I Thessalonians 1:2

(Rom 1:9; Ti2 1:3.) The structure of the sentences in this and the following verses, each successive sentence repeating with greater fulness the preceding, characteristically marks Paul's abounding love and thankfulness in respect to his converts, as if he were seeking by words heaped on words to convey some idea of his exuberant feelings towards them. We--I, Silvanus, and Timotheus. Rom 1:9 supports ALFORD in translating, "making mention of you in our prayers without ceasing" (Th1 1:3). Thus, "without ceasing," in the second clause, answers in parallelism to "always," in the first.

I. The apostle begins with thanksgiving to God. Being about to mention the things that were matter of joy to him, and highly praiseworthy in them, and greatly for their advantage, he chooses to do this by way of thanksgiving to God, who is the author of all that good that comes to us, or is done by us, at any time. God is the object of all religious worship, of prayer and praise. And thanksgiving to God is a great duty, to be performed always or constantly; even when we do not actually give thanks to God by our words, we should have a grateful sense of God's goodness upon our minds. Thanksgiving should be often repeated; and not only should we be thankful for the favours we ourselves receive, but for the benefits bestowed on others also, upon our fellow-creatures and fellow-christians. The apostle gave thanks not only for those who were his most intimate friends, or most eminently favoured of God, but for them all. II. He joined prayer with his praise or thanksgiving. When we in every thing by prayer and supplication make our requests known to God, we should join thanksgiving therewith, Phi 4:6. So when we give thanks for any benefit we receive we should join prayer. We should pray always and without ceasing, and should pray not only for ourselves, but for others also, for our friends, and should make mention of them in our prayers. We may sometimes mention their names, and should make mention of their case and condition; at least, we should have their persons and circumstances in our minds, remembering them without ceasing. Note, As there is much that we ought to be thankful for on the behalf of ourselves and our friends, so there is much occasion of constant prayer for further supplies of good. III. He mentions the particulars for which he was so thankful to God; name…

1:2-10 After thanking God for the faith, love, and hope of the Thessalonian believers (1:2-3), Paul recalls how the Good News was proclaimed to them (1:4-5) and how they accepted its message (1:6-10). Paul returns to these themes in 2:1-12 and 2:13-16. 1:2 We always thank God for all of you is the first of three thanksgivings for the church (see 2:13; 3:9).