Have you ever noticed how certain words will resonate with you, while others don’t? I think it’s different for everyone because of our upbringing, experiences, maturity, education, geography, etc. But as a Christian, I’ve noticed this with God’s Word too.
For example, one person will cling to Jeremiah 29:11 (For I know the thoughts I think toward you… thoughts of good and not evil..) while another person identifies more with Psalm 23 (The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…). Both scriptures are wonderful reminders of God’s love, but individually we have differing reasons why they are special to us and therefore, repeated often in our prayers.
I have one like that too. And it may surprise you which one it is.
The interesting thing is, I think my spirit knew something my mind didn’t because I ran across this scripture awhile back when I was putting a set of prayers together from God’s Word to encourage my faith in God’s calling into ministry, but other than that, I didn’t have a special reason for clinging to this verse. But my spirit knows why…
It’s 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, which says:
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.
The entire verse is good, but it’s not the whole scripture that keeps rising up in my spirit– just this one phrase: “…the work of faith with power…”
I find myself praying things like, “Thank you Lord for the work of faith with power in me [in my husband, in my children, in them]” or whoever God puts on my heart in prayer. The funny thing is, I’ve prayed this with great conviction although I didn’t fully know at the time what God meant by it.
Other translations read:
“…we pray for you all the time –pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that He’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with His own energy so that it all amounts to something…” (MSG).
“…and with power may complete in [your] every particular work of faith (faith which is that leaning of the whole human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness)…” (AMP).
“…may He give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do…” (NLT).
“…through [His] power He will help you accomplish every good desire and help you do everything your faith produces…” (GWT).
Isn’t that good? God wants us to be effective in our faith!
I looked up the three key words in that phrase and here’s what I found:
WORK —
describes the performance or result of employment (or the labor of our efforts). It’s not the ugly part of work we often associate with in contrast to faith, but is used in the same manner in which we would describe the “work” which Jesus was sent to fulfill on the earth (see John 17:4).
FAITH —
is exactly what you would think: meaning to win over or persuade. It describes a person’s conviction, belief in the truth, or their doctrine. It can also go deeper to mean assurance, having given to all the ability to believe (Acts 17:31).
POWER —
is from the Greek word “dunamis” meaning to be able. It describes achieving power (and where we get our English word dynamite). I always think of Ephesians 1:19 when I see this word. “And what is the exceeding greatness of His power in us who believe…”
God knows things we do not. Therefore it makes sense He would want the full effect of THE WORK OF FAITH WITH POWER to be evident in our lives. So I pray that you would meditate on this and maybe add it to your prayers.
God is faithful to perform (work) His Word (faith) with great ability (power)!”
