There’s one final point in our study of Paul’s prayer recorded in 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12. He prayed that their walk would be counted worthy by God and that their work, the good purposes established and acted on by faith, might be fulfilled by God’s power.
Then he prayed this might all result in the Lord Jesus being glorified in us and we in Him. This is the essence of true worship, being so caught up in seeking His glory that somehow that glory enshrouds us. This no doubt is what caused the astonishment in Acts 4:13, where the disciples were seen as having been with Jesus. This might also be what took place in Acts 6:15 where, “All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” But as I pointed out in our last visit, if we seek the glory for ourselves this will not happen. We are here to bring glory to Jesus Christ.
Understanding this also helps us understand what Paul meant when he closed his prayer as follows, “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” If our walk, our work and our worship are what they should be it is only because of the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. If our lives are pleasing to God it’s because what we are and do is the result of God’s grace operating in us. He deserves all the glory. We studied this chapter by spreading, sorting and then structuring the material into an outline.
In our next visit we’ll summarize what we’ve learned into some practical applications.
