1 Thessalonians 3:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

To pray not only inwardly, but also to set forth the prayer in an epistle, belongs to extraordinary love. It belongs to a soul aflame and truly unconquerable. It also witnesses that prayers were being offered for them there in Greece. At the same time it is a defense, showing that they did not fail to come by their own choice or negligence. He speaks as though saying: May God Himself end the temptations that hinder us on every side from having a straight path to you.

If the Apostle includes his prayer already in the epistle, he thereby shows that he also prayed at home to see them. At the same time he justifies himself, showing that he is far from them not through negligence. It is as though he said: May God Himself end the temptations that hinder us on every side from coming to you by a straight road.

For one and the same grace is given from the Father in the Son, as one light is in the sun and its radiance, and the sun shines through the radiance.

So again, when praying for the Thessalonians and saying, “Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you,” Paul preserved the unity of the Father and the Son.

For he did not say, “may They direct,” as though speaking of a twofold grace given by two, but “may He direct,” wishing to show that the Father gives grace through the Son. The impious heretics could have felt shame at this, but they do not wish to.

May God Himself open and direct our way to you from among those who caused hindrance to our word.

As you know, there is the Father and there is the Son, but the action of the Father and the Son is one, according to the Apostle, who says: “Now may our God and Father Himself. And our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.” He speaks of the Father and the Son, yet They have unity of direction, since there is unity of authority. So also elsewhere the Apostle says: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who loved us and gave us everlasting comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and establish your hearts” (2 Thess 2:15-16).

That is, may He fulfill our desire and remove the difficulties we encounter. This also teaches the equality of the Father and the Son. For the Apostle did not use the preposition διά, but the conjunction καί, “and.” By this he makes known that the Father and the Son accomplish one and the same divine economy, just as They create one and the same thing. That the divine economy is one is also witnessed by what follows. For the Apostle, leaving the Person of God and the Father, mentions the Only Son and says: “And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love toward one another and toward all, as we do toward you.”

The Apostle's prayer contains his desire to see the Thessalonians and to perfect them in mutual love, after the example of the Apostle's love for them. It also asks for their holiness, so that, being established in it, they may be found blameless in every respect at the meeting of the Lord. He is to appear in order to present His faithful ones to God the Father.

"The Apostle desires love above all because it is the bond of perfection (Col 3:14), the fulfillment of the law (Rom 8:10). Christian progress is progress in love (Eph 1:8). As the Lord Himself and the other Apostles do, so St. Paul places love above all else in Christianity (1 Cor ch. 13). But whom does the Apostle mean by all? He often inculcates love for all men (Tit 3:2; 1 Tim 2:1; 1 Thess 5:1)" (Bishop Theophan).

Speaking thus, the Apostle does not exaggerate his love for the Thessalonians in the least. He cannot even render sufficient thanks to God for the spiritual joys which the Thessalonians give him by their faith.

To this divine benefaction he can respond only with fervent prayer, asking God to grant him again the possibility of serving the Thessalonians by seeing them in person. And now the Apostle prays first that God would make his path to Thessalonica straight.

He also prays that, whether or not the Apostle comes to them, God would increase love among the Thessalonians. The Apostle's work is to help complete the Thessalonians' knowledge of the Christian faith. God's work is to multiply love in Christians, and such love as would embrace all men.

The Apostle has already said everything about himself. He concludes his discourse with a prayer that he may come to the Thessalonians, and that they may grow in Christian perfection and appear such at the Second Coming of Christ.

God the Father is Almighty and Creator of visible things. The Lord Jesus Christ is He through whom all things were made (Jn 1:3), and to whom all authority has been given in heaven and on earth (Mt 28:19).

This is all-governing authority, ordering everything for the good of the faith and the faithful. He promised to be with believers always, to the end of the age (Mt 28:20), and to fulfill every petition of theirs.