Do We?

In 1 Thessalonians 3:10, Paul writes, "as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith."  That convicts me.  The words "most earnestly" in the Greek are huper perissos.  Literally, that means, "beyond more than necessary."  So, if I can break it down this way: he could have prayed, he could have prayed more than necessary, but he takes it one step further to pray beyond more than necessary.  What was he praying for?  To see them again and minister to them.  Not to downplay it, but is that it?  Seriously, it's not like it is something overly vital.  Yet he is committing himself to pray beyond more than necessary for it.  Do we pray like that for anything?  If anything, I hear more people asking, "How much do I have to pray?"  We look for the minimum.  To add a fourth level of prayer, maybe our lives add the first level of barely praying.

Do we pray for revival?  Do we pray for the salvation of the lost?  Do we pray for the spiritual growth of the believers at our churches?  Do we ever pray more than necessary for any of those things?  Have we ever come anywhere close to praying beyond more than necessary for any of them?  To add even more to it, he clarifies by saying, "night and day."  He is basically consumed with praying over this.  We rattle off a few requests and feel proud of ourselves for praying.  Paul was so burdened that he didn't just pray.  He didn't just pray more than necessary.  He prayed beyond more than necessary.  Do we have hearts that so beat with the heart of God that we are moved to pray with that kind of intensity for anything?