{"id":2535,"date":"2011-11-08T08:39:32","date_gmt":"2011-11-08T13:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?p=2535"},"modified":"2014-07-21T10:15:08","modified_gmt":"2014-07-21T14:15:08","slug":"praying-like-an-apostle-a-passion-for-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/praying-like-an-apostle-a-passion-for-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Praying Like an Apostle, Part 2: A Passion for People"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you read the first post\u00a0(<a title=\"Praying Like an Apostle, Part 1: Framework and Content\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/praying-like-an-apostle-framework-and-content\/\">Praying like an Apostle: Framework and Content<\/a>), let me followup by asking you a few questions.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Signs of Grace<\/strong> &#8211; Did you see your friends and family grow in love, faith, or\u00a0perseverance\u00a0such that it caused you to go to prayer and thank God?<\/li>\n<li><strong>God&#8217;s Justice<\/strong> &#8211; How does mediating on God&#8217;s justice help your prayer life? Are you able to refocus your attention from situations in which you may have been wronged to the return of Christ?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Your Calling<\/strong> &#8211; Have you asked God to count you worthy of your calling, and to bring that about by His power?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Your Goal<\/strong> &#8211; How does the goal of\u00a0glorifying\u00a0God shape your prayer life?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As we turn our attention to another of Paul&#8217;s prayers, 1 Thess 2:17-3:13, we see he is deeply motivated by a passion for people.<span style=\"font-size: small;\"><!--more--><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<h2>Paul&#8217;s Passion<\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" lang=\"en-US\"><sup>17\u00a0<\/sup>But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our<strong> intense longing<\/strong> we made every effort to see you. <sup>18\u00a0<\/sup>For we wanted to come to you\u2014certainly I, Paul, did, again and again\u2014but Satan blocked our way. <sup>19\u00a0<\/sup>For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? <sup>20\u00a0<\/sup>Indeed,<strong> you are our glory and joy<\/strong>. \u00a01 Thessalonians 2:17\u201320 (NIV)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Paul did not spend long with the Thessalonians, but he has an intense longing for them. He is\u00a0extremely\u00a0passionate about people; they are his glory and joy.<\/p>\n<p>After Paul is forced to leave the Thessalonians, he is\u00a0concerned\u00a0for their spiritual state. He outlines this in verses 1-5 in chapter 3. In fact, he sends Timothy to &#8220;strengthen and encourage them in\u00a0their\u00a0faith&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>People are what the Christian life is all about&#8211;investing in people so that they grow in their faith in Christ, and\u00a0their\u00a0love for one another.<\/p>\n<p><em><\/em>Timothy reports back wonderful news to Paul: that the Thessalonians are growing. This is an encouragement to\u00a0Paul\u00a0as He is enduring persecutions. People growing are more important to Paul than the hardships he is enduring.<\/p>\n<div class=\"simplePullQuote right\"><p>People are what the Christian life is all about&#8211;investing in people so that they grow in their faith in Christ, and\u00a0their\u00a0love for one another.<\/p>\n<\/div>After reiterating Timothy&#8217;s\u00a0report, Paul begins to transition to the next logical step of such good news, prayer.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" lang=\"en-US\"><sup>9\u00a0<\/sup>How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? <sup>10\u00a0<\/sup>Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en-US\">Paul thanks God for the Thessalonians, but he does it in a way that is extremely\u00a0encouraging\u00a0to the\u00a0Thessalonians. He is not\u00a0trying\u00a0to flatter the\u00a0Thessalonians; he is thanking God for the signs of grace he sees in their lives, and he does it\u00a0publicly\u00a0in a letter.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" lang=\"en-US\"><strong>Imagine what church would look like if we thanked God for one another\u00a0consistently (Night and Day) and then told each other how we are thankful for God\u00a0working\u00a0in each others lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Paul&#8217;s Prayer<\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" lang=\"en-US\"><sup>11\u00a0<\/sup>Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus <strong>clear the way<\/strong> for us to come to you.\u00a0<sup>12\u00a0<\/sup>May the Lord <strong>make your love increase<\/strong> and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.\u00a0<sup>13\u00a0<\/sup>May he <strong>strengthen your hearts<\/strong> so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. \u00a01 Thessalonians 3:9\u201313 (NIV)<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en-US\">Paul&#8217;s prayers are the manifestations of a desire to come and actually serve the Thessalonians. He is\u00a0asking\u00a0God to clear a way so he can physically be with them, and based on verse 10, &#8220;supply what is\u00a0lacking\u00a0in\u00a0their\u00a0faith.&#8221; Paul&#8217;s prayer is leading to actual service. D.A Carson put&#8217;s it this way:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p lang=\"en-US\">Prayer is not a substitute for Christian service, it is part of it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p lang=\"en-US\">Paul also prays that the Lord would make\u00a0their\u00a0love increase and overflow for each other. Paul is encouraged by\u00a0their\u00a0growth, and he prays for even more. In a culture where you normally show appreciation for those who can help you, Paul is\u00a0praying\u00a0that they love each other and others with the same love and affection\u00a0Paul\u00a0is showing them.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en-US\">Lastly, Paul prays that God may &#8220;strengthen\u00a0your hearts&#8221; so\u00a0that\u00a0their\u00a0allegiance\u00a0to Christ would continue to grow deeper and deeper into the very core of\u00a0their\u00a0being,\u00a0their\u00a0control center, their hearts. This will change people from the inside and result in their being holy and blameless in the presence of the Lord when Jesus returns.<\/p>\n<h2>Paul&#8217;s Prayer Reveals His Passion<\/h2>\n<p lang=\"en-US\">Paul is\u00a0passionate\u00a0about people. He&#8217;s passionate about\u00a0thanking\u00a0God for\u00a0working\u00a0in peoples lives, passionate\u00a0about\u00a0praying\u00a0in a way that leads to\u00a0actual\u00a0service, and passionate about people being\u00a0strengthened\u00a0in their faith and their love for one another so that they may one day stand before God changed because of the person and work of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en-US\"><strong>Paul is\u00a0passionate\u00a0about people, and his prayers reveal it. How do your prayers reveal your passions, and how can we we grow in our passion for people like the Apostle Paul?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you read the first post\u00a0(Praying like an Apostle: Framework and Content), let me followup by asking you a few questions. Signs of Grace &#8211; Did you see your friends and family grow in love, faith, or\u00a0perseverance\u00a0such that it caused you to go to prayer and thank God? God&#8217;s Justice &#8211; How does mediating on&#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/praying-like-an-apostle-a-passion-for-people\/\">read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[4499,117],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Praying Like an Apostle, Part 2: A Passion for People - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/praying-like-an-apostle-a-passion-for-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Praying Like an Apostle, Part 2: A Passion for People - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you read the first post\u00a0(Praying like an Apostle: Framework and Content), let me followup by asking you a few questions. Signs of Grace &#8211; Did you see your friends and family grow in love, faith, or\u00a0perseverance\u00a0such that it caused you to go to prayer and thank God? 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They have two children, Sawyer and Mackenna who absolutely love children\u2019s ministries, mostly because of the singing and snacks. 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