Rumor has it that I made a break for it the first time my mom took me to big church. My escape route beneath the pews led me straight into the arms of a smiling usher who took me back to my mom. One boy did not heed his father’s warnings and so was being taken out of church when he cried over his father’s shoulder to the congregation: “Pray for me!”
We all need prayer, don’t we? I have a network of prayer partners who tell me their requests and ask for mine. Paul, too, asked for prayer. What did this first century pastor need? Was it material or relational or physical? No. Paul desperately wanted the message of the Lord to spread rapidly. He also asked that he would be delivered from those who opposed him. Now listen to his confidence: The Lord is faithful. He will protect you. Paul’s confidence extended to the Thessalonians: We have confidence in the Lord that you will do the right things. God will give you his love and Christ’s perseverance. Who has more staying power than Jesus? What if it belonged to us?
It is always good to pray for one another. We should also speak words of confidence. I remember a Sunday School Teacher named Ann Coxwell who said to me as she and her family moved back to the United States from Germany, “I will hear good things about you.” She may have said it to every person in line. But I took it as a divine encouragement and empowerment of my soul. If Ann thought I would do well, then I needed to do well, and I would do well. The jury is not yet in, but she sent me in the right direction!