DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5| DAY 6| DAY 7| DAY 8| DAY 9
Thank You, Paul!
In Paul’s letters to the churches and Timothy he uses the words thank or thanks 38 times. He had a great affection for the people of the churches. He displays an attitude of gratitude towards the people who supported his ministry and prayed for him as he pursued God’s will for his life.
Paul’s gratitude welled up inside of him because of the relationship he had with Jesus. His gratitude was driven by a recognition of his own undeserved salvation given to him on a destructive road. He understood how God’s grace changed his life. He embraced the abundant life and was now planting spiritual seeds all over the known world.
In nine of his letters, Paul thanks God for the people entrusted to him. He thanks the Romans because of their global impact (Rom. 1:8). In the 1st letter to the Corinthians he thanks God for them because of the grace they were given by God (I Cor. 1:4). He thanked the Colossians for their faith and the love they had for all the saints (Col. 1:3). The Philippians were thanked by Paul for their partnership in the gospel (Phil. 1:3).
The Thessalonians were thanked five times in their two letters for . . .
1) their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness hope in the Lord . . . (I Thess. 1:2)
2) accepting the word of God and letting it work in them . . . (I Thess. 2:13)
3) for the joy he received from them . . . (I Thess. 3:9)
4) their growing faith and love for each other . . . (II Thess. 1:3)
5) being some of the first to embrace salvation “through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” (II Thess. 2:13)
What a church this must have been! People who worked hard standing firm in the gospel. People who walked in a growing faith and love for each other. People of joy who embraced salvation and walked in the Spirit.
So, are you praying for people and encouraging them in their walk with God as Paul did? Do they know? Every Wednesday night during this season we have used zoom for prayer meetings.
Several prayer needs are lifted up before the Lord, and after each one is prayed for I highlight the person’s name and need in yellow. Sometimes I will take a picture of the request highlighted on my screen and text it to the person we prayed for to let them know we love them and they have been lifted up. Usually, a few minutes after the text is seen, the person will text me back and say thank you. They’re thanking the prayer group for their faithfulness in remembering them. We need to be praying as the people God for the needs of those around us on a consistent basis. Lifting up both their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Paul modeled this for us as he led the churches that would transform the world. I believe if we focus on the discipline of prayer we can turn the world upside down too.
-Pastor Chuck Reed
