Pray like Jesus
Notes
Transcript
WELCOME:
Yard sale update: Thank you to everyone for your hard work! We had a great turnout. We made a nice profit. And most of all we had some great fellowship.
We raised
We raised $1228 from vendor renting spaces
The kids raised $666 on food
We raised over $900 from the yard sale itself
SCRIPTURE READING:
The Lord sustains all who fall And raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to You, And You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. The Lord keeps all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.
LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!
“The Goodness of God”
Words and Music by Hillsong’
PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS
Lord, thank you for your constancy. For never turning Your back on us, for never getting frustrated with us, for forgiving our sins, for allowing us to be part of Your plan. We ask that You would look down upon this gathering of people and fill our hearts with great joy today as we focus on You. Amen!
“What a beautiful Name”
Words and Music by Hillsong
“What a beautiful Name”
Words and Music by Hillsong
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS
Lord, give us ears to hear Your voice and eyes to see Your glory. Would you this morning illuminate Your Word and make it known to us? Help us no to make application to others peoples’ lives, but to apply every Word to our own lives. Amen
SERMON
INTRODUCTION:
This morning we are going to cover The Lord’s Prayer in John chapter 17. Most of us are familiar with Jesus’ model prayer from Matthew chapter 6, “Pray then in this way, Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name…”
But this prayer in John 17 is unique because it is a prayer from Jesus to the Father and primarily for believers.
John Knox was the founder of the presbyterian church in the 16th century and he would have his wife read him this prayer of Jesus as he was dying.
And he said as he listened to this prayer over and over, he forgot his weakness and began praying for those around him, and those who were recently converted, and those who were far from the gospel.
And while he prayed like Jesus, he died and entered into the presence of Jesus.
If we want to pray like Jesus, this in one of the best examples we have in Scripture
Let’s read it together and then we will walk through here and look at 5 things Jesus prays for that should be in our prayers as well.
Read the Entire chapter 17
1) Pray for God’s Glory
1) Pray for God’s Glory
Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Explanation:
The prayer begins with a focus on God. He is going to the cross. His mission is coming to a climax. But His greatest concern is not for strength to complete it, or wisdom how to navigate it, but that He would bring God glory through it.
“Glorify the Son, that the Son may glorify You”
That was Jesus’ primary desire to bring God glory.
What does it mean to glorify God?
It means to make God great!
It means that whatever we do, our actions, our words, our decisions will causes people look up to God and say wow you are absolutely amazing!
Thats what Jesus had on his heart here. This was His priority!
God all thats before me: the suffering, the rejection, the trial by Pilate, the shame, the cross: Would you cause it to glorify you!?
Would you take this situation that i am headed into and make everything come together in such a way that the whole world would see your greatness and splendor!
And I cant think of a better way for us to begin our prayers!
When Jesus said pray like this, “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name”
That is what He is saying. That when we pray, we are to pray for things that will glorify thew name of God!
How do our prayers normally begin?
Well it depends on the circumstances in our lives!
If we’re going out to knock on doors, we pray for open hearts and the Holy Spirit to convict souls.
If we have problems in our lives, we are praying for God’s help!
If we are happy and things are going good, our prayers are filled with praise and gratitude!
But how often do we pray with this in mind: God whatever you do, do it so that you will be glorified?!
Application: We can narrow down our prayers a whole lot if we would simply ask that question before we lift it up in prayer.
We can figure out much of God’s will in our lives by asking this simple question: Will this bring glory to God?
We can direct our prayers to be much more in line with God’s will if we first asked ourselves this: will this thing I am asking for bring glory to God!?
This primary concern church….should be to bring God glory.
If this was the first thing on Jesus’ lips in prayer, it should be the first thing on our lips as well.
2) Pray that God will keep you faithful
2) Pray that God will keep you faithful
“I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
Explanation:
Jesus asks God to “keep them in Your name”.
What is He talking about when he asks God to “keep them”?
Well in the next verse Jesus expands on what He means and says since He is leaving, He wants God to keep them like He kept them while He was with them, and not one of them perished (or fell away) except for Judas.
So the keeping Jesus is talking about here is about keeping them faithful, keeping them from apostacy, keeping them from falling into the error of Judas who seen and heard everything but never really had any of it.
This is a theme that we have already seen in this book. And it was most clear in John chapter 6 and probably most well known in John chapter 10.
John 10:27–29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
What I want us to know is to see here is that the reason we continue to stick with Jesus, follow Him, live for Him is not because of our own strength or determination, but because it is the power of God that holds us there.
Most of us easily have convinced ourselves that the reason we are still following Jesus, and still faithful to Jesus is because of our own faithfulness. Because of our own might. Because of our own discipline to stick with it.
And the danger is that we begin to rely upon our own strength and our own abilities. And pride begins to form in hearts and we lose sight of God keeping us
But the Bible says the reason we are sticking with Jesus is because it is God who keeps us faithful.
God will not let you run too far from Him. God will not let you drift to far (if you belong to Him!)
Just look at the life of Jonah! Jonah tried to run but God put him right back where he started and God does the same thing in our life.
1 Corinthians 10:12 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”
This then should be our prayer too.
Lord keep us faithful. Don’t let me ever think that I do not need your hand upon me keeping me in line with your will.
Don’t let me begin to trust in myself! Don’t let me become spiritually prideful for I am sure to fall if I do
3) Pray for God’s protection
3) Pray for God’s protection
“But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
Explanation:
Notice Jesus says here, that he does not ask the Father to take the disciples out of the world even though the world hates them.
Here is the tension of a Christian life in this world: We must live in this world, but we are not live like this world!
In order for the church to fulfill its mission, it must remain in this world. That’s why Jesus says I do not ask that you take out of this world.
It is very hard to make converts if the church hides itself behind the walls of the church and never has any contact with the world.
Our mission here involves rubbing shoulders with this world!
Jesus even says down in verse 18, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world”
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 ““Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations”
Who makes up the world?
It is the people we work with, our neighbors, our families, the people we see in the grocer store, the people who come to our yard-sale.
It’s the people God has placed in our personal lives that we come into contact every day. It’s all those people outside the alls of the church, and some inside the walls of the church
Thats the work that Jesus has left for us and the work that we are to be engaged in. That’s the responsibility of the whole church, every member has been given this assignment.
“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one”
When Jesus says, keep them from the evil one….He is saying do not take them out of the world and do not let them be influenced by the world
The “evil one” Jesus is speaking of is Satan.
And Jesus asks for protection from Satan because as we live in this world on mission, then there will be a constant temptation to fall into sin.
None of us are exempt from it.
It doesn’t matter if you work from home and the only people you see are in business matters and restaurants, or if you are in ministry, the evil one is constantly working to tempt God’s people to become like the world, to sin, to ruin their credibility, to ruin their testimony, AND HE SUCCEEDS QUITE OFTEN.
There was a man well known in reformed circles by the name of Steven Lawson.
Praised for his sound theology, praised for his ability to preach, a guy who had a huge platform in this nation, confessed to an adulterous relationship, became disqualified from any pastoral ministry permanently, and caused much damage to the church by his actions and probably much more than we will ever know this side of heaven
Is Steven Lawson a false convert? I don’t think so. He is a man who let his guard down, was tempted by Satan, and fell into sin and ruined his ministry that had such a great influence.
We are to adopt the practices, and theology, and values, and secular ideas that are common in this world but contrary to the Word of God!
We have been sent into this world on a dangerous mission and we must not think for a moment that we are untouchable, that Satan can not fool us into making spiritually devastating mistakes because of unwise decisions.
I have seen multiple people shipwreck their faith in name of winning someone to Jesus.
We must never forget we have a great enemy who is much wiser than we are and knows our weaknesses.
Jesus gave this advice to his apostles that he sent out on mission and it is a wonderful prayer to keep on our lips in prayer
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Pray for wisdom. We must not foolish and think we do not need the wisdom of God at all times in our life. There is never time when we should not be asking for God to give us wisdom.
Pray for innocense. This world has a way to make us act out sinfully, become hard hearted, become divisive, on and on. We must pray that we would be innocent as a dove.
4) Pray for your sanctification
4) Pray for your sanctification
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
Explanation:
Jesus asks for the Father to: “Sanctify them in truth”
Sanctification means “to be set apart”. When God called Israel out of Egypt to be His people, He set them apart from all the other nations to be different! He gave them instruction how to live, how to worship and how to relate to one another. He called them to be different.
Jesus is saying the same thing here: (v 17) “they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world”.
Jesus expects the church to be radically different from the world.
We are to look different, act different live different, because living in the kingdom of God is vastly different than the kingdoms of this world.
For example:
The worlds says keep all you can and you will have an abundance. The Bible says the more you give away the more you will have.
The world says you should hate your enemy and take revenge. The Bible says love your enemy and pray for them.
The world says if you want to be great, then make your way to the top. The Bible says the greatest among you will be your servant.
Now notice how Jesus says we will be sanctified: “Sanctify them in truth, Your Word if truth”
God takes us who have been discipled by this world our entire lives, puts a new heart and mind inside of us and then by His Word Sanctifies us so that we will live lives that are set apart.
There are two ingredients to this sanctification:
1) One is from God. Jesus is asking God specifically to sanctify His people. In other words it is God who works in the Christian’s life to make them more like Jesus.
2) The other is with truth. God does that through His truth! Now hopefully you will get truth every Sunday morning when you come into this worship service. If the Bible is preached, truth is proclaimed.
But that is hardly enough to combat the amount of false worldly information we receive from the world all throughout the week.
What I am saying church is if you want to be more like Jesus, then you must read your Bible. And here is a good principle to keep in mind as you read: God teach me how I can be more like Jesus.
Don’t read it for knowledge! This is not the morning news paper where the great treasure to be found is how many concubines Solomon had! This is the book of sanctification by which God uses to transform our lives and so that is the treasure which we are searching for as we read it!
Lord of show me today more of YOU! Show me today of any actions I need to change in my life! Reveal to em things in my heart that do not need to be there. Show me ways that I may trust You more deeply! Let me read things that cause me to worship You more genuinely.
Sanctify me with Your Word.
5) Pray for unity
5) Pray for unity
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
Explanation:
I think church unity is one of those things we see and hear about so much, but think little of. We take it for granted when we have it, greatly desire it more than anything it when it is not, and we do not realize the impact that it has on the world around us.
In these verses Jesus prays that “they ALL may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us”.
This is a prayer for ALL of God’s people to be united together. That includes those within this church, those who are part of other churches, those who are part of other denominations, those who are in other countries…all of God’s people are to modeled after the relationship that exists within the Godhead.
Now that raises some questions because rarely do we see baptist churches coming together with other denominations as being together in Christ. And then also why are there so many different denominations. If Jesus prays that we are all one, why so many different sects of Christians?
I want you to notice what Jesus says is going to create this unity: (v 20) “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word?
Jesus says I am not just praying for these 11 disciples here with Me now, but for all those who will believe in Jesus through THEIR WORD. That is those who will adhere and commit to what these apostles preached and wrote down for us.
So the unity that we have in the church is to be built upon the apostolic teachings of the apostles.In other words the entire NT.
The bond that holds us together, that makes us one, is the common commitment we share together to know and do all that the NT teaches. That is what makes us unified!
And the reason we have so much disunity among the “church” today is not because Jesus’ prayer failed, but because we have a massive group of people who profess Christ but do not follow the teachings of the NT!
That means for us that if you feel like an outsider, thats the way to become an insider! If you are not unified with the church body, this is why!
It is the adherence to teaching of the NT that brings us together, puts us on the same path in life, causes us to share common struggles, common victories, and a common hope in Jesus.
One more thing about church unity: Church unity should be able to be seen by those outside the church.
Jesus says the world will know that He has been sent from God because of the unity of the church which means how we reality to one another is a testimony to the reality of the Son of God.
Right now the SBC is in turmoil. Membership is dropping rapidly. There are divisions within the SBC and possibly the biggest one being churches placing women in the role of a pastor.
People have many opinions about this issue, but the word of God is clear: the office of of a pastor is reserved for a man. And if churches would just come back to the Word of God and submit to it, unity would follow
CONCLUSION
“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
Jesus prays that all believers will be in heaven with Him, so that we may see His glory.
This is the great Christian hope. We walk through this world hand in hand, through struggles and difficulties, and we do so because the ultimate prize is eternity with God.
And that is why we press on. And that is why we do not give up. Our eyes are on eternity.
“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Eternal life is about a real living personal relationship with God through Jesus.
And that begins here in this life. Do you know Him? You can today. Come and give your life to Jesus. Turn from your sin and trust Him and He will giver you eternal life
~PRAYER~
