How to Pray When… Life is Going Great!
August 3, 2025
Preached by Ron Smith
Scripture Reading
1 Thessalonians 1:2-10
1 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
3:9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Are you ready for the “dolce vita?” That’ s an Italian phrase that means the sweet life. The good life. The life when everything is going great. Are you ready for that? I know that you are ready in the sense that you long for those kinds of days. If you are going through hard times right now, you are certainly ready for smooth sailing. But are you ready spiritually?
Maybe we should look at our prayer life to see how ready we are. In as much that our prayer life indicates our need for God it can be indicator of how ready we are spiritually. I mean, think about it. It is not difficult to remember the last prayer you uttered to God when facing some difficulty in your life. A prayer in the hospital room, a prayer about job security, a prayer for healing. But what about the time of prayer while you are sitting on the beach soaking in the sun? Perhaps a bit more difficult to remember.
I will go so far as to say that one of the biggest challenges to our faith is life going great. Somehow the success and good times of life blind us to our need of Jesus. We unknowingly enter into a test of faith when life is going great.
We get comfortable. We get complacent. We get bored. We get to the place where we just go through the motions of life. And slowly, our focus shifts from the Lord to the blessings he has given us. The bottom line is that our hearts are just simply prone to lose sight of our need for God to continue his work in our life when there is nothing going wrong. When we are going through the good times of life is perhaps when we need to pray the most.
How do we pray when life is going great? 1 Thessalonians can serve as a guide for us. This is one of the few letters that Paul is not addressing some problem that is going on in the church. It is quite opposite. Things are going great for the Christians at Thessalonica. They are thriving in their spiritual growth. They are demonstrating their faith to all around them. They are loving each other well. They eagerly wait for the return of Christ with great anticipation. They have been and are being shaped by the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in their life. Their thoughts, their actions, their words all reflect the beauty of Christ.
And so, Paul prays for them. He first remembers what God has done in changing their life and second, requests that God do even more. I think this simple way of praying can serve as a model for our prayers. Let’s look first at what Paul remembered about what God has done in changing their life.
Remembering what God has done in changing their life.
Look with me again at chapter 1 verses 2 and 3:
We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
In chapter 1 Paul emphasizes what God has done for the Thessalonians. He points out that they are loved by God, chosen by God. He mentions how the gospel came to them in the power of the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t just clever words that Paul used to try and persuade them to believe, it was the Holy Spirit doing his work in their life. This work of God in their life was evident in three ways that Paul highlights in verse three. He says that he remembers in his prayers their work of faith, their labor of love, and their steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus. Let’s briefly consider each of these three things that Paul remembers and how we might remember what God has done in our life.
Work of faith.
If you think about it, the words ‘work’ and ‘faith’ don’t belong together. They are opposite. The Bible teaches us that we are saved by grace through faith. It is not because of works that we are saved. We can do all the good things we want, but we can never do enough to be saved. It is only believing in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins that we can be saved. But the Bible also teaches us that true faith will produce good works. James says that faith without works is dead – it is useless. Faith needs to be active.
This makes total sense if you think about it. If I say that I love my wife, but I never show her love, do I really love her? The same thing with faith. If we say we believe Jesus, but never do anything the Bible says to do, do we really believe?
For the Thessalonians, their faith was proved by their work. They proved that they believed in Jesus by doing what Jesus commands. Their faith was proved by the way they lived their life.
Specifically, we see this in verse 9. Paul says, they turned from idols to serve the true and living God. This is a radical change in their life. Their life was once built around serving idols. They would go to temples, make sacrifices to these gods. They would buy certain food in the market. Their relationship with friends and family revolved around idol worship. Turning to God to serve him, would have brought changes to their entire life. Daily routines would change. They would not have gone to the temples any longer. They could have been kicked out of certain parts of society. Family could disown them.
Some of you may have experienced this yourself. You may have been serving some idol – not a physical idol, but an idol of your heart. It could have been sports. Everything in your life revolved around sports. Your weekly schedule could have been set up to give you more opportunity to watch the big games. Go and play whatever sport it was – basketball, golf, whatever. But becoming a Christian is life changing. Now your daily schedule is built around the Lord.
Serving the living and true God changed the life of the Thessalonians and it changes our lives. We are completely surrendered to him. To serve God, means that he is the one that is in charge. We are to do what he says. He is Lord of our life. We serve the true and living God!
How has your life been changed? Take time to remember what the Lord has done in you.
That is the work of faith.
Labor of Love.
The second thing Paul remembers about the Thessalonians is their labor of love. Labor and love are also words that don’t seem should go together. Labor has the idea of working hard, hardship, difficult. When we think about love, typically we think of positive things. Good feelings. Positive emotions. But if you truly love someone, you know that love can be hard. Consider God’s love.
Our love comes from him. He is love. He has loved us in a way that is hard to understand. His love involved the death of his son. His love came with much hardship. We were far away from God. No way to get to him. But motived by love, God made it possible to approach him through his son Jesus. Jesus in love took our sins. Jesus in love took the wrath and punishment we deserved. Jesus in love brings us near to God. He endured such suffering, such difficulty because he loved us. This is the labor of love.
Because of God’s love for us we can love others. His love serves as a model for us, that shows us how to love others. The Thessalonians excelled in loving others. Paul several times in the letter praises them for their love for one another. That is no small thing. Loving others is labor. Sometimes we don’t want to love others. We have to be patient. We have to put up with a lot of sin from others; being mistreated. But we look to God. He gives us the grace we need to love others well.
Lady in Italy – bad example. When we are loving well, it can make a big impact on those around us.
Take time to remember God’s love for you. Take time to remember how your love has been transformed by his love. Thank the Lord for those in the church who have loved you well. Maybe in remembering your labor of love, you realize that you haven’t loved well. Ask for forgiveness. Ask God to change your heart.
Steadfastness of hope.
Paul remembers their work of faith, labor of love, and now their steadfastness or endurance of hope. It is a steadfastness that comes from hope. In the Bible, hope is certain. It is confident. The reason why is because our hope is in Jesus. He never lets us down. He never fails. He always maintains his promises.
More specifically we could say it is the hope we have that he will one day return. Look at verses 9 and 10 of chapter 1.
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
This letter emphasizes the 2nd coming of Christ. It is a sure thing. And this hope of his return produces in us endurance. We need this.
Endurance is what keeps us going. What keeps Sefa and Sevda going in Turkey? From a human standpoint, what advantage do they have in continuing their ministry? It’s hard. In a country of over 85 million people, there are estimated only 10,000 believers. You could walk past 8500 people and only one of them be a believer (4 in America). On top of that there are constant threats from the authorities. They had to close a church they started because of political pressure and false accusations. Churches in general grow slowly. Average church size is probably only 25 people. What motivates them to keep going? To endure?
It's hope in Jesus that produces the steadfastness we need. Endurance allows us to stay focused on Jesus no matter what is happening around us. We know that what we are living through right now is only temporary. Something far better is coming. One day Jesus is going to make all things right. Oh, what a day that will be! Are we convinced of this?
No matter what you are facing, keep on going. Endure. Be steadfast. Let the hope of Jesus give you the power and strength you need. In the midst of sickness, in the midst of your life falling apart, in the midst of family problems, in the midst of close friends who continue to reject the gospel, in the midst of employers who want you to do dishonest things to help the company, endure. Remember the hope you have in Jesus. He is coming back.
Work of faith. Labor of love. Endurance of hope. This is what Paul remembers before the Lord. The Thessalonians had been transformed by God. They were doing well. So much so, that their faith had become known to all in Macedonia and Achaia. People were talking. Simple ordinary Christians having an impact.
What is it that we would like to remember that God has done in our life? Maybe it is the same three things. There could be a lot of overlap. But why not take time the next time you pray, to remember what he has done. Over lunch today, talk about it. In your next community group meeting make it a part of the prayer time. Remember what God has done in your life and also in the life of this church. I think we need to be proactive in this. And again, I do think it is sometimes more difficult when life is going great. It takes more effort. But let’s follow Paul’s example in this. May we never forget what the Lord has done.
So, Paul remembered their work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope. But he doesn’t stop there. He goes on to ask for God to do even more.
Requesting that God do even more.
Look again at chapter 3 verses 11 to 13.
9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
I find it interesting that as Paul mentions what he prays for the Thessalonians, he does not take time to note what they are weak in. He doesn’t say, “well, while you are doing well in faith, love, and hope, you are struggling in using your spiritual gifts; you aren’t parenting your kids well; you need more patience with one another.” That’s the kind of prayer I expect. It’s what I do in my own life. I identify what I am weak in with my walk with the Lord and try to correct it. Make some goals that will move me in that direction.
But perhaps the best thing we could do is focus on what is already strong. This is in effect what Paul does here with the Thessalonians. He simply prays that what they are already strong in, would be strengthened all the more.
This is an important lesson for us because we cannot ever stop growing even in the areas we are strong in. None of us have ‘arrived.’ We must never think that we don’t need improvement in our strengths. Comfort and complacency are enemies that are always crouching at the door of our heart waiting on an opportunity to pull us away from the Lord. And it is nearly undetectable. Comfort and complacency are not criminals coming at you with ski masks and guns. They are the faithful office workers who no one notices skimming some off the top, silently amassing a fortune while dooming the company to financial ruin. When we are too comfortable, we begin to coast. When we begin to coast we will eventually come to a standstill. When we come to a standstill we will begin to roll backwards.
It is in the moments when everything is going great, that we forget the Lord too easily. But those moments are when we need to press into the Lord all the more. So, Paul prays.
He prays that their faith would mature. – he wanted to come to them and supply what is lacking in their faith. This is a curious phrase. What would Paul’s role be in supplying what is lacking in their faith? Probably he simply means that he wanted to return to them and teach them more fully God’s word. He had limited time with the Thessalonians before he was run off by the authorities. He wanted to return to ground them further in the truth of God’s word. That is where our growth starts. It is in God’s word.
He also prays that they would increase and abound in love for one another. The very thing that he says they had no need for anyone to write them about, he wants them to increase and abound in.
And finally, he prays that their hope would be made surer as they are firmly established in holiness as they wait on the return of the Lord. Hope is not mentioned explicitly, but it is in the background. Notice the mention of Christ’ return. It has an impact on the life of the Christian. This hope produces endurance. It makes us established in holiness.
The Thessalonians needed to grow in their faith. They needed to increase and abound in their love for one another. They needed to be established in holiness because of the hope they have in Jesus. There is certainly a responsibility they have in walking in obedience to the Lord in all of these areas of their life.
But don’t miss the fact that in these verses, Paul is praying. He is praying to the Lord to do these things in the life of the Thessalonians. In the good times of life, we need to see our weakness in our strength. Our strength is fraught with weakness. When we see our weakness, we see his strength. We embrace our dependance on the Lord. Only he can cause faith, love, and hope to increase in our lives. Only he can ground us. Only he can supply everything we. As the prophet Zechariah says, it is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.
What are the strengths of Community that we need to bring to the Lord to ask him to do more of? I personally think, the sense of community that we have here is strong. Our love for one another is evident in so many ways. It’s not perfect. But overall, it is a strength. But recognize that it is fragile. It is also weak. Let’s pray that the Lord would cause us to grow in our sense of community as we love one another even more.
I encourage you to take time to identify strengths in your own life. Then ask the Lord to help you grow even more in those areas recognizing that he is the only one with the strength and power to make it happen. Remember what he has done in you and in those around you, and then ask him for more.
Sermon Discussion Questions:
What are the strengths of Community that we can remember before the Lord and ask him for more of?
What are the dangers to our faith of life going great that you have seen?
Justin Martyr was one of the early Christians who lived in the 2nd Century. He defended Christians against false accusations that were being made about them. He wrote a letter directly to the Roman Emperor (Antoninus Pius) to explain Christian practices. Listen to one thing he wrote in that letter that shows the transformation that Christians went through. “We who once reveled in impurities now cling to purity; we who devoted ourselves to the arts of magic now consecrate ourselves to the good and unbegotten God; we who loved above all else the ways of acquiring riches and possessions now hand over to a community fund what we possess, and share it with every needy person; we who hated and killed one another and would not share our hearth with those of another tribe because of their [different] customs, now, after the coming of Christ, live together with them, and pray for our enemies, and try to convince those who hate us unjustly.”
Can the same be said about Christians in America today? Why or why not?
How much do you think of the 2nd coming of Christ? Does it have an impact on your life?