Prayer Works Morning Devotion October 1, 2026
Updated: 5 days ago
A Chapter By Chapter Study Of The Epistles:
1Thessalonians Chapter 3
4For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. 5For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain.
Good morning prayer works family a blessed day to you all let us start this morning in prayer. Thank You Heavenly Father for this new day.
Thank You Heavenly Father for more opportunities to gather together with one another our brothers and sisters in Christ to pursue You through Your word, to be encouraged through Your word, to have our understanding expanded as we study Your word.
So I pray now Heavenly Father that Your presence will rest, rule, and abide over this call, through this call, and in the hearts of everyone that is hearing these words. I thank You Lord for Your inspiration.
And I thank You Lord to be used by You and I give You all glory and honor in Jesus precious name Amen. Amen, family this morning we are in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 and I'm just going to dive right in verse one finally when we could stand it no longer.
We decided to stay alone in Athens and we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our brother and God's co-worker proclaiming the good news of Christ. Here Paul is referring to what he wrote in the previous chapter, 1 Thessalonians 2 that Pastor Zee covered.
What he wrote in a previous chapter that he had longed very much to return to Thessalonica, but Satan hindered him from doing so. The Greek word for hindered means to cut a trench between oneself and an advancing foe to prevent his progress.
This is what Satan does to every believer. Cut a trench before us to prevent us from progressing Satan is a powerful adversary and when he knows that God is working in us and through us.
He targets us using a variety of approaches including getting us to doubt our calling, getting us to compromise with sin so that our life and ministry become tainted and tempting or distract us away from our calling.
And when all else fails kill us. Can you think of something you've been attempting to do for the benefit of kingdom building but you've been hindered at every turn from accomplishing your goal?
Have you totally given up? And how do you know if it's Satan hindering you or if it's God? I find it so intriguing that Paul was able to distinguish when God was preventing him from doing something versus when it was Satan.
In Acts 16:6-7, Luke writes about Paul Silas and Timothy now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatea they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia and Paul says and a vision appeared to Paul in the night.
A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him saying come over to Macedonia and help us. Now after he had seen the vision immediately we sought to go to Macedonia concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
And in Romans 15:22 Paul writes for this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you what was the reason Paul explains in Romans 15:20 and so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel not where Christ was named.
Lest I should build on another man's foundation but as it is written to whom he was not announced they shall see and those who have not heard shall understand. Paul understood that every hindrance he encountered in spreading the gospel had a purpose.
And that even if being delayed prevented or redirected Paul had complete faith in God's timing and purpose. When Paul writes to the Thessalonians that Satan hindered him from returning to Thessalonica he doesn't specify what Satan was doing to hinder him.
What is important for every believer and follower of Christ to know is that Satan will always try to prevent us from doing God's will, especially when it involves strengthening, unifying and building each other up.
The enemy will throw up all kinds of roadblocks, stumbling blocks, barriers and obstacles to discourage, dishearten, distract and deter us from fulfilling God's call on our lives. Satan's goal after all is to kill, steal and destroy.
But let's not forget that Satan can only do what God permits him to do God's will be done. So as incredibly difficult as it is to face hurdles tragedies conflicts and even death through everything we're enduring.
We're also growing, maturing and learning to trust God and believe that he really works all things for our good. God's ways are above our ways and His thoughts are far above our thoughts as Paul wrote in Romans 11:34 for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become his counselor?
And as God told Job, shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Have you an arm like God?
Imagine, just imagine standing before God and having Him question you like that it's inconceivable it's inconceivable to imagine standing before God and having Him ask you those questions. Throughout his ministry Paul understood this God's will be done.
So even though Satan hindered Paul from traveling to Thessalonica the church at Thessalonica was still able to receive encouragement and even though Timothy was such a great help and comfort to Paul while he was enduring great persecution during his second missionary journey.
Paul still sent Timothy to the Thessalonians as he continued his writing in verse two. We sent him to strengthen you to encourage you in your faith and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through.
But you know that we are destined for such troubles even while we were with you we warned you that troubles would soon come and they did as well you know.
That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless.
Paul is again emphasizing that as followers of Christ, we are destined for troubles and these troubles can shake us. In fact, Satan will try to use our troubles and the troubles our brothers and sisters in Christ experience to get us to doubt God.
To draw us away from God, and even curse God just like Satan tried to get Job to do. Paul feared this would happen to the church at Thessalonica that living in a fiercely pagan society the new believers in Christ.
In Thessalonica would face great persecution in fact as Paul was writing this letter they were facing great persecution for their faith. Paul also feared that as they heard how much he was suffering for preaching the gospel of Christ.
They would begin to lose heart and need to be strengthened and encouraged in their faith. As Paul continues in verse 6, to his joy, Timothy returned with a good report about the state of the Thessalonians faith.
Verse 6, but now Timothy has just returned bringing us good news about your faith and love He reports that you always remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you.
So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord.
Knowing that our brothers and sisters in Christ are remaining strong in their faith can greatly encourage us even in the midst of our own troubles and suffering. Paul said it gave him new life to know that the Thessalonians were standing firm in the Lord.
Do you know any brothers and sisters in Christ who are standing strong in their faith? How is witnessing their faith affecting you can anyone say of you that you are standing strong in your faith. The chapter concludes with following verses how we thank God for you.
Because of you we have great joy as we enter God's presence. Night and day we pray earnestly for you asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith.
May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon and may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow just as our love for you overflows.
May He, as a result, make your heart strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all His holy people, Amen.
We in the Prayer Works ministry thank God for each of you let's keep this family of believers and followers of Christ and in fact all our brothers and sisters in Christ in our prayers.
We pray that as Paul prayed for the gaps in our faith to be filled it's really important to face the gaps in our faith those gaps can be exploited by the enemy to get us to doubt, question and ultimately turn away from God. It's time to mind the gaps and how do we do that?
By being more disciplined in studying the word listening for God's voice telling us the way to go being confident in our standing as children of the Most High God and we have this standing through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We fill in the gaps by seeking God daily through His Word and our steadfast prayers through encouraging one another, through obeying God, and through fulfilling our calling to further God's kingdom through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let's pray in agreement with Paul's prayers that our love for one another and for all people will grow and overflow, that the Lord will make our hearts strong blameless and holy as we eagerly look forward to standing before God our Father.
When our Lord Jesus returns and that each of us will finish well along with all of God's holy people and may we each hear the words from our Lord, well done, good and faithful servant. Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, thank You once again for Your Word. Thank You once again for how Your Word just has the ability to penetrate, to convict our hearts, to strengthen us, Heavenly Father, and to remind us of who we are and of who You are.
I pray Heavenly Father that no one will lose their awe of You Heavenly Father even as we face numerous challenges and much suffering and the persecution and injustice all around us and the persecutions and suffering and injustices that will come Heavenly Father.
Even as we face this, even as we hear about it, even as we witness it happening to others let us not be shaken Heavenly Father. Please remind us in our anxious moments that You are Lord God Almighty and that what You desire of all of us is to finish well.
To keep our eyes on You, to be reminded that You offer Your son up as a sacrifice for us there's nothing You won't do, there's nothing You can't do. Who are we to question our Almighty God when the evidence of You is all around us.
The evidence of Your work in our lives as You have transformed us from who we are and continuing to transform us into the likeness of Christ who are we to question. So I ask Your forgiveness Heavenly Father on behalf of all my brothers and sisters in Christ.
I ask Your forgiveness when we forget and I thank You Heavenly Father that we have Your word to remind us let us not forget the miracle of Your word that we have today still today, Your word endures still today.
We are filled with Your Holy Spirit still today we walk in the fruits of Your in the fruit of the Holy Spirit Heavenly Father. Still today help us to choose to love to love You with all our heart soul mind and strength and to love each other as we love ourselves.
How we love You Father, how we stand in amazement over You Heavenly Father for You, thanking You. Help us to trust to You, help us to yield our lives more fully to You.
And thank You for how every day we are being transformed we are continuing to chase after You, we are continuing to stand in our faith. We love You Heavenly Father we love each other we thank You for Your grace.
And we pray now that You will go before us this day in all things helping us to see what is not seeable with our eyes, helping us to discern what we cannot discern in our own strength and giving us a fresh feeling of Your Holy Spirit.
That we may accomplish what You would have us accomplish this day. We love You Heavenly Father, we honor You we praise You we magnify and glorify Your name and it is in Jesus's most wonderful name we pray, Amen.
Amen, family thank you for joining us this day again as a reminder we have a Friday prayer so we encourage you to join us, we encourage you to submit your prayers.
And I'd like and I just like to end with a quote that I heard from a pastor from Singapore named Edmund Chan and he says in happy moments praise God, in difficult moments seek God, in quiet moments worship God, in painful moments trust God, in every moment thank God.
Thank God my brothers and sisters in Christ. We love you and we pray you will have a blessed and powerful day in the Lord.