Pastor Dana Kidder preaching from II Thessalonians 3:1-5, at Redemption Bible Church in Bellefontaine, OH.
Redemption Bible Church
Praying with Confidence
The American Presbyterian pastor, Garden or Spring, administered in Manhattan in the 1800s, he once said this. He said, "It is a fearful expense. It is at a fearful expense that ministers are ever allowed to enter the pulpit without being preceded, accompanied, and followed by the earnest prayer of the churches. It is no marvel that the pulpit is so powerless and ministers so often disheartened when there are so few to hold up their hands. When the churches cease to pray for ministers, ministers will no longer be a blessing to the churches. But it's a two-way street. The Puritan, Richard Baxter, who got a lot of things wrong, but he gets this right. He wrote in his book, "The Reformed Pastor," he said, "Prayer must carry on our work as well as preaching. He preacheth not heartily to his people that prayeth not earnestly for them. If we prevail not with God to give them faith and repentance, we are unlikely to prevail with them to believe and repent." Another Puritan Robert Trail similarly wrote this. He said, "Some ministers of meaner or lesser gifts and parts are more successful than some that are far above them in abilities, not because they preach better, so much as because they pray more. Many good sermons are lost for lack of much prayer in study." The Scottish Reformer John Knox, he's known for many things and not the least of which is his prayer, "Give me Scotland or I die." That prayer is not an arrogant demand, but the passionate plea of a man who was willing to die for the sake of the pure preaching of the gospel and the salvation of his own countrymen. Burke Parsons writes that Knox's greatest greatness lay in his humble dependence upon our sovereign God to save his people, revive a nation, and reform his church. As his evident from his preaching and prayer, Knox believed neither in the power of his preaching nor in the power of his prayer, but in the power of the gospel and the power of God who sovereignly ordains preaching and prayer as secondary means in the salvation of his people. Although Knox had been imprisoned and enslaved, and though he was often very sick and under the threat of persecution, he consistently lived out his theology, believing that quote, he said, "One man with God is always in the majority." And so the prayers of that one man, John Knox, heard at the throne of God were a threat to the throne of Scotland. During the time of the 16th century Scottish Reformation, Knox's ministry of preaching and prayer were so well known that the Roman Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, is reputed to have said, "I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the assembled armies of Europe." Again, Parsons writes this. He said, "For indeed Christ is the captain of our souls, and Christ's prayer is the anchor and only hope of the nations. Christ is the captain of our souls, and prayer to him is the only hope, the only hope of the nations." Second Thessalonians chapter 3, verses 1 to 5. Let's read this. Second Thessalonians 3, beginning right in verse 1. The Apostle Paul writes, "Finally brothers pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored as happened among you, that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not all have faith, but the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ." Now let's stop here and pray for a moment. Father, this is our prayer today, that the Lord would direct our hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ. I pray that you give us what we need this morning, Lord, that we would acknowledge that our greatest need is Christ. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. So as I was thinking about this passage, as I was working to kind of turn my study of these verses into some sort of halfway discernible sermon, I did an internet search for the phrase, why is it so hard to pray? Prayer seems like it should be the easiest thing in the world. You just talk. You just address the Lord and ask Him for things. Ask for His help. Ask for wisdom, for healing, for health, for a new job, for a spouse or a child. In fact, you don't even have to say it out loud. You can just think. You can simply direct your thoughts to God. You don't have to get down on your knees to pray. You don't have to be formal, although those things can help focus your thoughts and keep you on track. When we lived down in Zenia back in the early 2000s, 20 years ago now, we knew an elderly lady from church who would pray in the King James Version. She would say that these and the vows as she prayed, not in conversation though, just when she prayed. And honestly, I loved to listen to her pray. You don't have to do that. It should actually be really easy because the Lord hears our prayers. But it's one of the biggest challenges that we face as Christians in our everyday lives. So when I searched for articles on the internet, when I searched, why is it so hard to pray, there were sites that came up from all over the Christian spectrum, from trustworthy places like Desiring God or Ligonier Ministries to the sort of pop vanilla Christian websites to Roman Catholic websites. Some were directed specifically at youth ministry. Others were focused more specifically on women's ministry. And they were article after article after article for pastors. The point is everyone finds prayer difficult no matter your background or theological persuasions. Luther had a lot to say about prayer, including this challenge. Martin Luther said, "We must be careful not to break the habit of true prayer and imagine other works to be necessary, which after all are nothing of the kind. Thus at the end we become lax and lazy, cool and listless toward prayer. The devil who besets us is not lazy or careless and our flesh is too ready and eager to sin and is disinclined to the spirit of prayer." Well, when considering praying, maybe especially praying for the spread of the gospel as this passage indicates, we can hardly think of someone from history who seemed to not need prayer more than the apostle Paul. After all, Jesus himself said of Paul in Acts chapter 9, "He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel." He was an apostle. He was a sent one. And he had a mandate to preach the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to all kinds of people. And if he had that, why does he ask for prayer? If Jesus said he's going to do this, why does Paul ask for prayer or to expand it beyond Paul for just a moment? He's just in this passage. He's just been telling the Thessalonians that they have been chosen and called by God. And if that is true of Christians, then why do we need to pray? Hasn't God already predestined us for adoption as sons? These are some of the big and important questions that need to be answered. After all, if you wonder if your prayers are important, if you wonder if your prayers are making any difference at all, or if it's worth it to do the work of praying, if you wonder if anybody's listening, and chances are you will end up, if not already, not very active in prayer. Paul is pleading with these saints of Thessalonica to pray for him. And he's clearly not asking for good vibes. He's not asking for thoughts and prayers. Happy thoughts. He's asking for genuine earnest prayer. He's asking for the Thessalonians saints to intercede to the Lord on his behalf and on behalf of the spread of the gospel. So as we wonder, as we wonder why Paul believed that he needed prayer, consider his ministry. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11, he says, "Allow me to be foolish for a moment." And then he proceeds to list out some of the ways that he has suffered as an apostle on account of the gospel. Five times I received from the hands of the Jews the forty lashes, lest one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea. On frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers in toil and hardship through many a sleepless night in hunger and thirst without food in cold and exposure. And doubtlessly, Paul actually suffered more than that. But it's worth noting that 2 Corinthians was written much later in the timeline of his ministry than either of these letters to the Thessalonians. In fact, we believe that these letters, first and second Thessalonians, were among the first few letters that he wrote along with Galatians. He wrote them not long after escaping the hands of the angry mob there in Thessalonica and continuing his mission work in Berea, then Athens, and then eventually into Corinth where he probably wrote to the Thessalonians. So if Paul is nearer to the end of his ministry in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and he's summarizing the tribulations that he's been through there at the end of his ministry, let me just recount for you what had been going on before he made it to Thessalonica, before he got to these people. It's recorded in Acts 17 that he reaches Thessalonica. We had looked at that when we started our study of these two books. Acts chapter 9 recounts his conversion on the road to Damascus. But then really his ministry begins in earnest in chapter 13. In the first few verses of Acts chapter 13, he and Barnabas are ordained into the ministry by the leaders of the church in Antioch. They're sent on mission to be Christ's witnesses. And right away, that's the first five verses of Acts chapter 13. And right away, beginning in verse 6, 7 and 8, they face opposition, the opposition of false teachers. So Acts 13, 6 says, and when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bargeesus. He was with the Pro Council. The Pro Council is sort of like the Roman deputy of the area. He was with the Pro Council, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the Word of God. But Elimus, the magician, for that's the meaning of his name, opposed them seeking to turn the Pro Council away from the faith. So this freshly ordained Saul, as he's called here, that's his Jewish name. He meets the opposition of false teachers immediately. Remember, Jesus specifically chose him for this task. The church sent him out, and immediately he is met with what would be for most people, discouragement immediately. Later in the same chapter, he and Barnabas move into Antioch of Pisidia, and he does meet some great success there, but also great opposition. Acts 13, the end of the chapter, verse 48, says this, "When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the Word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the Word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. They shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium, and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." In Iconium, chapter 14, he narrowly escapes a stoning where they wanted to put into death with rocks. Then a few verses later, he makes it to Listra, they did catch up with him, stoned him, dragged him outside the city, and left him for dead. He was so injured, they thought he was dead. At that point, most missionaries would decide leading lock-ins back in the U.S. isn't such a bad idea after all. In chapter 15, he has a sharp disagreement with his mentor, Barnabas, been with him on those journeys. But now they go their separate ways, and you know how difficult those kind of separations can be. They have a falling out. But he's not made it to Thessalonica yet. In chapter 16, as he starts his second missionary journey, he's joined by Silas and Timothy. And this happens to he and Silas in Philippi. The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stalks. All of this was before they even made it to Thessalonica. This opposition and persecution would be enough for any pastor to throw in the towel. In many ways, the last thing that we would expect from the Apostle Paul is confidence about his ministry. Yet that's exactly what he expresses in this passage, a confidence. In fact, throughout Paul's letters, throughout his epistles, he displays a confidence in the success of his ministry. Why? Was he just one of those kind of cocky young preachers who so self-assured that he couldn't think of failure? It makes it very clear that he's not simply confident in himself, but in the one who called and commissioned him in the first place. That's really made very clear in these verses as we see Paul's appeal to prayer. We need your prayers. Look again at verses one and two. Finally, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men for not all have faith. So think back to what he has said in the previous couple of paragraphs in chapter at the end of chapter two. He's reminded the saints that they are chosen and called by God. And he's also prayed to God for both, that God would both comfort and establish or strengthen them. But now here he's asking the church to pray for the fruit for his preaching, for his ministry. So go back to those questions I asked earlier. If God chooses who will be Christians from before the beginning of time, why pray? Why pray? If God saves people against their will, so to speak, as he did with Paul in Acts chapter 9, why pray? Well, let me ask it this way. If salvation is up to mankind, if salvation is up to mankind, why pray? Either God can save people, whomever he wills, or he can't. And if he can only save the willing, then why ask him to intervene and save someone like Paul, who was the epitome of the unwilling? Prayer and evangelism are the ways in which God has chosen to save his people. They're the means in which God has chosen to save his people. These are marks of the elect of God. Remember in verses 16 and 17 above, they show us Paul. Paul has prayed for them. And so now in verse 1, he's saying, on the basis of what I've just said, I'm asking you, I'm telling you to pray for us, because prayer, prayer expresses our dependence upon God. I'll say that again. Prayer expresses our dependence upon God. We could even say prayer helps conform us to the image of Jesus Christ, because when we are praying according to the will of God, thy will be done, right? If we are praying according to the will of God, in this case here, that the word of the Lord would speed ahead and be honored. When we are praying according to the will of God, our own desires conform to his desires. We will want people to be saved because God wants people to be saved. First Timothy, chapter 2, verses 1 to 4, says it like this, "First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good. It is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." So think of it all like this. Paul will soon be moving into another city, as he's done many times before. He doesn't know what he will face in that city. He doesn't know where the elect are. He doesn't know who there will repent and believe when they hear the word preached or if anyone will. In fact, no one knows that. And so he's asking for them to pray that the hearts of those whom God has chosen will be ready to hear, that they will be primed to heed the gospel call, that they will hear and believe. Paul essentially says to the Thessalonians, remember they are suffering persecution as well, he essentially says to them, "Instead of being mired in the discouragement of your own suffering, pray that the Lord would be at work in others just as he was with you. Pray that the Lord would be at work where I'm headed, where I'm going to go and preach just as he was for you. You were ready to hear the gospel. When Paul arrived, they were ready to hear the gospel. I have no doubt it's because Paul was praying for the people who would hear the gospel. One of my prayers on Saturday nights is that God would be preparing the hearts of the people who will hear the gospel as we worship together. We pray that God would be preparing. Do you see how this could change the Thessalonians who he's asking to pray? It would fix their eyes and their minds upon the Lord and his people. It would fix their eyes and their minds on the Lord and the sharing of the gospel to the ends of the earth. But it's not just about the person praying. Prayer is one of the means that God uses to pave the way for salvation. So if we truly believe that God can save, that He changes stubborn, dead hearts, then we must pray and ask Him to do just that. He's done it many times before. In fact, I've already referenced Acts chapter 13 verses 48 and 49. When the Gentiles heard this, the preaching of the Word, they began rejoicing and glorifying the Word of the Lord. And as many were appointed to eternal life, believed. And the Word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. So the more we pray, the more we are conformed to God's will. And so our requests will increasingly be for the things God wants. We see this in so many of the biblical prayers. We talked a little bit about this in Sunday school. In fact, we mentioned that Nehemiah prayed that the Lord would use Him not only to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, but for the restoration of God's people. Jacob, a Job, rather, prayed repeatedly. He even finished with repentance at the end of the book of Job. In Job 42 verses 5 and 6, Job says, "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. And after that, the Lord restored Him." We could consider David in the same light. So many of the Psalms where he repents, think of Psalm 51, think of the young Virgin Mary when she found out that she would be carrying the Messiah. How did she respond with prayer and song? How did the New Testament church begin? Acts chapter 1 verse 14 says that those remaining believers, a very small group of people, the 11 and a few of the women, says, Acts 1, 14 says, "All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer. Together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and His brothers." And from then on, prayer becomes a vital component for church life as they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers. We can see the same kind of commitment to prayer in virtually every Christian that has been used mightily by God through the ages. The story is told of Roman Catholic opponents who once sent an agent to spy out Martin Luther's weaknesses. The spy came back and said, "Who can overcome a man who prays like this? Who can overcome a man who prays?" This is the world's only superpower at that time, taking on one man, but one man who prayed. John Calvin often rose at 4 a.m. for prayer. I already mentioned John Knox who cried, "I'll give me Scotland or I die." Johnathan Edwards spent entire days in prayer before preaching. That's to say nothing of Abraham, Moses, David, or even Jesus. But look back here at these verses. What's the request? What's the request that Paul is asking for them to pray? Well, first it's that the word of the Lord would speed ahead and be honored. Paul desired that the gospel would make rapid progress. And that's not an outlandish request. The apostles have seen this before. In fact, a whole bunch of times. How often in the early chapters of the book of Acts do we read something along the lines of, and they were added that day, thousands of souls? In fact, it begins by putting numbers on them. At the end of Acts, chapter 2, it's 3,000 souls. By the time you get into chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, it just says in thousands and thousands. They couldn't even count. So many people. The gospel was so successful in saving people. They couldn't even count. Again, Paul knew that the gospel's success was not due to his preaching abilities. It was not due to his charming demeanor. It's completely dependent on the Holy Spirit to breathe the breath of life into dead souls and make them alive. The gospel requires that the Lord, that the Lord make alive those who hear and believe. And Paul, Paul is reminding them that he and every subsequent preacher is completely dependent on the Lord. And so therefore, we must pray. We must pray and ask the Lord to work. This week is I was studying Friday morning. I think it was a Friday afternoon. I was struck by this paragraph in one of the commentaries I was looking at. Richard Phillips is the author and he says this, "I wonder whether we realize today how important prayer is to the preaching of the gospel in the church. Ours is a generation that is captivated by celebrity preachers and the display of God's gifts in the ministry of successful pastors. Yet there's no minister of God's word, however gifted, who, like the apostle Paul, does not need to rely utterly on the prayers of believers to empower his message. Every minister who longs to follow Paul in being used by God for the salvation of many will echo his heartfelt plea from verse one. Finally, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored as it has happened among you. E.M. Bounds wrote this. He said, "Without prayer, the gospel can neither be preached effectively, promulgated faithfully, experienced in the heart, nor be practiced in life." For the very simple reason that by leaving prayer out of the catalog of religious duties, we leave God out and his work cannot progress without him. Paul's second request here is for deliverance. Throughout his ministry, he continually faced wicked and evil enemies of God who worked tirelessly to stop the spread of the gospel. He faced Roman enemies who demanded that he pay homage to Caesar. He faced Jewish zealots who loved the traditions and their own traditions and not the Messiah who they claim to be waiting for. He faced enemies who loved their sin and hate calls to repentance. And let's face it, hatred of God is not rational. Sin is not rational. Why do we love to do things that destroy us and the people around us? Why do we love to do things that destroy us and the people around us? The only solution is that we need God's help. We must pray. Remember, in the spiritual armor, there are only two offensive weapons. God's word, which is the sword of the Spirit, and prayer. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 17 says, "And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and also for me that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel." And that last verse there, verse 19 of Ephesians chapter 6, "I believe, I believe that there are some of you in here who pray for Ben and I regularly and the other elders too. But frankly, we need more of you to do that or to pray more often. Pray that we would have courage to boldly proclaim the mystery of the gospel, both in the pulpit and in the counseling office. Pray that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored and pray that the wicked and evil men would not get a foothold here at this church or in our ministries. We need your prayers. We, Ben and I and Steve and Chad and Lee and Ron, we need your prayers. Pray for us. And pray with confidence. Look at verses 3 and 4, "But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you that you are doing and will do the things that we command." Even though even though the Apostle Paul regularly faced strong opposition to his preaching ministry, he always maintained that confidence while he was praying for his ministry. Why? Why is Paul so confident? Because the Lord is faithful. He says that explicitly there in verse 3, "The Lord is faithful." But here's the problem. Not all have faith. That's our problem. That's why some of us don't pray because it feels like no one is listening. Like my prayers aren't making any difference because I get so distracted by my phone or my own thoughts. But the Lord is faithful and this is what matters. This is why we pray. He will establish your hearts in every good work and word. Like Paul, we must pray with confidence in the Lord for gospel success in preaching, in witnessing, in raising our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Not because we're confident in ourselves or because we believe that our prayers have some kind of power over God which will compel him to act, not at all. Our confidence is in the fact that God is faithful. He will save those whom he calls and we pray believing that he will use us to do just that. Paul knows that the significant factor here is not the strength of the enemy. It's the character and promises of the Lord. God's faithfulness is what gives us confidence in prayer. It's one of the big themes of Scripture. God's faithfulness. I'll give you one quick example. You'll test in prophet Jeremiah. In the midst of the wreck and rubble of Jerusalem, as the people are in captivity, a Jerusalem has fallen, the walls are caved in, the temple is destroyed. In the midst of that, Jeremiah writes lamentations. A lament is why, God, or how long, oh Lord? It's a crying out to God, have you seen the destruction? How long is this going to last? How long until your people turn back to you? In the midst of lamentations, chapter 3, verses 22 and 23, pretty much in the middle of the book, he says this, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness." Great is thy faithfulness. That's where the hymn comes from, actually. Lamentations, chapter 3. So this week you probably watched some of the flooding and destruction from the hurricane. One that stood out to me was a video of people looking, I think in North Carolina, looking at a river and in the background, a house floats by. It gets behind some trees and you can see the porch of the house looks like it gets hung up in the trees or whatever's back to the debris. So a house floats by on the river, everybody, you know, a family, everything they own, I'm sure, floats by, gets hung up in the tree, collapses, gone. Great is your faithfulness. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Can we sing that? Would we say that? Paul prays with confidence. Not only in the spread of the gospel, but also that the Lord will complete their sanctification. This is verse 4 here. And we have confidence in the Lord about you that you are doing and will do the things that we command because they are a new creation. Because the saints at Thessalonica are a new creation, Paul is confident in their obedience to the Lord's commands. And so in this case, he is confident that they will pray and God will answer. And so I would ask to the same of you. Brothers, pray for us, pray for the pastors and elders of redemption Bible Church. Pray that the word of the Lord would speed ahead and be honored. Pray that we would remain steadfast in ministry. But for the deacons of this church, you may have noticed, we have seen some growth in the last couple of years. And so there are decisions that will need to be made. Some of them are fairly small and minor, like security cameras in certain place or how to set up the table in chairs for lunches, things like that. But some of them are fairly major decisions. But the fact that there are now, I think, 79 children in the church through high school. That's from Chad's class down. Where shall we put them? How shall we teach them? How will we best help parents to disciple them? Pray for us. Pray that the Lord would continue to meet our needs. Pray that the Lord would, that we would be able to continually love one another and care for one another. Pray that the Lord would raise up godly young men to be godly fathers who would be able to train up their own children to love their wives as Christ loves the church. Pray for our girls that they would be protected, cared for, nurtured and discipled to be able to raise up their children alongside their husbands in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Pray for the young couples who are just getting started in their marriages and parenting. Pray for those who are not yet married. Pray that God's will would be done. That they would be able to find a believing spouse. That they would use this time now as they're not yet married to serve the Lord faithfully as Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians. Pray for those who are struggling financially. For those who do not have work. Pray for those who are finishing their careers and looking at retirement. Pray for those who are helping family members through difficult times. Pray for our older saints. That they would finish this race well. That they would be able to say, "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race and that they may be able to hear well done, good and faithful servant." Pray that as we continue to grow, we would not be clickish. That we would not lose that sense of love and family that we have cultivated for so many years. Pray. Pray that we would love the new families and the new people that are coming in. That we would love them with an unfailing love, with a non-judgmental love, with the love of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray for us. Pray for one another. That's just a list of a few things you could pray for. There's a whole bunch. Grab a directory and start praying for moms and dads and the kids of the names that you see, even if you don't really know them. Pray for one another. Pray for one another. Pray for the ministry of this church. Not just that we would all be friends, but that we would love one another as Christ, as love the church. We finally pray really verse 5 for one another. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ. Pray that we would love the Lord our God truly with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and that we would be steadfast, immovable in Jesus Christ. Pray that we would not take our eyes off Jesus. Pray for us. Let's do it right now. Father, we thank You for the Holy Spirit. I thank You that we can pray. I thank You in the finished work of Christ that the curtain separating us was torn, that we can boldly approach the throne of grace, knowing that Christ has gone before us, that He sits at the Father's right hand, that He always lives to intercede for us, that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Father, we are thankful that we can boldly approach your throne and call You Father. These requests for our families in the church, for the people of this church, we bring these requests to You today. We ask that You would continue to work, that our love for You would only increase, and that we would remain steadfast in Jesus Christ, not taking our eyes off Him, that we would love one another, that we would be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Father, we pray as we come to the table that we would have thankful hearts. Lord, as we think of Jesus as death on the cross, the new covenant in His blood, body for us, bloodspilt for us. Father, we are reminded of Jesus' faithfulness, of your faithfulness toward us. We have been unfaithful, and yet we are here because You have kept us, because You have kept, because You have said, "I will never leave You, no forsake You." And so Father, we come today with thankful hearts, praying that You would continue to work. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]