¹ So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. ² We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, ³ so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we are destined for them. ⁴In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. ⁵ For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.

⁶ But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. ⁷Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. ⁸ For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. ⁹ How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? ¹⁰ Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.

¹¹ Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. ¹² May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. ¹³ May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

Reflection:
Paul’s epistle reads like a letter from a father to his beloved children, and indeed this is very much the case. Paul was a spiritual father to the Thessalonian Christians and it is evident in this letter that his heart was still with them and that he had a deep concern for their well being. From the passage we can imagine Paul longing to embrace his ‘children,’ he is oozing with affection for his church. In many ways his heart is torn for them because he had to leave the city prematurely because of opposition to the Gospel. So much so was his concern that though he was physically unable to visit his church, he sent Timothy to strengthen their faith. Like a father raising his children, Paul’s greatest joy was to see his spiritual children grow up strong in the Lord. And whatever the Thessalonians lacked in their faith Paul was moved into earnest prayer for them.

Response:
Paul was moved to pray for those he had been called to love. His hope and joy was to see the Thessalonian church grow in the Lord and he did this through prayer. In the same way, today may our joy come in praying for those God has called us to love. As we receive God’s heart in prayer, may those that we pray for grow in their faith or perhaps find faith for the first time in Jesus Christ. Let us pray that they would stand firm in the Lord and let us thank God for the joy that we experience as we take part in what God is doing in the lives of our friends and co-workers.