F. Paul's Prayer (3:11-13)
9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? io Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
Paul's love for his Thessalonian converts and his concern for them in the trials he knew they were undergoing and had been undergoing from the beginning (cf. 1:6) are manifest throughout the letter. Now he asks rhetorically how he can offer adequate thanks to God for them and speaks once more of his constant prayers for them.
9 The turn of events could be interpreted as providing an opportunity for the founders of the church at Thessalonica to indulge in some self-congratulation. They had built well, and their handiwork had survived a severe test. But Paul's satisfaction is not in any way selfsatisfaction; it is satisfaction at what God has wrought. He knewnone better-that it is not of human beings to do a spiritual work. That is done only by the grace of God. Now that he has had such a signal manifestation of this grace he asks what thanksgiving (not "thanks" but the expression of thanks is meant) can be rendered28 to God for all that he has done (cf. 2 Cor. 4:15). That he asks his question with this verb shows that any thanksgiving he may offer is bound to be inadequate.
At the end of the verse Paul rejoices mightily at what has happened. We should not overlook the fact that he has just referred to the troubles in which he found himself (v. 7), but even in the middle of severe trouble he knows that God brings joy (cf. 1:6). So Paul refers not merely to happiness, but to joy before God; his joy is a spiritual state, a joy of divine origin, and not a fleshly satisfaction. But if it is true that his thoughts are God-centered, it is also true that he finds a large place for the Thessalonians. "Our God" links Paul and the Thessalonians in the divine presence. Findlay points out that in verses 6-10 he has used the Greek pronoun for "you" in one of its cases no less than ten times (CGT). He dwells on the Thessalonians with frank delight.
10 In harmony with this he is always praying for them. P. T. O'Brien points out that up to this point "issues of the past and present have been at the centre of Paul's thanksgiving." But this petitionary prayer looks to the future and thus "marks a major turning-point in the whole letter."29 The move from the concerns of the past and the present to those of the future is significant. "Night and day" does not denote prayer at two set times, but rather continued prayer. And if his prayer is continual it is also fervent, an unusual adverb being employed to bring this out.30 Paul uses it elsewhere only in 5:13 and Ephesians 3:20, and nobody else in the New Testament employs it at all. There are various ways of expressing the thought of abundance, and this double compound is probably the most emphatic of all. There is nothing perfunctory or merely formal about Paul's prayers. They come from his heart and his passionate yearning to see his friends again. In line with this he uses here a word for "pray" that basically signifies "a want" or "a lack" rather than the more common word expressive of devotion. His prayer springs from a sense of deprivation. He feels that he needs them and he prays accordingly.
His prayer is first of all that31 he might see them. This follows on much that he has said earlier, and that has left no doubt of his deep desire for reunion with his friends. But when he joins them again he does not want simply to talk about the weather. So he goes on to say that he prays that he may "supply what is lacking in your faith" (cf. Rom. 1: 11). Notice this further reference to the faith of his converts. Throughout this chapter he has come back to their faith again and again. Yet in his joy at the faith that they undoubtedly possessed he was not oblivious of the sterner realities of the situation. His desire to be with them was accompanied32 by the desire to be useful by remedying the defects there were in that faith.
This comes out both in the verb he employs for "supply"33 and the noun rendered "what is lacking." The former means basically "to render complete" and of itself indicates that its object is not complete. It is used in the material sphere of such an activity as mending nets (Matt. 4:21), while in the spiritual realm the cognate noun is employed of the process of bringing the saints to perfection (Eph. 4:12). It is such a sense as this last that is in mind here. "What is lacking"34 is our rendering of a plural noun from a root meaning "to come behind." It may be used of material lack (2 Cor. 8:14; 9:12, etc.) but also, as here, of deficiencies in spiritual matters. The plural points us to the fact that more than one thing needed rectification. The time that the preachers had been able to spend with the Thessalonians when the church was established had been limited. It had been quite impossible to give them all the teaching that they needed, and defects were now showing up accordingly. Paul has dwelt with obvious delight on the state of the Thessalonians, but that did not mean that he was blind to their failings. As a true pastor he knew that there was much that had yet to be done for them. Timothy's report doubtless brought Paul up to date on what was still lacking in this church. It was his aim to play some part in seeing that they were set forward on the right road. He cannot be there in person to do this, so he is writing instead, and perhaps we should see chapters 4 and 5 as directed to that end.