“Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess 1:11-12).
What a remarkable chain reaction! Prayers are like that, rippling their blessings out through time and eternity. It’s impossible to limit their happy influence once you send them heavenward.
First, Paul prays for a one-to-one correspondence between God’s intended plan for us and the actual lives we live; then, that our little vessels would fill to overflowing with “all the good pleasure of His goodness”; that confidence in His promises would unleash divine power to live life to the full; and that through this there would be all glory for Christ (His beautiful character revealed to others) and the resources of His grace manifested in our lives. Now there’s a prayer!