In verse three of this short passage on grateful prayer, Paul shares with us the content of grateful prayer.
Work of Faith | Whenever someone acts out of faith in God, God should be thanked and that person encouraged. Imagine situations similar to what Gordon Stueber mentions in this comment: trial, hardship, sacrifice, uncertainty, persecution. Believing God is hard enough without trials but even harder in the midst of suffering. The Thessalonians believed in God's goodness so much that they acted out of their faith. Whenever that happens, God has done something in that person's life.
Labor of Love | If believing God is hard, loving God is even harder. It's one thing to believe that God will do you good through hardship. It is another thing to love God and love others in the midst of that hardship. Hardship can make us self-centered. Hardship can sap love for God and make our obedience motivated out of duty. But God was so strongly empowering the Thessalonians that they loved him and others in the midst of their own trials.
Steadfastness of Hope | Proverbs 13:12 says,
"A hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life."The Thessalonians may have experienced a hope deferred, but they did not let it affect them. They remained steadfast in spite of their circumstances, and this honored the Lord. It made them worthy of his recognition through Paul's gratefulness. Indeed heart sickness is the normal state of mankind when we don't get what we want. But when God is at work in a people, He extends their stamina for hope.
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