In 1 Thess 5, prayer is mentioned twice. First is in v17 where Paul says to pray without ceasing. The second is in v25 where Paul says, “Brethren pray for us.” When Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to pray unceasingly it’s not a direct request to pray for him and the fellow workers. Paul wanted the Thessalonians to lead a life of constant prayer for their own sakes, so they’d be preserved blameless for the second coming of Jesus. There are two other references to prayers in this epistle; it is Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonian believers.

1 Thess 1:2
Paul mentioned them in his prayers always in all thanksgiving.

1 Thess 3:10
When Paul told them to pray without ceasing, it’s like how he prayed for them night and day without ceasing. When Paul told them to give thanks in everything, he himself also constantly gave thanks for the Thessalonian believers.

1 Thess 1:2-4
In Paul’s prayer he remembered without ceasing what he once saw in the Thessalonians that he was thankful for.

This sermon will cover 2 sections:

1. Paul, the shepherd’s - prayer
   In the two verses that talk about Paul’s prayer, we can see a shepherd’s heart. A shepherd’s prayer and care for his sheep.

2. The sheep themselves
   Paul wanted his sheep - the Thessalonians to pray without ceasing.

Because he knows prayerful sheep will not sleep. Sometimes it’s dangerous to sleep, and now is the time it’s very dangerous to be spiritually asleep. So Paul wanted the Thessalonians believers to be awake and vigilant.

1. The shepherd’s prayer and concern

Whenever Paul mentions them in prayer, he would be giving thanks to God on their behalf. Many of our prayers are about supplications - asking for things. We ask people to pray for us because we need God’s intervention. We’re concerned for our loved ones so we ask God to take care of them. In this pandemic situation, ministers, exco members, pastoral members have been praying. Not generally but systematically on how to ease this situation. They list down specific matters to pray for; target groups to pray for (e.g. people who are staying alone, senior members, people who have lost their jobs, people in the frontline). They come up with a prayer list. They also have scheduled times of prayer - 8 and 10pm. But there is noticeably a lack of a circulated list of things to thank God for. Sometimes they check on the believers and when they say thank God the situation is better, it’s only on message we say ‘thank God’. But we don’t have a list of things we should thank God for as a church. While we do have a list we want to ask God for help. This is something we should learn from Paul; to look out for things to thank God for. Paul teaches us that when we pray, it must be one of thanksgiving. When we make our requests to God, it must also include thanksgiving. Paul even tells the Thessalonians to give thanks in EVERYTHING. Hopefully in our prayers, we give thanks to God too when He answers our prayers. Paul’s thankfulness stems from genuine concern.

v3 “remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labour of love, and patience of bike in our Lord Jesus Christ”

The Thessalonians church was a very new church so Paul was concerned whether their new found faith would give them hope in troubled times. When he found out they were still holding on to the faith, he was comforted and thankful to God.

v9 says they were new converts who had turned from idolatry.

1 Thess 1:9-2:2
Paul recounted how the Thessalonians came to believe in the true and living God from their pagan idol worshipping faith. Not too long ago in Acts 16, Paul responded to the Macedonian call, and preached to the Philippians. Over there he was jailed, but God allowed him to preach to the jailer and his family. After that, the authorities realised they had treated Paul unjustly and that he was a Roman citizen, so he begged him to leave. In the next chapter Acts 17, they went to Thessalonica and preached there. v5-9 tell us he was soon attacked again while preaching there. v10-15 He was forced to leave to preach at another place called Berea. v16ff After Berea, he went to Athens. At Athens, he suddenly felt a deep longing for the Thessalonian believers. What did he do?

1 Thess 3:1-2
When Timothy came back with good news, Paul and his other shepherds were greatly comforted. In v6-8, Paul talks about how in the midst of his and his fellow workers’ affliction and distress, they were comforted by the faith of the Thessalonians. v8 “For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord” That was the kind of anxiety he had for the new group of Christians in Thessalonians. It’s like how when people say, “I’m worried sick for you.” No wonder Paul said he was praying unceasingly day and night for them. Although he received good news that they were standing fast in the faith, he still very much wanted to see them. He was praying unceasingly to see them face to face. During the current pandemic situation, the ministers and church staff are not having a holiday although services cannot be held in church. They are working from home. The speaker is online 6-7 days per week. On Sabbath day if he doesn’t need to speak, he has meetings or calls people up on the phone. That is needed because it’s one to one. Livestreaming is just one way. But calling or sending messages allows interaction. There are also people who don’t have devices to attend online services. Ministers and the pastoral team hence roster themselves to ensure a phone call service with these people. The Bible is read to them, hymns are sung with them, prayer is made with them. It’s a very nice feeling for believers living alone to receive a concerned call/message. Some youths needed to return to Singapore from overseas and had to be quarantined. They must’ve felt exceptionally lonely. It would be nice for someone to give them a call or send them a message, especially when we are put to care for them as shepherds. Not just ministers and pastoral members. Also youth leaders or RE teachers who have sheep under your charge. Do you yearn to see and talk to them?

Paul yearned to see the face of the Thessalonians. This is the shepherd’s love and care for the flock of God. It’s not praying for the sake of praying. It’s praying because he cared!

2. The prayer of the sheep Paul encouraged them to engage in

We saw in 1 Thess 5 that Paul encouraged them to pray. We need to pray because faith is like a long long journey. Sometimes we can be very weary. Sometimes there are hidden dangers. We need to walk carefully in order not to stumble.

1 Thess 4:1 says we have to walk in order to please God. 4:12 tells us that we must walk properly to those who are outside. Towards God we must walk in a way that pleases Him, to people outside we must walk in a way that brings glory to God. We must walk in an exemplary manner, because we’re the light of the world; we’re the salt of the earth; people are watching us. So we have to be careful how we walk.

1 Thess 2:12
“that you should walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory”

God has called us into His kingdom, and into His glory! As Christians we have a glorious status. Do we lead a glorious life? When Jesus comes again, will He find us walking in a way that is worthy of God? Worthy of His kingdom and His glory? Jesus asked this question in the gospel of Luke.

Luke 18:7-8
“When the Son of Man comes, will He still find faith on the earth?”
Jesus talked about a group of people who were very prayerful. He talked about the prayer of the unrighteous judge. The elect cry out to the Lord like this widow crying out to the unrighteous judge. This group of people are the prayerful elect. Paul also said the Thessalonians were the beloved elect of God (1 Thess 1:1). Since they are God’s elect, God will preserve them.

1 Thess 5:23-24
They will be preserved by the faithfulness of God. But the prayer requisite is that they must be prayerful, as Paul said to pray without ceasing (v17). We’re all waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ. But when we wait we need to be prayerful. The first part of chapter 5 tells us, v1-3 tells us the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is like a thief coming in the night. We cannot afford to sleep! We need to watch and be sober.
v6 ”therefore do not sleep as others do but watch and be sober.”
Because we do not belong to the night. Those who sleep, sleep in the night; those who are drunk are drunk in the night. Paul wants us to tell ourselves that it’s not night but daytime. He says we’re sons of light, sons of the day. That means we don’t sleep. Watchfulness is very much linked to prayerfulness. So if we’re watchful and don’t sleep, it also means we pray without ceasing.

Someone asked, “Is praying your steering wheel or your spare tire?” You’re driving. You need to always be in control. Prayer should be your steering wheel. Not a spare tire that’s kept in your boot, only used for emergency. How do we treat prayer? Only done when we have an emergency? Prayer should be our steering wheel that leads us in the right direction.

That’s why Paul says to pray without ceasing. When you cease to pray, you lose control of your steering wheel. Our lives should be aligned to the will of God.

v16-18 talks about the will of God.
”Rejoice always, pray unceasingly, giving thanks always, for this is the will of Christ Jesus in you.”

v15 says to not render evil for evil, always pursue what’s good. v21-22 says to hold fast to what’s good; abstain from every form of evil. In other words, why do we rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks always? Because we preserve ourselves from evil. This is our steering wheel and God’s will.

This pandemic causes us to be more inward looking. We realise our vulnerabilities, interdependence and mutual responsibility. We cannot survive on our own. We have to face challenges together. This doesn’t just refer to society where we face challenges together to ensure the continuity of the human race. This refers more to us as a church; as the people of God. In a crisis like this, we see the best and worst in humans, both individually and as a community. Some people are cooperative. Others go the further mile - not just cooperative, but helpful and sacrificial. Some are thankful. Others full of complaints and mockery. Our words and actions tell others/show if we only care for ourselves or if we are truly human reflecting the glory of God. We hence need to pray more to be more like God. Not only must we be more vigilant in our prayers. We must be more worshipful in our prayers. To enter deeply into God’s presence, to absorb all His goodness, and let His goodness flow through us to the rest of the world. Think about what kind of effect the presence of the True Jesus Church should exact on the world.

1 Thess 5:25
Paul says, “Brethren, pray for us.” Does the current situation make us realise that every member has the duty of prayer? And that we have the duty of prayer especially to pray for the servants of God? If the entire body of Christ unites in prayer for a common purpose, we can imagine the great power that would result. To get the nations back on their feet (spiritually), we must first get down on our knees.