As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.

--Parallel verses:
‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭17‬-‭18‬
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Different planes can be illustrated in math. You plot and connect coordinates on an axis. If you connect the dots in one set of coordinates, then a second, and they don’t intersect, one could say they are on different planes.

At times it seems like certain people we communicate with are on different planes than we are. We simply have a hard time understanding them. One might speak in a very creative way highlighting how circumstance or people make them feel; while the other may logically solve problems in life very efficiently.

Paul describes in II Corinthians two different planes we exist in … in life. One is the temporal and one is the eternal. The temporal plane is only here today and gone tomorrow. It matters only a little bit. And the satisfaction of achieving it is minimal. The other plane of existence is the spiritual plane, the one that is eternal. This plane is one that matters for eternity, and we are called to elevate it in importance.

This is what Paul does here in the verses in Thessalonians. He speaks of and asks for prayer for things that are primarily eternal: Pray that the message of salvation may spread and be honored. Then he asks for temporal needs: To be delivered from wicked and evil people.

I need to order my prayers to God, in general, in the same pattern as Paul. My heart should gravitate to prioritize God’s work above my personal challenges.

Lord, thanks for this model of prayer and request from Paul. Turn my heart more to prioritize your work and your ways first. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭33‬)