It is certainly true that realizing that you are living in the sight and before the presence of God the Father—that realization will improve and strengthen your prayer life. Isn’t it true that we have a tendency to think most about what we are trying to accomplish, the labour we are going to do, about what other people are involved in? Maybe it is our family, maybe it is the church, maybe it is our workplace, and we are almost consumed with what he or she is going to do—and we spend our time trying to influence that.
Well, Paul realized that the blessings he sought for the Thessalonians could come only from God. It was God’s action that he knew really dominated the scene, and so he spent his time not so much trying to win the favour of men but rather praying constantly to God. Let me say this: To the extent that we realize that the spiritual blessings and power that we really need—and that we really ought to be desiring—cannot be procured by man, but instead come as a free gift of a God of grace, the more we realize that, the more it will be seen in our fervour and devotion and constancy in prayer. Spurgeon once said,
Richard D. PhillipsPrayer is the ship that brings home the richest freight.And so it is.1
3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.