Word. This prayer request in evangelism and missions reflects Paul’s dependence on God – that God must act, and his confidence in God – that ultimately, it is God who acts.

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²⁸ John R. W. Stott, 184 ²⁹ John R. W. Stott, 183 ³⁰ Gene L. Green, 335