II Thessalonians Chapter 3
Praying for each other and encouraging each other to grow in the faith is a common theme of Paul’s writings. God wants us to be there for each other as we walk through this life. We all need to know that God is working in the lives of people today. It is encouraging to hear when someone accepts the Lord or when someone testifies of an answered prayer. These things increase our faith and spur us to move forward in our own walk with Him.
Let's Reflect
1. Isn’t it interesting that Paul asked the brand new Christians of Thessalonica to pray for him and his team? Paul knew that praying for others was important to their growth in the Lord. What two things did Paul ask them to pray about?
2. What does Paul describe as the ingredients that every believer needs to have and keep developing to have confidence in their faith?
3. We also must recognize that there is evil in the world. We cannot ignore it and hope it goes away. Instead we need to strengthen our faith in the Lord and rely on Him to protect us from the evil, and to protect our loved ones from the evil of this world. The Christian who is not seeking to increase his faith in Christ is walking in ______________. This will make him susceptible to the evil in the world. Note – the word walking in verse 6 means that the person is doing so with purpose or intent.
4. Paul knew that being busy for the Lord and working with your hands was so important because it puts up a wall of protection around oneself so as not to let evil in. As if to say, “I don’t have time for that evil thought or that evil action because I'm busy learning about God and I’m busy working with my hands.” That’s why Paul said he worked day and night. He wanted to be a good what for the new believers? See verse 9.
5. A Christian who works with their hands will earn the respect of others. Paul encourages believers to do their work quietly and to do what?
6. Fellow believers who are not walking in obedience of the scriptures should be warned. The hope is always to restore that brother to a walk of faith in Jesus not to create an enemy of that person. Again, Paul is saying that we cannot just ignore evil and hope that it goes away. We must always deal with sin. What is the underlying emotion that must be present when warning a brother or sister that they are living in sin?
7. In the ending benediction of this letter, what does Paul pray, for all the believers? It is something that we all need!
