Excellence In Prayer

“Half-heartedness and mediocrity don’t inspire anybody to do anything.”

—Adrian Rogers

If you put a group of people in a room and ask them what ‘Excellence’ is, you will receive many different answers but they should have something in common— Excellence is about doing your best.

What does ‘doing your best’ mean? Let’s say you gave 99.9% of yourself to something. Natalie Gabal tracked what would happen if 99.9% were considered good enough… If that were true, then this last year alone: 2,000,000 of your documents would be lost by the IRS; 18 babies would be given to the wrong parents each day; 291 pacemakers operations would be performed incorrectly; 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions would be written; 114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes would be shipped.

This letter from Paul to the Thessalonian believers is a note of commendation and encouragement. He begins by genuinely thanking God for them. This church lived for God with passion and excellence, it’s more than appropriate to thank God for those who have passion and excellence for God. In fact, this is essential in giving us the correct focus necessary in prayer. Thankfulness is essential. There was nothing mediocre about their faith, their hope, and their passion for excellence. 

Later in this first chapter we learn that their spirit of excellence was inspirational to many other churches. They obviously caught that from the Apostle Paul. He demonstrated a constant spirit of excellence in all he did and said.

If I were to title this section (verses 2-10) it would be: ‘A Spirit Of Excellence’

Today let’s focus on verses 2-4, and see Paul’s example of prayer to them.  

He demonstrated ‘Excellence: In Prayer’.

1 Thessalonians 1.2-4— “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.”

Paul was not a one man show.  This was true in his prayer also.  Notice the words: “we / our“. Indicating the imperative that we pray together!  You may say to yourself, ‘well I can pray just as good over here by myself silently‘. To that I have 2 things: 1) Matthew 18.19— “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” 2) The greek word for “our” is ‘hēmōn’ means: “together in plural form”. And the word for “prayers” is ‘proseuchē’ which means: “oratory prayer”. They prayed out-loud together. What?! That doesn/t sound like a Baptist does it? I will admit I have seen it, and enjoyed it. I have seen it in a Baptist church before. Any objections? What is wrong with: Praying together, in public, in agreement? Personally, I see it as expected and vital!  

In the scripture we see 2 realities about excellence in corporate prayer. 1) They did this often, habitually; and 2) It seems the greater the need, the more agreement and togetherness is expected. Isn’t that natural? When things are desperate or ‘close to our heart’ we evoke others to pray with us.  

Why wait until it has gone that far? If you want to have a spirit of excellence in your prayer life— pray with others. What was ‘close to Paul’s heart’?  Every single one of them! Notice the: “you / you all“. He didn’t pray for things, buildings, property, finances, blessings.. nope. He prayed for people! The words: “you all” indicates he didn’t pray for some of them, he prayed for all of them. So, if you want to have a spirit of excellence in your prayer life— pray for others.

In this case, Paul and his companions prayed together for others, a prayer of thankfulness, indicated by— “give thanks“. There are times when you bring up a name, or your mind wanders to a particular person, it can stir many different thoughts. For Paul, his memory of them immediately evoked thankfulness. If you want to have a spirit of excellence in your prayer life— pray thankfully.

For me, excellence also precludes not being boring! It requires some spontaneity, genuineness, and variety. That is exactly how Paul prayed. As it says in the text— “prayers“— not a stock prayer and not a one-a-day. 

They prayed often alright— “always / remembering without ceasing“. Did they pray for a while and then quit? Nope! This was an obvious priority! These words prove that they prayed all the time, and never quit!  

This was Paul’s Modus Operandi!

Romans 1.9— “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;”

1 Corinthians 1.4— “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;”

Philippians 1.3-4— “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,”

Colossians 1.3— “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,”

2 Thessalonians 1.3— “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;”

2 Timothy 1.3— “I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;”

Philemon 1.4— “I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers,”

That is excellence! Prayer for every believer—of every church—all the time!

If you want to have a spirit of excellence in your prayer life— pray often and never quit. We have looked at how Paul prayed and who He prayed for, but what were they thankful for? The verse says when Paul prayed— he reflected on their: salvation (work of faith); their growth (labor of love); and their faithfulness (patience of hope). 

They were saved, growing, and faithful.  What more could you ask for under such terrible conditions? This church was under significant persecution, so much more than I could ever imagine. This was a good church! Verse 4 says—”Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.  Meaning they were saved (elect) and therefore in the family (brethren). This folks, is Fruit! Fruit is an outside manifestation of something life-giving happening on the inside. Their faith, hope and love were visibly apparent to Timothy who came and reported it back to Paul. This begs the question… If someone walked into your life, all of a sudden; what would they report back?

Mediocrity inspires no one. Those who pursue their lives with excellence, challenge and encourage others to do the same. Lou Gehrig played 2,130 games until he quit. That record was broke in 1995 by Cal Ripken Jr. who showed up faithfully to 2,131 games and went on without missing. The standing ovation lasted for 22 uninterrupted minutes. He loved what He did and it showed. Same is true in our prayer life… Prayer is more caught than taught— Our kids are watching, others are watching, and God is listening. 

How is your prayer life?  Is it mediocre or practiced with excellence?