Profitable Petitions

Thursday, July 19, 2007

D.A. Carson commenting on prayer in A Call to Spiritual Reformation:

"To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 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." (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12).

Paul's prayer is constrained by the framework he brings to it: he prays for more signs of the grace for which he has already thanked God, and he prays with eternity's value in view. ... In a strange paradox, Paul is constantly telling people, in effect, to become what they are; that is, since we already are children of God because of his free grace to us in Christ, we must now become all that such children should be. ... We are not strong enough or disciplined enough to take these steps ourselves. That is why Paul prays as he does. If the hold God is to count us "worthy of His calling," we must ask Him for help. That is why Paul is praying: he is not simply asking the Thessalonians to try harder, he is praying for them to the end that God will count them worthy of His calling. Such a prayer is tantamount to asking that God will so work in their lives, so make them worthy, that ultimately he will count them worthy.