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Paul’s thorn in the flesh…From prayers to praise.Paul was not immune to the danger of pride. No one is. The best of God’s people have in them a root of pride, or a disposition to be exalted above measure, upon their receipt of favours from God not common to others.A thorn in the flesh was given to me…to prevent being exalted above measure, Paul uses this gift from God as a lesson explaining how the infinities we all have actually glorifies God….Don’t miss this lesson.It seems that everyone could see the thorn in the flesh Paul suffered from ,it was no secret. His heavenly vision was a secret until now, but everyone saw the thorn. Some among the Corinthian Christians probably thought less of Paul because of his thorn in the flesh, but they knew nothing of the amazing spiritual experience that lay behind it.Paul did exactly what he told others to do in a time of trouble. Paul believed for himself what he wrote in Philippians 4:6…Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.So Paul pleaded with the Lord three times.We might imagine that when the thorn in the flesh first appeared Paul thought, This is no problem. I’ll just give it to the Lord in prayer. But then nothing happened when he prayed. So he thought, This is a tough one, and prayed again. When nothing happened after praying the third time, he knew God was trying to tell him something important.When his passionate and repeated plea was not answered, it must have concerned Paul. It added other dimension,s to this trial.It was given to Paul, not inflicted on him….2 Corinthians 12:9It had a physical dimension, in that it was a thorn in the flesh.It had a mental dimension, in that it was a messenger of Satan.It had a spiritual dimension, in that it was an unanswered prayer.Some say it is unspiritual and evidence of little faith to pray for something more than once. That would be surprising to Paul, who pleaded with the Lord three times, and to Jesus, who prayed with the same words three times in His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:39-41).What exactly was Paul’s thorn in the flesh? We simply don’t have enough information to say precisely, but that hasn’t prevented many commentators and teachers from giving their opinion.Some see it mainly as spiritual harassment. Others think it was persecution. Many suggest that it was a physical or mental ailment. Some say this was Paul’s struggle with lustful and sinful thoughts, headache or earache,the list of possibilities is endless.God had a definite purpose in not revealing the exact nature of Paul’s thorn in scripture.If we knew exactly what Paul’s thorn was, then everybody who was afflicted but not in exactly the same way might doubt that Paul’s experience was relevant for them. Paul was getting desperate… no answer from GodPaul had come to realize that God’s grace is really sufficient. All of a sudden it all clicks into place.Paul now understands the importance of this “ thorn in the flesh” We today really don’t believe God’s grace is sufficient until we believe we are totally insufficient. For many of us, especially in America this is a huge job to shun pride.MY grace is sufficient for thee..MY strength is made perfect in weakness…Paul does not resign himself to his fate; he actually now welcomes and embraces it….notice the words gladly/ pleasure.And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong….2 nd Corinthians 12:9-10