Praying for Missionaries

During the past couple of days I have taken the time to read 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. I am so impressed by their reputation. They were obviously a group of believers growing in their faith and with a great love for their brothers and sisters in Christ. What a testimony!

As I was reading I came across two verses that really struck me as great verses for missionaries. In 1st Thessalonians 2:8 Paul says,

We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. (NIV, 1984)

Whoa! All I can say is that I pray that we have this same love for the people with whom we share the gospel. To not only desire to share the gospel but to have such a desire to share their lives with them; what an amazing impact Paul must have had in the lives of these people. 

The second verse that really stood out to me was 2nd Thessalonians 3:1,

. . .pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored. . . (NIV, 1984)

I know that this is the desire of all involved in ministry, that the word of God and the truth would spread rapidly. So often it takes so many years to get just a young, struggling church going but our desire is to see so much more. Thankfully we can rest in God's will and trust that He knows best. May the prayer of our hearts be that we honor Him and His word as we live among these people.