2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 11For this also we pray always for you, in order that our God might count you worthy of the calling and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, 12so that the name of our Lord Jesus might be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The general topic of Paul’s prayer begun in verse 3 concludes with these verses. He gives another reason for praying for the Thessalonians (the pronoun this is answered in the following purpose hina clause). The regularity of Paul’s prayers is emphasized with the word always. It was his regular habit to pray for this church. The goal of his prayers is given in four parts. God is the actor behind the verbs, meaning God is the one who can answer Paul’s prayers.
First, Paul asks God to see the Thessalonians as worthy of their calling. This statement is rather broad with many possibly meanings. The primary calling of all believers is to be found in Jesus Christ, to put our faith in him, and then to live out this faith in obedience shown through love and holiness. Our worthiness of this calling is not based on what we can do to earn it but on what God provides for us to live it out in faith and obedience. God promises and provides, but we must respond and receive. Based on the first letter, the Thessalonians should know about this broad call to love and holiness. God may have more specific callings for people. For the Thessalonians, their calling may have included being witnesses in a hostile culture where they were persecuted. Their worthiness in that sense would include not compromising in faith or behavior but maintaining their witness even if it meant suffering.
Second, Paul asks God to fulfill the Thessalonians’ desire for goodness. They may have wanted to be good and to do good but they needed God’s help with this. It is one thing to wish to do good and it is another thing to actually do good. The Holy Spirit is the source of goodness (Galatians 5:22) and will produce this fruit in those who crucify themselves in submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Paul was essentially asking God to do a powerful work of transformation within the Thessalonians to enable their desires to become action.
Third, Paul asks God to do a powerful work of faith in them. They had faith in Jesus Christ and has accepted the message of the gospel, but they needed this faith to grow. There is a beautiful cooperation implied in this statement between our faith and God’s power. God can grow and strengthen our faith. Our part is to trust and obey. The Holy Spirit nudges us along the path of righteousness, and as we respond in faith, we find ourselves growing stronger within our spirits. This is a reciprocal relationship of stretching and growing as God works deep within our beings.
Fourth, Paul prays that the name of Jesus might be glorified in them. A simple song has the words, “In my life, Lord, be glorified.” Jesus is glorified when our lives honor him in word, thought, and deed. We live to please him as disciples who follow his teachings. We become the extension of his light to the world. When people see us, do they see Jesus?
All of these outcomes can happen by grace. The source for this grace is our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Like other early Christian writers, Paul was not concerned about logically working out a doctrine of the Trinity but wrote from his experience of grace. The grace of God is experienced through fellowship with Christ. All grace is mediated through Christ as the word of love from God. The grace is sufficient for all of our needs because it comes from the one who creates and recreates. From the bottomless well of resource our prayers for spiritual growth will also be answered just like Paul’s for the Thessalonians.
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