I was reading in 2 Thessalonians this week, finishing my trek through Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica. I was in chapter 3, just the beginning part of that chapter, and there is a really great phrase there in verse 3 that I just kept coming back to. There, Paul says, “But the Lord is faithful,”. I like this phrase a lot. It’s full of hope, and it’s full of promise. Of course, this is what I want us to look at this morning, and I’d love you to join me in 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5, “Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it was also with you; 2 and that we will be rescued from troublesome and evil people; for not all have the faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing, and will do, what we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the perseverance of Christ.” (NASB)
You’ll see in the first verse there, the first thing Paul does in this section of the letter is to ask for his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for him and we know from the beginning of the letter that the “us” Paul is talking about is also Silas and Timothy. They were ministering together and these words in this letter to the church were from all three ministers of God’s Word.
Why should 3 ministers, essentially pastors, make this request to the church for prayer? Well, there are plenty of reasons really, why any believer would desire the prayers of a brother or sister in Christ. But the thing about Paul’s tone here is that he is being sarcastic in some ways. It’s a genuine request for prayer, to be sure, Paul genuinely does want the Word of God to be spread so that God would be glorified. But he’s reminding them in verse two that not all have faith. That also makes sense to us, doesn’t it? Not all have faith. But Paul wasn’t just talking about unbelievers there. Paul is also talking about even those who claim to know Christ, claim to be a disciple of Jesus, that not all of them have true faith. Not all of them will walk with the Lord as they should, not all of them will keep themselves from perversity and evil.
Knowing that, we go back to Paul’s request for prayer. He was asking for prayer, and at the same time, with hints of sarcasm, reminding the church in Thessalonica that it is the duty of those who have FAITH to pray for one another. Paul is emphasizing that people of faithfulness are praying people. People of the covenant God are praying people! If you are a person of faith…you pray. Paul in his sarcastic and slightly mocking way is saying that if you are not actively involved in the prayer of the faithful to see God’s Word spread and to see other believers strengthened, then you are not of the faith. It’s a bold claim, but Paul feels very strongly about prayer, as we see clearly throughout his letters. Prayer is the duty of those who have faith.
And Paul also adds that there really is no reason not to pray! Why? Because the Lord is faithful. There may be a whole world full of unbelievers, and there may even be those who say they have faith but really don’t, but the Lord is faithful. People’s lack of faith, or unfaithfulness, does not keep God from being faithful. We can read all the way through to Revelation and see very plainly that God will do what He says He is going to do! His faithfulness doesn’t hinge on our faithfulness.
I want to look at a few other passages this morning to look at the nature of God’s faithfulness, especially when it comes to our prayers. Let’s look at Ephesians 3:20, “God is able to do far more than we could ever ask for or imagine. He does everything by his power that is working in us.” (NIRV)
When we talk about the prayers of those who have faith, those who are called by Christ’s name, Ephesians tells us that God is fully ABLE to do even more than anything we can ask or imagine! He is able to do the impossible. There is nothing we should be afraid to ask God for, even if He might say “no”, because He is able to do all you ask.
Let’s hear Isaiah 65:24, “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” (NIV) I added italicized emphasis here because I want to show that God is EAGER to hear and answer our prayers. Before we even call on Him, He’s already working to answer. While the words are still coming out of our mouths, He hears us. He’s eager to hear the prayers of those who are called by His Name. Before we even think of turning to Him in prayer, He’s already heard us!
Finally, here’s Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (NASB) Some translations even say that He will tell you great and incomprehensible things. The point here is not only does God answer our prayers, but He is GENEROUS when He answers. There is a promise that He will tell us things that we do not know. I’m sure that varies, dependent on what we need to know in certain circumstances, but God is usually very generous in the ways that He answers prayers.
I just think of all the times that I’ve called out to Him, desperately pleading for something I really needed, and He not only showed up, but He showed up in tremendous ways that really blew me away! The Lord is faithful, and He has shown that He is fully able, eager, and generous to answer our prayers!
It may be surprising for you to find out, but there are actually some circumstances that may hinder prayer. I say, “may” because it’s not a certainty that these circumstances will hinder prayer because the Lord is faithful, but they may. There are a few things spoken about in Scripture that I want us to be aware of, especially because I think there is a misconception out there that God always answers a person’s prayers, regardless of the state of their heart. Scripture says that’s simply not true. He may not answer our prayers in some cases, not because He doesn’t want to, or isn’t able, but because we’re not able to receive His answer.
Does this mean that God is a cold, careless being, to not answer the prayers of people in need? No, not at all. As Paul would say, by no means! God hears all prayers, but if your heart isn’t yielded to Him in service, He’s not going to be able to move in your life to answer your prayers according to His will the way He’d like. Your own choices and heart condition may keep Him from doing as He needs because you are not living in His will. The problem is us, not Him. Let’s look at some of those heart circumstances.
Proverbs 15:29 says this, “The Lord is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous.” (NASB) This is likely the most obvious circumstance that may hinder prayer, if you harbor wickedness and unrepentant sin in your heart. Sin, unrepentant sin, wickedness, will always create a wall between you and God. Sin will keep you from being in His will and when you aren’t living in His will, it will not be possible for God to move in your life the way He desires because you aren’t letting Him and He won’t force you!
Jesus talked about another circumstance that may hinder prayer in Matthew 6:5-8, 15, “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8 So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 15 But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses.” (NASB)
In these verses, Jesus is talking about people with proud attitudes and unforgiving hearts. He calls such people hypocrites, and tells His disciples not to pray like such people. These proud and unforgiving attitudes may keep our prayers from being answered in way that is truly good for us.
James gives another circumstance that may hinder prayer. James 1:5-8, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (NASB)
James says that a doubting heart may hinder prayer. When you come to the Lord in prayer, knowing what we know about His character, that He is faithful, even when we aren’t, there is no reason to doubt that God will answer if you are walking with Him. He will answer, so don’t doubt that! You might not like the answer…but He will answer! Come to Him in full faith, remembering who you are praying to.
Jesus talks about another circumstance that may hinder prayer in Luke 11:5-13, and 18:1-8. This is Luke 18, “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not become discouraged, 2 saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect any person. 3 Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my opponent.’ 4 For a while he was unwilling; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect any person, 5 yet because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge *said; 7 now, will God not bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night, and will He delay long for them? 8 I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Luke 11 talks about the Father giving good gifts to His children as they persist in faith and prayer, and here we see that persistency is key! Now, God’s not going to answer our prayers just because He’s tired of hearing us belly-ache, and that’s not what this passage says. God is righteous, unlike the judge in this parable, and He brings about answers quickly. But, there are some prayers that require persistency on our behalf. It has nothing to do with God not hearing us the first time, and it has nothing to do with Him answering prayers slowly or partially. It has everything to do with our hearts, and oftentimes, the hearts of others, just taking longer to change! If you ever feel like God’s not answering, it’s not because He’s not listening, or not going to answer. It’s an invitation to press in more and pray persistently until He answers, to really rest in His presence and listen to His voice. He will answer, though we may have to wait some before we see it. Keep praying.
And finally, James pinpoints one more circumstance that may hinder prayer, in James 4:1-3, “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is the source not your pleasures that wage war in your body’s parts? 2 You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures.” (NASB)
Sometimes, asking with the wrong motives hinders prayer. James warns us against asking for what pleases us, rather than what pleases God. Our desire in prayer should be to always be within His will. Now, sometimes we pray for something that is not within His will, but our motives are right. We want healing for a family member, or guidance for a difficult situation, or we want to feel some burden relieved; our hearts are in the right place. That’s okay, as long as we are seeking to be in God’s will, He will work to change our hearts to align with His.
Going back to our passage this morning in Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul says in verse 4 that He has confidence that his brothers and sisters in Christ will continue to have faith, but His confidence isn’t placed in his brothers and sisters, but rather in the Lord. The Lord was the base for Paul’s confidence. Even if the church he was writing to fell away and left the faith and even if it seemed that God was taking far too long to answer his prayers, Paul remained confident in the Lord. How do you remain confident of the Lord’s faithfulness, despite unanswered prayers? I’m going to tell you: LOOK AT HIS PAST FAITHFULNESS!
Look at Exodus 16-17 to see how God answered Moses’s prayers faithfully. Look at 1 Samuel 1-2 to see how He answered Hannah’s prayers faithfully. Look at 1 Kings 3-4 to see how He answered Solomon’s prayers faithfully, even though Solomon would not be faithful to Him. Look at Acts 12 to see how Peter was freed from prison while his brothers and sisters were praying because the Lord is faithful. If you don’t already, I highly suggest you start keeping a faithfulness journal. Every time you notice God has faithfully answered a prayer, right it down. Then when you start to feel doubt, or get tired of waiting, you can look back and remember that the Lord is faithful. Always.
Think about the nature of prayer. Ponder this questions and ask them of God in your quiet times. Seek the wisdom of Scripture to guide you.
—What role does prayer play in the spiritual war against the Evil One?
—Won’t God do what He’s going to do whether we pray or not?
—Does prayer change God’s mind, or does it actually direct our hearts to desire His will?
—Does prayer change our outlook on circumstances, or the circumstances themselves?