Lessons on Prayer (7)

This morning we come to the end of our series on prayer. As I thought and prayed about how we might bring it to a close, there seemed to be one place in my mind that we should go, . This passage is actually what should be referred to as ‘The Lord’s prayer’. In we have that wonderful lesson on prayer that Jesus gives His disciples…Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

It’s a model for us to use in prayer, but it not the Lord’s prayer! Here in we have what is best described as the Lord’s prayer! And it’s so important, because one of the works of Christ that we can so easily forgot, overlook, belittle, is His work of intercession! Even now, right at this moment Jesus is working for His people, He is interceding on our behalf.

…Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. ()

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ()

Jesus Christ is in the presence of God, and He is working for us! He is continually applying the good of His saving work, His atonement, to His people. He speaks for us, He pleads for us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate (intercessor) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. () Now it’s important not to misunderstand this, it’s not like God the Father is the angry one and God the Son has to keep Him calm and persuade Him to like us and not wipe us out! No, the work of Christ as our Great High Priest, as the One who intercedes for us, was part of the Father’s plan, it was designed in love by the Father!

So as we come then to it is so important, because it gives us an insight into just what Jesus’ work of intercession looked like, and looks like even now!

From the beginning of chapter 13 Jesus has been in the Upper Room with His disciples and has been teaching them. It’s a powerful and moving scene, you can imagine the emotion and significance of it! Jesus knows it’s now a matter of hours before His arrest, all His discipling of these men has reached the final stages before the cross, it’s all been leading up to this one point! And Jesus takes time to teach them one last time! He washes their feet and calls them to sacrificial love, He foretells His denial, He tells them that He will be leaving but that the gift of the Spirit will be given (who will lead them into all truth) as they wait for His return, He explains to them how He is the true vine, and the fruitfulness that God requires is found as we abide in Him (and that main fruit here is love for one another). He warns them that persecution awaits but the day is coming when sorrow will turn to joy!

And then as they journey towards the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays! And how significant that is alone! One thing that has struck me as we’ve looked at some of the prayers of Paul, is the fact that he didn’t see his work as done after he taught, he then prayed!! And here we see a similar model from Christ! He’s taught some rich and wondrous things in the Upper Room, but now He prays!

He firstly prays for Himself, and what is about to unfold in v.1-5, then He prays for His disciples (those whom the Father has given to Him), that they would be united, protected, holy!

And then in v.20-26 He prays for those who would believe in the future! He prayed for us! If you are a Christian this morning, If you have been born again of God’s Spirit, you are in this passage, Jesus prays for you!! So let’s finish our series on pray, not by considering our need, privilege, practice of prayer, but by just pondering the Son of God, the One who prays for us! And my hope as we do that, is that we will be greatly encouraged!

Who is it Christ Prays for? (v.20)

Just notice what Jesus says here in v.20…I do not ask for these only (meaning His disciples that He has just prayed for in v.6-18), but also those who will believe in me through their word...

There are a specific group that Jesus has in mind as He prays here, and that group is tied to the group He’s just prayed for, His disciples. It was to the disciples that Jesus promised But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (). And from that these disciples wrote down the rest of the N.T, they proclaimed the gospel message in power, it’s through their word, which is then the word of God, inspired by the Spirit of God, that we hear, we believe!

We can know God exists by looking at creation, we can have an idea of His moral law through our conscious, but to come to a saving faith, to believe on Christ for salvation, we need to hear God’s Word, it is necessary! Faith come through hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. That’s why the work of Bible translation is so essential to world missions!!

Jesus has been explicit in v.9…when praying for His disciples, I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. And how do we know who the Father has given to the Son, He tells us in the previous verse v.8...

God loves the world, Jesus has already told us this in Ch. 3, He loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, that’s why Jesus has been given! But here we see that Jesus has a particular love for His people! That doesn’t take from the fact He loves the world, but God’s love for the world is not the same as His love for His people!

I can honestly say that as I think about the children in this church I love them, I want what is good for them, I long to see them grow to be men and women of God! But it’s not the same as my love for my children! That love is on a different level, it’s on a different scale. I will work for their good, care for them at whatever cost to myself, lead them, protect them, provide for them, teach them!

God loves His children in a way that He does not love the world in general, and here we see an example of that. Jesus is not praying for all the people who will come after Him, He is praying for a specific group, those who will believe in Him through the Word!

So here we are 2,000 years later, and many of you in this building have believed! You’ve heard, you’ve understood the Word, you’ve seen your need for a saviour to rescue you from your sin and God’s wrath, and you’ve believed in Jesus as the only rescuer, the bread of Life, the Light of the World, the door, the Good Shepherd, the way the truth and the life!

If that is you this morning, rejoice!! Right now, and for the rest of your days, Jesus Christ is and will intercede for you! He is at the Father’s right hand and you are on His mind, on His heart! Just like when the High Priest in the Old Covenant would go into the Holy of Holies, but He would go wearing a breastplate with 12 beautiful stones representing the 12 tribes, the people of God. And on His head He would wear the turban saying ‘Holy unto the Lord’. Now Christ fulfills that, He is our Great High Priest, He bears our names and presents them to the Father as beautiful, as holy unto Him!What a thought, we mess up so much, we fall short every day! And yet Jesus Christ intercedes for His people!

And maybe you’re here and you haven’t yet believed! This morning, is He drawing you, is He calling you to Himself? If so, if you feel that need, if you realise your sin and danger, and you see Jesus is the One who saves. Don’t resist, don’t wait, call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved!

What a thought, we mess up so much, we fall short every day! And yet Jesus Christ intercedes for His people! And maybe you’re here and you haven’t yet believed! This morning, is He drawing you, is He calling you to Himself? If so, if you feel that need, if you realise your sin and danger, and you see Jesus is the One who saves. Don’t resist, don’t wait, call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved!

What is it Christ asks for? (v.21-24)

There are 2 things we see here that Jesus is praying for us and the first in unity...

Unity

Now this is not the first time we’ve seen God’s heart for His people to be One, Jesus has taught this very thing in the Upper Room. But here we see Jesus pray for this unity, this is something of such significance that Jesus makes it a focus of prayer!

Now when we think of unity within the church our minds can run off in numerous directions! Does this mean that all our denominations are sinful and against God’s will (in some cases maybe). Does it mean that we should stop being so particular about doctrine, and beliefs. Does it really matter if one believes that God’s Word is central in the life of the church, and someone else believes it’s secondary? Does it really matter if this guy believes that Jesus died as our substitute in our place to take God’s wrath, and that guy believes God would never punish His own Son, and Jesus dies simply as an example for us of sacrificial love. As long as we all ‘love’ Jesus, surely what matters is not what we believe but rather that we’re one!

I don’t think that’s the unity Christ has in mind here as He prays, because remember who it is He is praying for, it’s those who have believed through the Word! It’s those who have accepted the teaching of the apostles inspired by the Holy Spirit! What we believe matters terribly!! Now will there be issues that we disagree on, sure…we have brothers and sister who baptise infants, we have brothers and sisters who only sing Psalms in their services, we have brothers and sisters who believe slightly different things when it comes to communion or church leadership, or the return of Jesus Christ, or the gifts of the Spirit!

And yet, we all hold to the same gospel, we all trust and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in Him alone as our means of being right with God! And although we may be then distinct to other believers, we are still one! Just as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all distinct. They are three persons, and yet, one God!

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So Jesus prays that we would be one! One passion, one purpose, one goal, one ambition, one drive, one focus, despite all our differences! Now if Jesus Christ holds that with such importance that He makes it a topic of prayer, and if He did on earth, why would we think it’s different now as He sits at the Father’s right hand?

Shouldn’t that be a great encouragement and challenge to us! Jesus is working for our unity, He’s praying that we’d grow together as One, that we’d know the reality of ‘us in Him and Him in us’, and as we know that, and others know that, the result is unity!! It has to be! How can you be growing in Christ, whilst at the same time growing apart from the rest of His body? You can’t, it’s impossible!!

And that’s where the challenge comes, Christ prays for this unity and His prayer will be answered. But we must work it out in our lives! If we have an issue with someone in the fellowship, we must seek to deal with it, put it right, make peace, restore unity! If we don’t, we go against His will for us! Now at times others will not want that reconciliation, but we must try and if they refuse then that’s where we need to involved others! Unity isn’t a nice idea, it’s central in the heart of God!

And do you see the purpose of this unity here…so that the world may believe that you have sent me…that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Here is the great outcome of gospel unity, the world sees something that is explainable!! When people see a random, mismatch of people, who would not normally fit together, loving one another sacrificially, and living their lives all for one clear and certain purpose! Then they take notice, they ask questions, and they see that the Christ these people proclaim is the real deal!

And as this oneness and unity grows, as it is perfected Jesus prays, people see that this oneness this security, this freedom even in the midst of hurt, disappointments, hardship, is possible because they are truly loved and they are safe in that love!!

The more we believe in God’s love for us in Christ, the more we’ll be freed to pursue unity with brothers and sisters even when we get hurt in the process!

Glory (v.24)

Look at the second request of Christ here, He desires for His people to be with Him, why? So they can see His glory! What a breathtaking thought! Jesus is praying for us, He’s asking that we be with Him, that we get to behold Him in all His glory! The glory that was veiled in humanity on this earth, but is now veiled no longer!

I don’t know if you’ve ever bought something, or been given something of great value to you. And you delight in it so much that you just can’t wait to invite others other to see and enjoy it with you, to share in your joy!

And that is what Christ is praying for us here! He wants us to be with Him, not to see things He has, but to see Him Himself in all His glory!! Can you imagine Him praying that over you just now, ‘Father keep them trusting, protect them from the evil one, enable them to endure this trial, don’t let them turn away,forgive them for that failing because of my sacrifice, I want them to be with me, I want them to see my glory!’

His prayers won’t fail!! We can be so inconsistent, so half hearted, so easily discouraged in prayer! But Jesus isn’t!! What a joy to know this morning that He prays for us! And He will continue to pray for His people, asking that they know the joy of being One, and so testify to the world, and asking that they are kept, that they might be with Him to enjoy the fullness of His glory for all eternity!!