Prayer Works Morning Devotion October 7, 2026

A Chapter By Chapter Study Of The Epistles:

2Thessalonians Chapter 1

6God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.

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Good morning, good morning everybody. I pray that you were rested, you had a wonderful night, you had a great sleep, and you are ready for another day with the Lord. Let us go to the Lord in prayer.

Heavenly Father, this is the day that You have made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. We are crucified with Christ, nevertheless we live.

Not yet us, but Christ lives by faith in us. His Word dwells in us richly. We are able to say we are blessed, we are healed, we are set free. Sickness cannot dwell in us. The number of our days we will fulfill.

Sin will not dominate us because the seed of God's Word lives in us. We believe that Jesus Christ came and died on the cross and we now have the abundant life and the victory that He provides.

Therefore, no weapon formed against us shall prosper. We are more than conquerors because of his great love. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.

And we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us as the redeemed of the Lord, we say so. And we pray that God, as You lead us in our morning devotion, as You lead us in all things true and in all things right.

May You continue to strengthen our minds, give us wisdom that we need to live in this difficult and challenging times. But also, Lord, may our faith continue to grow so we can know You better.

So we can understand our role and our part in this kingdom, knowing, Lord, that You have a work for us to do but above for us I know You desire for us to prosper and above all else to prosper and to be in good health even as our soul prospers.

So we thank You for this morning in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray Amen and Amen. Brothers and sisters we are today in 2nd Thessalonians chapter number one now this book here is written by Paul.

And you can see it in the beginning there it says Paul Silas and Timoth so you have these three men they come together and of course Paul is the apostle and you have the two that he's been mentoring.

They come together three of them to write this particular book to encourage the church in Thessalonia, now the things the church is dealing with, this is 50 years after Jesus has died, and there is persecution going on around.

And of course, the question of Jesus' return arises in this particular church. And you can see why it would arise. If you're going through persecution, going through challenges, of course, you want the Messiah to come.

And you can see why this book is captured and canonized in the scriptures. Because the Lord knows that humanity will always have this particular issue. That when challenges and persecution and when difficulties come, we tend to ask the question, when is Jesus coming back?

Just as much as we are asking nowadays because of the challenges that we are facing and the things that we are seeing, so this question is in everybody's lips when is Jesus coming back.

I wish he could come back tomorrow and mostly it's because of issues and challenges otherwise if things were going on well in our world and things were great this question would not arise but it always arises when there are challenges.

So Paul and Silas and Timothy sat together and write this theological letter to encourage these believers who are dealing with persecution to give them a landing stone or a landing place.

So that they are not alarmed or are dealing with challenges and thinking also when is Jesus coming because the reason they are, the reason they have this issue and this question of Jesus coming is because they want him to come.

So he can just deal away with all the challenges and mercy and stuff that was going on in their time. So Paul and them are writing to encourage them from that idea and give them proper perspective of how to function and how to be in spite of the things they see.

So verse number 1:1, To the church of Thessalonians, in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you from God. So the first thing that we all need to hear is that grace and peace to all of us from our God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We ought to always thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.

Therefore, among God's churches, the collective, all the churches that Paul has been to, we boast about your perseverance and faith that means so the scripture says in James right.

That when you persevere right you gain character and character will not fail you when challenges continue to go, so now we know this church now have gained character .

Why? Because they are going through perseverance they have persevered and in faith in all the persecutions and trials that they are injuring So challenges and difficulties are necessary because they're developing us perseverance.

And when we get that perseverance and we now grow in faith and we begin to endure some of the things that we'll face. So all this is evidence that God's judgment is right and as a result you will be counted worthy of kingdom of God for which you are suffering.

God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled and to us as well. So this is a promise from God. We will get relief from our troubles.

You can go through challenges and difficulties, but eventually and ultimately you're going to get relief from God. He's going to give you relief for your troubles. This will happen, listen to this, this will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels.

He punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. they will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.

On the day He comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all of those who have believed this includes you because you believed our testimony to you with this in mind.

We constantly pray for you that our God may count you worthy of his calling and that by His power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith we pray this, we pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you.

And in you in Him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. So brothers and sisters, this is a very short, sweet letter to a church or to a people who are dealing with persecution and difficulties.

And Paul and Silas and Timothy came together to encourage them that the challenges and difficulties they are dealing with are not compared to the glory that shall be revealed.

So take heart, take encouragement in the fact that God is just. He sees all things. He knows all things. Nothing escapes Him. There is nothing that escapes God. And when he comes, he'll give you relief from all the challenges and problems of our times.

And I want to speak to us briefly here. The last days, as we know, started when Jesus left. I know a lot of people think the last days is now, but last days has been now. Remember, a day is like a thousand in the Lord.

So if you come from when Jesus came left into now, it's just been a few days. So we in the Lord, so we are living in the last days. Remember, this book is written 50 years after Jesus has died.

So he's talking to them about coming of the Lord. And this is 50 years after he left. And we are far removed from that now. We are like two over 2000 years now.

And these figures still apply because time in God is so short than what we think so He's writing to encourage us and it's captured and canonized in the scriptures because we are we are in the Thessalonians we are still in the same days pretty much.

So God sees it different than us and when you think about what we are going through and the things that we are seeing the things that discourages your heart, the things that discourage my heart.

Sometimes I have to remind myself when I hear things, see pastors, see churches and see difficulties that's going on. And then I'm like, why are people saying that?

When I see those things, I always remind myself, if I can see it, God can see it better. There's a reason why God allows certain things to happen, because His mercy endures forever.

God loves human beings and His desire is for all of us to never perish. So if He has to extend His mercy and grace, He's going to do that for the sake of salvation. But, as you all know, we take God for granted and then we abuse His mercy.

So we're seeing all these difficulties and challenges and things that you'll be like, wait a minute. Why would you do that? And this is from people who know better. And some of it is from people who know the truth.

But they have total disregard of the truth. Because human beings choose to just live for themselves without God. So when we see those things, sometimes it can be very discouraging.

It can be discouraging to be a pastor and having to do and to answer questions for what other people are doing wherever they are doing it but I always have to remind myself if I can see it, God can see it better.

If I can experience this I'm sure God has strength and wisdom for me to go through this. Remember what I always say that you and I we were placed on earth on the right time and God makes sure that you and I will thrive, survive in this hour.

None of us would have been born in 1800s. We didn't have it to live in the 1800s. There's a group of people were born back then that God gave the wisdom, the strength to endure that.

We were born now and we're given this specific time to live on this earth and God made sure that you and I we have exactly what we need to thrive and to survive in this hour so just like the church in Thessalonians do not be alarmed.

We thank the Lord for you because we know that your perseverance is growing something in you. And that is going to develop a character in you that years from now you will thank the Lord that you have.

So as we go through these times, as we see challenges, as we hear things, as we wrestle with AI, and we see this one doing something over here, and this one trying to go to the moon and this one trying to do something else over here.

We always have to remind ourselves God is sitting on the throne. He's not confused. He's not trying to figure it out. He's not looked down. He's like, man, what do I do with these people?

He knows exactly what to do. But His mercy in Jew was forever. God is not is all wise, all knowing. Where secret meetings are held, he is right there. When people think of hiding, he is right there.

That's why David wrote and says, where can I go? Where your spirit is not. I could make my bed in the depth of the oceans and you are there. Mount on wings like an eagle, you are there.

So Paul writes and says, brothers and sisters, He's pretty much just saying, don't worry. In fact, he says, we thank the Lord for your perseverance because while you're going through persecution, you are showing God's grace.

This is one of the reasons why I appreciate challenges and difficulties and difficult seasons because they develop in you a character that you wouldn't get if everything was so cool.

So right now in 2026 while we are going what we are going through. God is developing your character in you and that character is going to give you endurance to go through, to survive, to thrive in these difficult times.

Yes, from now we will look back at this hour and thank the Lord surely for bringing us through. Because His grace, His mercy, His everlasting love would have brought us to the other side.

And I'm sure every single one of us, we have gone through difficulties sometimes where you look and you're like, when is tomorrow coming? Will this ever end? But I want to encourage you, if you can see it, God can see better.

If you know it, God knows it better. If it's happening, God has allowed it because His mercy endures forever. But in the process, He cares so much about you and I that His grace and His mercy will continue to grow our faith and give us endurance.

And that is going to develop something in you and I that we wouldn't otherwise get if all things were good. I know when we're going through it we don't like it but God does not waste pain, does not waste challenges, does not waste difficult seasons for those who choose to stand on him, the solid rock.

Now, I want you to even think about this before we pray. The people in Thessalonians, they did not have scripture to stand on because the Bible had not been canonized. So their level of fear and worry was way deeper than ours.

So this letter is coming to a group of people who do not have something to lean on. They have the Holy Spirit because it was poured out in Acts but they don't have scriptures to lean on.

So Paul writes this marvelous letter to them to encourage them. And we are the benefiters of what somebody wrote to a church that did not have any scriptures to stand on and to lean on other than the words of the prophets and the scrolls from Isaiah and the Torah.

They didn't have this, we have scriptures so we can reflect and look back and in fact we can now stand here and look back and say yeah this church survived, this church did well and how do we know that because the scriptures tells us that.

So there's evidence that what Paul was encouraging them works because as you see Paul writes here that we thank the Lord and we are boasting about you to other churches because of your perseverance.

So we know they did well because Paul is reporting to us so which means what Paul had written to them in first letter had done an inspiring job into the church that now boasts of the results they have attained because of Paul, Timothy, and Silas encouragement.

So which means what they wrote here worked. So if we stand on the same words, we know years from now, it will work for us. because the only thing that will remain and that will stand the test of time is His word.

So I want to encourage you to stand on Christ, to stand on the scriptures just be guided by the Holy Spirit to live by the spirit in everything that you do. Let us pray. Heavenly Father we thank You for Your goodness and Your mercy towards us.

We thank You for Your everlasting love. And we thank You for the many blessings that You have given us. We thank You for courage and boldness and determination.

We know we are living through a rough patch, difficult season, in our world, where nothing seems guaranteed and nothing seems sure. But we know this, that Your words, Your spirit, stands above it all.

So as we lean to You, Lord, as we search the scriptures, and as we fellowship with the Holy Spirit and commune with Him and others, We pray, Lord, that You inspire us to persevere, to be victorious, and to bring an understanding that in spite of what we see.

We still remain the chosen vessels to carry the light, the salt for a dying world. So I pray, Lord, that You give peace to our hearts and our minds as we deal with the day-to-day issues of life.

Knowing thoroughly well that You bring victory if we do not faint, because Your word instructs us such, that we do not faint. So I pray, Lord, that You remove the fainting spirit in all of us so that we can endure, persevere, thrive, and be at peace and go through success in this world.

Open our eyes and our minds and download in us wisdom that we desperately need to make decisions that elevate, to make decisions that strengthen, to make decisions that encourage and inspire us.

I thank You for every family that's represented here. I thank You for this group of people, this family, this church that You have brought together to commune, to walk together, to encourage one another.

I pray Lord that as we lift each other in prayer come to our aid hear our prayers as we join in faith and guide us into the path of victory. Strengthen the cause of every family, every child accounted for, every gift accounted for.

I pray Lord that we will not waste what You have given us but that Lord we will use the talents and not bury them and reap a harvest and I pray Lord for community even in families to unite us in the spirit of love.

Help us to forgive one another when we do wrong. And I pray God that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ continue to bind us together with cause of love that can be broken, but also with wisdom and understanding.

I pray for our children as usual because we know they are a gift from us and we will constantly dedicate them back to You because we know You have put inside of them the very true essence of You and I pray Lord that none amongst them will be lost.

But they will continue to walk circumspectly before You. Provide situations and an environment for them to glean into this gospel so that the next generation of believers can stand firm and guard the doorposts in the name of Jesus.

Protect our children from harm and danger, seen or unseen. I pray Lord for healing of the human body we know the things that we eat can be poisonous we also know Lord that we don't have the best foods around.

But I pray Lord that You give us the wisdom to eat right to live right to drink water simple things that You have put in place for us to thrive on our health. I pray, Lord, that You give us the wisdom to do and to follow through.

And I pray that for our children. And I pray, Lord, that You send angels on assignment to guard them as they go to school, interact with different ones, spend time with different places in different homes, sleepovers and all the stuff they do.

I pray, Lord, that wherever they are, may an angel be stationed to guard them jealously. As they go to school, help them to learn, to understand, to matriculate the proper way. But we pray above all else that may they also learn what scripture is in the name of Jesus.

I pray for those amongst us who might be dealing with any sickness or a disease that God may You heal them we're crying out to You we've been crying out to You and we are trusting You for miracles we're trusting You for Sarge to walk again.

We're trusting You for strength to be regained in the name of Jesus, for Mother Russell to rise up and stand and walk again in the name of Jesus. Total recovery from stroke in the name of Jesus. We throw our seniors in there too.

That Father, as they do what they do, continue to protect them from harm and danger, from falling in the name of Jesus, for Mother Carey, even at 83 years, she's still driving. I pray for her protection on the roads.

That other drivers be kind to her in the name of Jesus, sanctify all our seniors and protect them from harm and danger in the name of Jesus. Thank You for widows amongst us and that grant Nadia and my sister Meredith.

And I pray Lord that may wisdom guide them in everything they do protect these young families from harm and danger. Be the Father in the congregation of mighty. And Father, I pray Lord that may we serve them and may we uplift them in the name of Jesus.

And now Lord, as we look ahead and as we look ahead to this season that's coming, I pray Lord that You continue to open our eyes and give us direction of what to do, when to do it. And I pray Lord that we'll forever give You glory.

Thank You for this community of believers and thank You for coming together and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be on us all and may his wisdom guide us in the day and may He lead us not into temptation but continue to deliver us from the evil one.

For thine is the kingdom. the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen and Amen. Brothers and sisters, may the Lord bless you. May you have an incredible, phenomenal day. See you back here tomorrow, 7 a.m. Central, 8 a.m. Eastern Standard.

And we will be in 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2. Do me a favor. Please read 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2. Reread it and reread it today because it is an important passage of scripture that we all need to grasp and to understand.

Because it tells us what will happen, how things will happen and what will go on and what will happen during or before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So it gives us position, it gives an understanding, and it also tells us how to behave and how to carry ourselves as things happen around us. So we'll see you tomorrow and we have an assignment in 2 Thessalonians 2.  Have a blessed, lovely day and walk in expectation.