The passage
      v6. At this point in his letter, Paul begins a new section. He speaks of the arrival of Timothy and of Timothy's positive news concerning the Thessalonian church. Paul makes three points: i] the church members continue in faith; ii] they continue in love one toward another; iii] they continue to hold a positive view toward Paul.
      v7-8. Paul goes on to express how he is uplifted by this good news. In the midst of his troubles, this positive news gives him renewed strength.
      v9. Paul rejoices at what has happened, but it is a joy which is focused on God. The Lord has done his work and Paul is driven to respond in thanksgiving.
      v10. This joy prompts Paul to pray for the church. "Night and day" he does this. That is, he continues in prayer for them, constantly bringing them before the Lord. He asks that he might again see them to "supply what is lacking in (their) faith." He desires to exercise a continuing ministry with them, remedying any defects that may still exist in their Christian life.
      v11. First, Paul prays that God will "clear the way" for him to come and minister to the Thessalonians. Paul is asking God to clear away the obstacles that frustrate his ministry toward this new church.
      v12. He prays that they may love one another. This is the great command of Christ for his disciples and as such is clearly a prayer according to the will of God. Paul prays that their compassion for each other will increase, and not just for each other, but for the wider Christian fellowship.
      v13. In concluding his prayer, Paul prays that the Thessalonians may stand firm in their Christian lives right up to the coming of Jesus. Again, this is a prayer according to the will of God. It is similar to the Lord's Prayer where we ask that we not be put to the test such that we are overcome by the Evil One. Paul asks that they remain faithful in Christ until the last day.

A Three Point Prayer
      I remember as a young child I got into trouble from my mother. My punishment was to have no bonfire night and no firecrackers. I was heartbroken. So what I did was to turn on the radio and listen to a church service on Sunday morning; and did I pray! Yes! my mother relented. So did God make her relent, or did she give in because she saw I was heartbroken? The truth is, mum was a softie.
      It's not that God doesn't care for a little bloke and his firecrackers, it's just that God has never promised to overrule parental discipline, nor overrule all the other nasties we face in life. The trick with prayer is to extract from the scriptures those things God has promised to give us when we ask. In our passage for study, the apostle Paul gives us three prayer points. Although he prays these things for the Thessalonian church, they are based on promises that apply to all of us.

1. May gospel ministry be furthered in our church
      When we pray that Word-centered ministry be effective in our church for the building up of God's people and reaching out to the lost, we are praying according to the will of God. If we don't pray the prayer nothing much will happen, but if we do pray for effective ministry in our church then we will see the Spirit work to affect that ministry. Consider how preaching is often criticized by church members, yet have those who criticize the preached word prayed for a ministry of proclamation? In the end, the effectiveness of a preached word rests, to a great extent, on those who hear it. God speaks to those who want to hear. For those who have grown dull of hearing, the word will be foolish and boring.

2. May we grow in love
      It's quite clear that Christian love is something that cannot be worked up, performed, practiced....... How can there be love in our church? We can talk about it all day long and never achieve it. We are all too twisted to be able to love each other. Past and present hurts, personality differences, race, social status..... all separate us. Yet, Christ's character of love is freely available, and when accessed, changes us from within. True love, the very loving nature of God, is a gift of God, a gift given on request.

3. May we persevere
      Can we be assured of standing firm to the last day, or is there a possibility that we might lose our salvation? Left to our own devices we have no hope. Yet, all we need to do is look to Jesus, and no failing, weakness..... will cast us from him. If our trust is in Jesus, we are secure. In the last day we will stand blameless and holy before our God. We need only ask and we will stand. This is not to say that we can't walk away from Jesus, just that he won't walk away from us, not matter how deep the stains of our sins.

v8
      oJti nun zwmen "now we really live" - because now we live. Paul is heartened by the news.
      sthkete (sthkw) pres. "standing firm" - stand. This form of the root "stand" carries the sense "stand firm"

v9
      antapodounai (antapodidwmi) aor. inf. "in return" - to return, to recompense. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "we are able"; lit. "for what thanks are we able to give back to God?" Wuest. The positive response of the Thessalonians motivates Paul to respond in thanksgiving (as if a repayment to God for the blessing). "What sufficient thanks can we repay?" Lightfoot.

v10
      deomenoi (deomai) pres. pas. part. "we pray" - asking. Temporal participle. The second part of the passage is in the form of a prayer for the church. Paul prays for the Thessalonians, letting them know the content of the prayer. The passage therefore becomes a word of encouragement to them. Such prayers are extremely important. Much of our praying is not according to the will of God. That is, we ask God to act on our behalf, or on the behalf of others, without ascertaining whether we have the authority to do so. We do have the authority to call on God to act in accordance with his will, but we don't have the authority to call on him to act in accordance with our will. It is very useful therefore, to note the content of Bible prayers, for they reveal to us those things we may rightly ask of God in the sure knowledge he will act in accordance with his will.
      ta uJsterhmata (a) "what is lacking" - Obviously refers to deficiencies in spiritual things.

v11
      Note that this small verse links the Father and Jesus in a way which gives both equality in deity. It is not a trinitarian definition, but it does give both the Father and the Son a position of equality in answering a prayer related to the sovereign will of God.
      kateuqunai (kateuqunw) aor. opt. "clear the way" - may he keep straight, guide, prosper. Most likely Paul has in mind the opposition of the powers of darkness which work to frustrate the ministry of the gospel. These powers were only recently operative in the Jewish residents at Thessalonica. It is a prayer to restrain the Evil One, to hold him at bay. It would be very easy to see it as a request to alter circumstances and so enable Paul to make another visit, or even to remove any difficulties that may hinder his return. Such a request would end up a Father Christmas type prayer. The Lord will provide us with all the resources we need to minister the gospel, and He will restrain the powers of evil that seek to resist the dawning of the kingdom, but he has never promised to make ministry easy or successful (as we view success).

v12
      th/ agaph/ (h) "love" - The nature of this love, cf.1:3, is a quality of care, of compassion toward another, apart from family ties, compatibility or sensual attraction. Leon Morris puts it this way. "It is love for humanity, quite apart from their worthiness or otherwise, a love which proceeds in the first place from the loving heart of God". It may seem strange that we could pray for a person's ability to love. God is unlikely to overrule a person's desire to love others, or to hate others. Yet, the quality of love that Paul has in mind is, in the end, an aspect of the nature of God. This Godlike quality is given as a gift of grace, when appropriated through faith. Here it is the prayer of faith which appropriates, for the Thessalonians, the gracious gift of godly love. This quality is "the love of Christ which compels (constraineth) us", a gift given to a believer who seeks it. It is interesting to note Moffatts comment "no form of holiness which sits loose to the endless obligations of love will stand the strain of this life, or the scrutiny of God's tribunal at the end." He probably goes a touch too far with this comment. Love is certainly an outworking of faith in Christ, a natural product of our association with Christ, but in the end, how loosely we handle the obligation, plays no part in how safely we stand at God's tribunal.
      eiV pantaV "for everyone else" - to all. It is interesting to note that Paul has extended the focus of love beyond "each other" (the Christian fellowship) to "everyone else". Christian love is usually reserved for believers, for the family of faith. The word is not often used of a believer's response toward unbelievers. Thus in first Peter 2:17, "Show proper respect to everyone, love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honour the king". The "everyone else" may be other believers beyond the Thessalonian fellowship. We cannot be sure. The issue here is not that we should fail to care for our fellow humans, but rather that our fullest commitment should be directed toward the "family of believers."