To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (1:11–12)

Among the more unusual religious movements in the world are the cargo cults of the South Pacific. Though their origins date back to the nineteenth century, they experienced an upsurge in popularity during World War II. As part of their island-hopping campaign against the Japanese forces, the Americans often used remote islands as supply depots and air bases. The dazzling array of modern technological devices they brought with them, such as airplanes, jeeps, modern weapons, refrigerators, radios, power tools, even cigarette lighters that magically produced fire, appeared supernatural to the islanders. As a result, some of them concluded that the white men must be gods who flew in out of the sky bearing all these amazing things.

Eventually, the island bases were abandoned as the fighting drew ever closer to the Japanese home islands. But the tribesmen found their way of life permanently changed by their exposure to the “cargo gods”

and the materialistic bounty they brought. They built shrines to the cargo gods, often weaving perfect replicas of planes, control towers, and hangers, and venerated such holy relics as cigarette lighters, cameras, eyeglasses, pens, and nuts and bolts. Vainly hoping to bring back the cargo gods, their chiefs “utter[ed] ‘magic’ phrases, such as ‘Roger … over and out … you have landing clearance … come in’” (Ted Daniels, “John Frum: Cargo and Catastrophe” [http://www.channel1.com/mpr/current/63-frum.html], vol. 3, no. 6, Oct. 1997). The cargo cults still thrive to this day, the best known one being the John Frum (possibly John “Frum” America) cult headquartered on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides). Followers of the cargo cults are so passionately consumed with materialism that missionaries find it difficult to evangelize them; they are interested in cargo, not the gospel.

Incredibly, the cargo cults find a parallel in contemporary Christianity, in the movement variously known as Word/Faith, Positive Confession, Name It and Claim It, and the Prosperity or Health and Wealth gospel. The Word Faith movement is in effect a Western cargo cult, teaching that God delivers tangible, consumable products on demand. Its proponents unabashedly teach that prayer is a means of self-gratification; a tool for getting houses, cars, clothes, and other cargo. The god of the Word Faith movement is little more than a utilitarian genie who exists to grant the materialistic wishes of his followers.

Though they may not go to the extremes of the cargo cults or the Word Faith movement, Christians can still pray for the wrong things. Their prayers are too often shallow, shortsighted, misdirected, and, frankly, selfish. They pray for health, wealth, happiness, comfort, success, a house, a job, a wife or husband, a promotion, or a raise. While those things are not necessarily wrong, they were not high on either Jesus’ (Matt. 6:25–34) or Paul’s (Phil. 4:11–12, 19) priority list. The problem of praying for the wrong things is compounded when believers pray for the wrong reason. James warned: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3).

The essence of prayer is not demanding things from God but listening to discern His will. The deeper believers’ prayer lives become, the more they line up with God’s will as revealed in Scripture, the less inclined they are to ask for trivial things. As they learn to desire what He desires, love what He loves, and hate what He hates, they pray, “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:9–10).

Verses 11 and 12 do not record one of the many prayers that mark Paul’s epistles, but rather are a general report of how he habitually prayed. The passage shows that he prayed for the right things with the right motives. It also reveals that for Paul prayer was not a ritual or a routine but a way of life. Beneath the surface of his teaching, preaching, planning, writing, working, exhorting, discipling, traveling, and suffering was the deeper level of Paul’s spiritual life. Those external activities demanded his constant attention, but at the same time, he was in unbroken communion with God. Paul’s example demonstrates that prayer is the unending preoccupation of those who know God intimately.

The apostle’s spiritual life could be likened to a volcano. Beneath the thin outer crust of his life was a burning, passionate heart for God. Frequently, the volcanic heat of his heart would cause prayer to burst through the veneer of routine, surface activities. This passage describes those eruptions; these two verses reveal the passionate heart of a man on fire for God.

This brief section on prayer follows logically Paul’s discussion of Christ’s return in verses 5–10. The Second Coming is not only the believer’s future hope but also has practical implications in the present. Peter illustrated this principle in 2 Peter 3 when he followed an eschatological discussion (vv. 3–10) with exhortations to practical living: “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness…. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless” (vv. 11, 14). The apostle John reminded believers in 1 John 3:3 that “everyone who has this hope [the Second Coming; v. 2] fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” Hope in Christ’s return affects not only our understanding of the future but also our present living.

Three important features emerge from Paul’s brief prayer report: the resource of prayer, the requests Paul made for the Thessalonians, and the reason or goal of his prayers for them.

THE RESOURCE

To this end also we pray for you always, (1:11a)

Paul understood that one of the primary responsibilities of a faithful pastor is to pray for his flock always and thereby reach into the divine resource of God’s power and purpose (Acts 6:4). Though the time a pastor can spend teaching his people is limited to meetings, he can pray for them constantly. The end or goal of the apostle’s prayers for believers was their spiritual growth. His prayers were therefore not aimless, not couched in meaningless generalities, but direct and to the point. Not surprisingly, this kind of prayer permeates Paul’s epistles (cf. Rom. 1:9–10; 2 Cor. 13:7, 9; Eph. 1:15–17; 3:14–21; Phil. 1:4, 9–11; Col. 1:3, 9–11; 1 Thess. 1:2; 3:10, 11–13; 5:23; 2 Tim. 1:3; Philem. 4, 6).

Paul petitioned the Lord for his people’s maturity because he understood that sanctification, like justification, comes only through God’s sovereign grace, though not apart from human obedience. So his epistles are also filled with specific commands, prohibitions, and exhortations. God’s sovereign purposes, prayer, and obedience are all necessary elements of sanctification. That apparent paradox introduces the deeper issue of the relationship between prayer and the sovereignty of God.

The basic question is this: If God sovereignly controls everything that happens, why pray? This question is similar to others that inevitably arise when the infinite God interacts with finite human beings. For instance, God inspired every word of the Bible (2 Tim. 3:16). Yet He did not dictate it (as the Koran was supposedly dictated to Mohammed), but used the personalities, life experiences, and vocabulary of the human authors of Scripture. The Bible was written by “men moved by the Holy Spirit [who] spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:21). The finite human mind also finds it difficult to comprehend that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man; both “our God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1; cf. Titus 2:13) and “the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).

A strong, confident, biblical view of the sovereignty of God does not preclude prayer. Any theological perspective that holds otherwise is simply bad theology. And any view that strips believers of the passion to pray is disobedient Christianity.

The Bible strongly affirms God’s absolute sovereignty. Humbled by God’s rebuke, Job declared, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). In one of the clearest, most direct statements of God’s sovereignty anywhere in Scripture, David wrote, “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all” (Ps. 103:19). Proverbs 16:33 notes that “the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” In Isaiah 46:9–11 God declared,

The Lord Jesus Christ, Paul wrote to Timothy, “is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15; cf. Pss. 22:28; 47:2, 7; 95:3; Dan. 7:13–14; Mal. 1:14; Matt. 28:18; Rev. 17:14; 19:16).

But the Bible also teaches that God’s sovereignty does not negate human responsibility. Acknowledging their sin in demanding a king, the people of Israel begged Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king” (1 Sam. 12:19). Calming their fears, “Samuel said to the people, ‘Do not fear…. For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself’” (vv. 20, 22). Samuel reassured the frightened people that God would not forsake them because of His sovereign plan for the nation. But Samuel went on to say, “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way” (v. 23). Though he understood that God’s sovereign choice of Israel was irrevocable (cf. Rom. 11:29), Samuel nevertheless acknowledged his responsibility to pray for the people and instruct them in divine truth. His prayers not only expressed Samuel’s affirmation of God’s will but also became part of the instrumentality by which God effected His sovereign plan.

Daniel understood from Jeremiah’s prophecy that the Babylonian Captivity would last seventy years (Dan. 9:2). Yet that did not deter him from praying eloquently for God to restore Israel from captivity (Dan. 9:3–19). Daniel’s prayer expressed the cry of his heart for God’s will to be done (cf. Matt. 6:10). Knowing that God sovereignly chose those who will be saved (Rom. 9:16, 18, 24) did not stop Paul from crying out, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation” (Rom. 10:1). In Luke 22:31 Jesus warned Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat.” Though the Lord knew it was impossible for Peter to lose his salvation, He nevertheless told him, “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” (v. 32). If Jesus, the sovereign God in human flesh, prayed that God’s sovereign plan would come about, how can believers do any less? A final illustration comes from the last chapter of the Bible. Though the return of Jesus Christ is promised by God and is a major theme in Revelation, John nevertheless cried out, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).

Not only does prayer align the heart with the sovereign plan of God, but God also works prayer into bringing about His plan, as James says: “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16). This is parallel to God’s electing a person to salvation but using someone’s faithful witness to bring about that salvation. A striking demonstration of the interaction between prayer and God’s sovereignty comes from the life of godly King Hezekiah of Judah. After being informed by Isaiah the prophet that he would die from his illness (2 Kings 20:1), Hezekiah pleaded with God to spare his life (vv. 2–3). In response, God extended the king’s life by fifteen years (vv. 4–6). Though it was not necessarily beneficial to the king, God fit it perfectly into His purpose (vv. 12–17). That incident demonstrates that a proper understanding of God’s sovereignty does not lead to passive resignation but to active petition, which God may choose to hear and change the course of events, without altering His sovereign purpose. Indeed, the amazing, incomprehensible reality of such providence is that it was God’s will all along.

THE REQUESTS

that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, (1:11b-d)

Knowing that prayer fits in harmoniously with God’s sovereign will to bring about the spiritual ends He desires, Paul listed three specific requests he made on behalf of the Thessalonians: worthiness, fulfillment, and power.

WORTHINESS

that our God will count you worthy of your calling, (1:116)

This comprehensive request encompasses the entire spectrum of Christian character. Paul prayed that God would enable the Thessalonians to honor the name of Christ. The intimate phrase our God reminds his readers that God is not a distant, indifferent tyrant, but a tender, caring Father. Axioō (count … worthy) can also be translated “make worthy.” Either sense is appropriate here, for God makes worthy those whom He counts worthy. As is always the case in the New Testament epistles, the calling in view here is the irresistible call that infallibly results in salvation (cf. 2:14; Rom. 1:6, 7; 8:28, 30; 9:24; 11:29; 1 Cor. 1:2, 9, 24, 26; 7:17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24; Gal. 1:6, 15; 5:8; Eph. 1:18; 4:1, 4; Col. 3:15; 1 Thess. 2:12; 4:7; 5:24; 1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 3:1; 9:15; James 2:7; 1 Peter 1:15; 2:9, 21; 3:9; 5:10; 2 Peter 1:3, 10; Jude 1). Theologians refer to it as the effectual or saving call, as opposed to the general call which is the open invitation to salvation (cf. Matt. 22:14). Jesus referred to it when He said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). God’s effectual call activates in time His election of the redeemed in eternity; He “called us with a holy calling … according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity” (2 Tim. 1:9).

God takes sinners, worthy only of death (Rom. 1:32), and makes them worthy of His kingdom by imputing Christ’s righteousness to them (2 Cor. 5:21). But Paul prayed that the Thessalonians would also prove worthy in practice through Holy Spirit sanctification, that they would “walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls [them] into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:12; cf. Eph. 4:1; Col. 1:10). As they become more like Jesus Christ, Christians become more deserving to bear His name. One important way God makes believers more worthy of their calling is through suffering (1:5).

As is sadly the case in every church, some in the Thessalonian congregation were not walking worthy. Paul rebuked them in chapter 3 of this epistle:

They were like the Jews of whom Paul wrote, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Rom. 2:24). Though made eternally worthy by Christ’s imputed righteousness, their disobedient lives made them unworthy to be called Christians.

The Bible lists several components of the worthy walk. A worthy walk is a walk in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:4; Gal. 5:16, 25), humility (Eph. 4:2), purity (Rom. 13:13; Eph. 5:3), contentment (1 Cor. 7:17), faith (2 Cor. 5:7), righteousness (Eph. 2:10), unity (Eph. 4:3; Phil. 1:27), gentleness (Eph. 4:2), patience (Col. 1:11), love (Eph. 5:2), joy (Col. 1:11), thankfulness (Col. 1:12), light (Eph. 5:8–9), knowledge (Col. 1:10), wisdom (Eph. 5:15), truth (3 John 3, 4), and fruitfulness (Col. 1:10). In short, “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6), because that pleases God (1 Thess. 4:1). Paul prayed that God would enable them to manifest the spiritual virtues that would make them worthy to be called Christians.

FULFILLMENT

and fulfill every desire for goodness (1:11c)

Paul also prayed that God would fulfill every noble, righteous desire of their hearts. Plēroō (fulfill) could also be translated “complete,” or “accomplish”; eudokia (desire) could be translated “purpose,” or “choice.” Paul asked that the Lord would bring about all their longings for goodness (cf. Rom. 7:14–25; 15:14; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 5:9). Since God alone is good (Mark 10:18), Paul knew such a prayer was consistent with God’s will. His definition of what is good and good for His people is the inevitable action He takes in answer to this prayer.

In Psalm 21:2–3 David wrote, “You have given him his heart’s desire, and You have not withheld the request of his lips. For You meet him with the blessings of good things; You set a crown of fine gold on his head.” God gave David what he asked for because He saw that it was good. Reinforcing that principle, David wrote in Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Because those who delight in God desire what He desires, He will grant their requests. Those who make God’s agenda their own can exclaim confidently with David, “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me” (Ps. 138:8). The Lord Jesus Christ promised, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7; cf. v. 16), while John wrote, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:14–15). In contrast, James warns those with selfish agendas, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3).

Far from being a cosmic killjoy, God is generous and gracious. In Psalm 107:9 the psalmist wrote that God “has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.” In the same way David exulted, “You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing” (Ps. 145:16; cf. 104:28), while Isaiah added, “The Lord longs to be gracious to you” (Isa. 30:18). Those whose desires are in tune with God’s will can say with Moses, “O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days” (Ps. 90:14).

POWER

and the work of faith with power, (1:11d)

The verb “fulfill” in the preceding phrase also governs this phrase. Paul’s final request for the Thessalonians was that God would complete the work of faith He had begun in them (1 Thess. 1:3) with power. No one taught more clearly than Paul the glorious truth that salvation is by faith alone, entirely apart from human works (cf. Rom. 3:20–30; 4:4–5; 5:1; Gal. 2:16; 3:8, 11–14, 24; Phil. 3:9). But Paul also knew that genuine saving faith works inevitably to produce spiritual fruit (cf. Eph. 2:10; Titus 2:7, 14; 3:1, 8, 14)—a truth forcefully stated by James:

Paul knew the Thessalonians’ faith was genuine because it produced such works (1 Thess. 1:3; see the discussion of this verse in chapter 1 of this volume). Yet he wanted their work of faith to increase in power, so that there would be more righteous deeds. He sought for them what he wanted for the Philippians: that they would be “filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:11). That happens only through the filling of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 3:16; cf. Zech. 4:6) and the rich indwelling of the Word (Col. 3:16).

THE REASON

so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (1:12)

The ultimate purpose of Paul’s prayer was not for them, but for the name of our Lord Jesus to be glorified in their lives. The phrase the name of our Lord, reminiscent of the familiar Old Testament phrase “the name of the Lord” (cf. Gen. 4:26; Ex. 33:19; Deut. 5:11; Isa. 42:8), clearly and unequivocally identifies Jesus as Yahweh of the Old Testament. To glorify the name of the Lord means to honor and exalt all that He is.

To do so should be the deepest desire of His people. At the end of his magnificent prayer for Israel’s restoration from captivity, Daniel cried out, “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name” (Dan. 9:19). Daniel’s primary concern was not the misery of his people, but the reputation of his God. Paul’s concern was that those who bear the name of the Lord Jesus should honor it; that they “do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Jesus instructed believers, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). Paul described Titus and the men who accompanied him as “a glory to Christ” (2 Cor. 8:23).

When believers glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, they in turn will be glorified in Him. Paul has in view here both eternal glory and temporal honor. First Samuel 2:30 expresses this same spiritual principle: “The Lord declares … ‘Those who honor Me I will honor.’” In John 12:26 Jesus promised, “If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” Christ will honor those whose lives honor Him.

Paul closed the passage by reminding his readers that the ability to glorify Jesus Christ comes only through the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Like salvation itself, everything in the Christian life comes by grace—God’s unmerited favor (cf. Gal. 3:3). It is grammatically possible to translate this final phrase “our God and Lord Jesus Christ,” which would indicate Paul had only the Second Person of the Trinity in view. Both translations affirm Christ’s deity; He is either called God or put on an equal footing with the Father.

Praying for the right things is inseparably linked with holy living. The godly Puritan John Owen noted, “He who prays as he ought, will endeavor to live as he prays” (The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded [reprint; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977], 59). The dedication such prayer should engender in the believer’s life is illustrated by one of most fabled organizations in American history—the Pony Express: