“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
1 Thessalonians 2:1-13
You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure. You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition. So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.
For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know. And God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money! As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else.
As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children. We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.
Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you. You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers. And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.
Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.
How does Paul’s description of his ministry to the Thessalonians lead you to pray for ministry in your sphere of influence or for believers in Basque Country?
Here are some helpful ideas:
“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” -1 Thessalonians 1:4-5a
You can also use one of the videos below to help structure your time, or browse the other resources or prayer posts on this site.
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A song?
A verse?
A specific prayer?
Something else?
Vicky Hughes
Posted at 06:05h, 15 March1 Thess 2 is a wonderful passage to start on. Thank you I was focussed to think about how we are behaving in the home context as well as praying for the lifestyle examples of the team.
Since Saturday evening I have not left the topic of financial integrity in people with offices of government or business. Conviction of sinful gains and the shame and guilt keeping people shut away and secretive. May the Holy Spirit show them the way out to freedom and health.
The shepherd image lead me to remember that sheep always have a leader within the flock. Dear Shepherd call the leader to get her attention and she will bring others to you for you.
Stay strong God is with you.
Jaclyn Myers
Posted at 20:09h, 20 MarchI felt led to pray protection over these people from the enemy. I have no doubt the enemy will do everything in his power to try to keep these people from receiving Jesus. Also praying a hedge of protection over those who God has called to take the message of the Gospel to them.
I also felt a name heavy on my heart and the need to pray for a man named Rodney and for him as a potential leader in this. Also for his family.
Also felt I needed to spend time praying for these people to humble themselves and be humbled.
Janice Brazeau
Posted at 23:20h, 22 MarchThe Lord seemed to lead me to pray that when these dear people forgive Spain, they may be empowered to reach Spain for Christ.
That the “the first would come last, and the last, first.”