1 Thessalonians 3:11 - Meaning and Application

In these words we see the apostle’s earnest prayer. He wanted to keep helping the Thessalonians, and since he was far away, he could do that only by praying for them and writing to them. He wanted their faith to be made complete, but he could not be the one who gave or controlled that faith. He did not claim lordship over their faith, so he ends with prayer.

Notice who he prays to: God and Christ. Prayer is an act of worship, and worship belongs to God alone. Here he prays to God, the Father and our Father, and also to Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ. This shows that Jesus Christ our Lord is God, just as God the Father is God. We are to pray to God as our Father, as Jesus taught his disciples, and as the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit who makes believers God’s children, leads us to cry, “Abba, Father.” Prayer is not only made in Christ’s name, it is also offered to Christ himself as our Lord and Savior.

He asks for two kinds of blessing, one for himself and his fellow workers, and one for the Thessalonians. First, he prays that he and his coworkers may have a successful journey to them by God’s will, as in (1 Thessalonians 3:11). A trip may seem like something that depends on our own choice and ability, but Paul knew better. He knew that in God we live, move, and have our being, and that we depend on God for all our actions as well as for life itself. God’s providence, his loving rule over all things, orders our affairs and gives success to what we do. The Father directs his children where to go and what to do, and the Lord Jesus Christ especially directs the movements of his faithful ministers, those stars he holds in his right hand. So let us acknowledge God in all our ways, and he will direct our paths.

Second, he prays for the spiritual good of the Thessalonians. Whether or not he can visit them, he still earnestly asks God to prosper their souls. He wants two things for them, and these are things we should want for ourselves and our friends: that they may grow in love, and that they may be made firm in holiness.

He prays that they may increase and overflow in love, both for one another and for all people (1 Thessalonians 3:12). All Christians are called to this. We should not only love fellow believers, but also have a kind and caring concern for everyone. Love comes from God, and it fulfills the gospel as well as the law. Timothy had brought good news about their faith, but Paul still saw room for growth. Their love was also real, but he prays that it may increase and abound. We should want to grow in every grace, and we need the Spirit’s help to do it. Prayer is the way to seek that help. We should thank God not only for the grace first given to us, but also for its growth. Yet prayer must be joined with effort. To encourage this love in the Thessalonians, Paul again points to his own deep love for them. The more we are loved, the more loving we should be.

He also prays that their hearts may be established in holiness, and that they may be found blameless before God at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 3:13). This fruit of love shows that growing in grace, especially in love, makes us steadier and stronger in holiness. Holiness is required of everyone who hopes to enter heaven, and in that holiness we must be blameless. That means our lives should not contradict, even in the smallest way, the holy profession we make. We should want our hearts fixed in holiness before God, and kept safe until the Lord Jesus comes. Then we should be found blameless before God the Father and presented without fault before the throne of his glory.

The Lord Jesus will surely come, and he will come in glory. When he comes, his saints, his holy people, will come with him and appear with him in glory. Then the beauty and the necessity of holiness will be clear. Without holiness, no heart will be made firm at that day, and no one will be blameless or escape everlasting condemnation.