Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration…NIVUK

As we have seen, Paul has said in verse 9: We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is that you may be fully restored. 

I simply want to underline the point that prayer and action are not mutually exclusive. They are joined together in a beautiful dance. They move in harmony. So if we pray for spiritual growth, we should take all the steps we can to cultivate our own growth: make full use of the spiritual disciplines and avail ourselves of all the means of grace. If we, as preachers, exhort our congregations to Biblical living, we should also pray for the practical outworking of sermons.

Praying and striving (in God’s strength, of course) belong together.

As someone said, ‘Work as though it all depends on you, and pray as though it all depends on God.’