The Form of Paul's Prayer (1 Thess. 3:11a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/16/2014 9:56 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Form of Paul’s Prayer

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Thessalonians 3:11a

            Message of the verses:  “Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord.” 

        John MacArthur writes:  “Paul’s prayer took a distinctive form.  Rather than addressing God by the usual second person pronoun, Paul, including the Thessalonians in his petition, addressed Him by name in the first person—our God and Father.  Paul’s petition utilized the Greek optative mood, indicated in English by may, which expresses a wish.  That form of prayer was not Paul’s normal approach, but he did use it at other times (5:23; 2 Thess. 3:5, 16).  Use of the optative here allowed him to reiterate to the Thessalonians the sincere heart wishes he had concerning them.  Paul also directed this prayer to God, the Father and Jesus the Lord, expressing the desire that both the Father and Son might act to answer his longings.  Such linking’s of the Father and the Son are frequent in the epistles and emphasize equality in divine nature between God the Father and Jesus the Son.”  This is a very important fact to understand because the Bible clearly teaches that there is godhead and that godhead is made up of three persons, but that they are one in nature, yet three in persons:  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Can I explain this?  The answer is no, but that does not mean that it is not true.  I can’t explain a lot of things, but that does not make them any less true.  Those who do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God cannot believe the truth that Scripture teaches.  One of my favorite songs as a child, although I did not truly understand all the song taught or meant was “Holy, Holy, Holy, and the words go as follows:  

               “Holy, holy, holy!  Lord God Almighty!

               Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.

               Holy, holy, holy!  Merciful and mighty,

               God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

 

2.            Holy, holy, holy!  All the saints adore thee,

               casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;

               cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,

               which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

 

3.            Holy, holy, holy!  Though the darkness hide thee,

               though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,

               only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,

               perfect in power, in love and purity.

 

4.            Holy, holy, holy!  Lord God Almighty!

               All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth and sky and sea.

               Holy, holy, holy!  Merciful and mighty,

            God in three persons, blessed Trinity.

            MacArthur continues:  “The use of our before both God and Jesus underscores the relationship Paul and the Thessalonians enjoyed with both Persons of the Trinity.  God came down to be intimate with them as their gracious, loving, and forgiving Father, and Jesus ascended to heaven’s throne to be their sovereign Lord. 

            “That Himself (autos) is singular and in the emphatic position in the Greek word order provide further insight into the nature of the Godhead.  Literally, verse 11 reads, ‘Now may Himself, our God and Father and Jesus our Lord, direct our way to you.’  The use of the singular pronoun (Himself) and the singular verb (direct) with the plural subject (our God and Father…and Jesus our Lord) emphasizes again the unmistakable unity of the Father and the Son in the Godhead.

            “That grammatical consideration helps explain why Paul’s pray could assume the deity of Jesus and address Him equally with the divine Father.  The Father and Son are equally sovereign and perfectly agree in their prayers to either or to both (cf. Job 8:5; Pss. 5:2; 143:1; John 16:23-24; Acts 7:59; 1 John 5:14).  Romans 8:27 indicates that the Holy Spirit is also in perfect agreement: ‘He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.’”

            I must apologize for making so much of this SD being quotes from John MacArthur, but after reading what he had to say about this half of verse eleven I knew that I could not do justice to it without using his expertise. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am so very happy and blessed that God has opened my eyes to understand the truth of the Trinity, knowing that all there persons are equal, for this is a truth from the Word of God that must be believed, but cannot be believed without the help of the Spirit of God opening my eyes to understand it.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to see me through a situation today that causes me to be nervous about.  By His grace and mercy I will accomplish this task and also test that God has given me to accomplish.

Memory verse for the week:  Philippians 2:5

Have the attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Esau” (genesis 25:32).

Today’s Bible question:  “In the story of the good Samaritian, where was the man going who fell among thieves?”

Answer in our next SD.

5/16/2014 10:31 AM