“For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we need not say anything.”
– 1 Thessalonians 1:8
What a commentary on the church at Thessalonica, that the word of the Lord has sounded forth from this group of Christians, this local body of believers, the word of God has sounded forth in Macedonia and Achaia, so basically the region all around them, but not just there. Their faith in God had gone forth everywhere. What a statement; everywhere. So far, that Paul doesn’t have another word to describe how far it’s gone. It’s gone everywhere, so that we need not say anything. In other words, the faith of these believers, the word of God had spread from this church, from these believers, far beyond even the region right around them.
Lord please cause Your Word to go forward. May Your Word not be stuck, insulated inside the walls of our church buildings, but cause it to sound forth to the ends of the earth.
1 Thessalonians 1:8 Leads us to Pray for Our Communities
Don’t you want that to be true of your church? Don’t you want the word of God to resound, to sound forth. What a great picture. Like going out in the region right around you. Yes, may the word of the Lord spread in the community, in this city where you are, because of your church and then beyond the community, city, region, where you are around the world. So the only word is like it’s going everywhere from that church.
Oh God, we pray for this. God, I pray for this in a fresh way right now for the church that I pastor. God, I pray that your word, not the name of our church, not anybody else’s name, certainly mine, anybody else’s and may the name of Jesus and the word of the Lord, may your word, oh God, sound forth all across metro Washington, D.C. and everywhere.
1 Thessalonians 1:8 Leads Us to Pray for Our Own Churches
God I ask for that and pray for this, for the church I pastor, McLean Bible Church, and then God, I pray for this right now, for all the churches that are represented, listening to this prayer right now, praying this with me. God, we pray that this would be true in our churches. May your words sound forth right around us.
God, please cause your word to go forward, may it not be stuck, insulated inside the walls of our church buildings. God, may it sound forth from us as we scattered from our churches week in and week out. May your word resound throughout the cities where we live. May your words spread to more and more and more people and God, we ask, may it not stop in the city right around us. God, may your words sound forth from churches representing those who are praying this right now.
Praying for the Siddi Muslims of India
God, I pray for these other churches. May your word sound forth everywhere through them. May brothers and sisters from these churches be going out with your word, not just into their city but far beyond their city. Not just in their communities, but far beyond to places where your word has not gone. God praying today for the Siddi people in India, 8 million of them. 0.0% believe in the gospel right now.
God for these Siddi Muslims in India, please, please cause your word to sound forth among them. Please, oh God, cause your word to be made known everywhere among the Siddi Muslims in India. Please draw them to yourself. Use our churches toward that end. God, please, don’t let us be content as your church. Yes, content in Christ. Of course, God we pray for that, but God, give us a Holy discontent with the fact that your word is not gotten to the Siddi in India and so many other people groups that we’re praying for. God, please cause your word to sound forth among them. We asked for that now.
God send out laborers from our churches to sound forth your word in those places, among those people. God, please, please, may the commentary on our churches be that your word, the word of the Lord, sounded forth, resounded to your glory, everywhere. We ask this. O God, we pray for this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
