fruition

Paul was so good at praying. You may have read some of my thoughts on his other prayers; here’s another great one from 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12: “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I love how Paul zeroes in on what’s important. No praying for a good day, a successful trip, excellent grades, recovery from a cold. Paul prays this prayer in three sets of twos: two requests, two fruits and two outcomes.

The two requests are at the core of Christian purpose. Paul prays that the Thessalonians will be worthy of God’s calling, and that God’s power would bring fruition. That fruition Paul prayed for in two ways; fruitfulness in their desires for goodness and in their faith-prompted deeds. Paul wanted these things for the Thessalonians because they would lead to two outcomes: that the name of Jesus would be glorified in them, and that they in turn would be glorified (read made holy) in him.

Paul’s elegant symmetry in composing this prayer makes it ring for me. It becomes a memorable little Gospel-in-a-nutshell, that by God’s power in making our desires and deeds fruitful, we can be glorified and glorify God. All of this is what it means to be worthy of our calling.

It’s another great model of how to pray earnestly and graciously for each other.