"Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you."
2 Thessalonians 3:1 (KJV)
The ESV translates it that the word may "speed ahead." Literally it means "to run." Paul wants us to pray that the ministry of the gospel would shift into high gear and spread with a rage that would compete with a forest-fire.
You see why Paul prays this in the first chapter of the book Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching. Albert Mohler writes of the primacy of preaching in the church and says,
When you hear people speak about how to grow a church, how to build a church, and how to build a great congregation, few and far between are those who say it comes essentially by the preaching of the Word. And we know why, because it comes by the preaching of the Word slowly; slowly immeasurably, sometimes even invisibly, and hence we are back to our problem. If you want to see quick results, the preaching of the Word just might not be the way to go.
Gospel ministry is slow. That's why it needs our prayers.
This last Lord's Day I asked the congregation to be praying for the Lord to give us some ideas for gospel ministry this summer. We want the gospel to "run" here in Ashland. Building a church based on the Word of God is not easy, but it is the way to make a church. Mohler continues,
If you are going to find results in terms of statistics, numbers, and visible response, it just might be that there are other mechanisms, other programs, and other means that will produce that faster. The question is whether it produces Christians.
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