“…night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith?”

what is lacking in your faith?

“Lacking” means want, deficiency. Timothy’s trip to Thessonalica found some deficiency or shortcoming in the faith of the Thessalonians. There was an area of faith where the gospel team was not able yet to impart to the Thessalonians.   The Christian never reaches a point of absolute completion of their faith. If we stop growing, then we plateau in our walk with the Lord.

The word “faith” isolates the area where they needed equipping. Christians need constant development in their knowledge of God’s Word, its formation into principles, and application to experience. This is how we exercise our faith.

PRINCIPLE:

All Christians have some areas where they need to grow.

APPLICATION:

There is no place of perfection here on this earth. We should not pray to be free from problems but that God would show us how to cope with problems. We should pray that we would equip our faith to meet whatever problem we might face.

There is always more ground to possess spiritually. We all have serious deficiencies that prevent us from obtaining a well-rounded faith.

Paul prayed many years after becoming a Christian that he would grow in his walk with the Lord.

Phil. 3:12-15, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. ¹³ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴ I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.”