<p>1:2 <em>We give thanks to God always for you all- </em>The Old Testament as well as New is written in such a way as to encourage memorization, although this is often masked by the translation. There are several devices commonly used to assist in this. Not least is alliteration, i.e. similarly sounding syllables, and we have an example here: <em>Pantote Peri Panton</em> (1 Thess. 1:2); <em>&nbsp;<b>Pol</b>ymer<b>os </b>kai <b>pol</b>ytrop<b>os </b></em>(Heb. 1:1); <em>hautee protee entolee</em> (Mk. 12:30); <strong>a</strong><em>phthar<b>ton am</b>ian<b>ton am</b>ara<b>nton</b></em>(1 Pet. 1:3,4).</p><p><em>Making mention of you in our prayers</em>- This means more than just 'mentioning'. To mention before God is a Hebraism referring to actually having real effect upon God's view of the person or situation, just as might make positive mention of someone to a superior. Whilst the Lord Jesus is our only mediator, it is also that because we in Him, we can have influence upon God in regard to others; He is so open to our prayers.</p>