Jesus Prayer For The Believers
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Welcome
Good morning, My name is Troy, and I’m the Lead Pastor hear at FCCCB
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Jab 1
Who has prayed for you?
Parents
Grandparents
Friends
The Church
Family Members
Strangers
Any Sailor Mail
Mayport Prayer Lady Sara Jarvis
Jab 2
Recap prayer series
The Lord's Prayer
We must pray in secret before we pray in public
We must pray sincerely
We must pray seeking God's will
We must pray with a forgiving spirit toward others
We looked at Nehemiah's prayer
Nehemiah prayed boldly
Nehemiah prayed to have favor with this man, Artaxerxes
We looked at the prayer of Jabez
The prayer just 29 words
He asked God to bless him and large his territory
He Sought God's will
He asked God to keep him from harm and to be free from pain or to keep evil from him
And God granted his request
Last week we looked at Hezekiah's prayer
He was told he was going to die
He prayed to God and wept bitterly.
He reminded God of his faithfulness
God knew what he needed even if he did not ask
God granted him 15 more years of life
And God even gave him a sign to help him believe. God made the sundial move backwards 10 steps to prove his faithfulness to him
Right Hook
This week we're going to take a look at the Lord's prayer.
Not the one that most people think of when you think of the Lord's prayer.
Not the Our Father in Heaven prayer.
But the prayer that starts by saying “Father the hour has come.”
Explanation
Get out your Bibles and turn to John chapter 17
Chapter 17 begins
“After Jesus said this he looked toward heaven and prayed:
So we have to answer the question After what?
Jesus was telling the disciples that they would have trouble but their grieving would be turned to joy
John 16:20 “Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”
John 16”31-33 ““Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.””
Jesus goes on to pray in chapter 17 for
God to glorify him
John 17:5
“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”
He prays for His disciples
John 17:8
“For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.”
Then He prays for all believers
This prayer includes us
John 17:20-26 is His prayer for us.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
““My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
What is the main thing that Jesus prays for us in this prayer?
He prays “that all of them may be one”
That's us today also
Warren Wiersbe says it this way
“Here our Lord focuses our attention on the future. He begins to pray for us who live today, for the whole church throughout all ages. He has already prayed about security and sanctity; now the burden of His prayer is unity. He is concerned that His people experience a spiritual unity that is like the oneness of the Father and the Son. Christians may belong to different fellowships, but they all belong to the Lord and to each other.” (I love this commentary)
We as believers are not in competition with other churches
We should not have a spirit of selfishness or competition or disunity.
We should be unified in understanding what Jesus did for us on the cross
He gave His life so that we can live.
He saved us!
We should be unified in our confession that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God
We must be unified in “What we must do to be saved?”
Acts 2:37-38 “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.””
Today is actually Pentecost Sunday 2022
We should not confuse personal preferences with piety
Piety is: “The quality of being religious or reverent.”
There are things that we do to worship that may be different from what others do.
This is not disunity
They're Christians gathering around the world every day.
They all gather around this belief, that Jesus is the Christ.
In many places worship may look different than our worship.
That doesn't make us right or wrong
That doesn't make them right or wrong
As long as the main thing is worshiping Jesus
The main thing that we should be unified around is Jesus.
Worshiping Him
Sharing Him
Serving Him
This happens around the world
Paul tells us this in Ephesians 4
“2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
Application
So what does your heart feel when you realize that Jesus The Son of God, The Messiah, The Christ took time to pray for us?
Let’s let that sink in for a moment…
Jesus prayed:
““My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
For me and maybe you also the feeling of humility is what I feel.
Humbled that Jesus prayed for me and you before He went to the cross.
Humility that I should try to live the best life I can because of the price paid for me to live.
Humility to serve others
Humility to share His love
Humility to work to be more like him
Living out the greatest commandment
Humility to pray for others and even myself
“Lord bless me indeed”
Humility to seek unity in the faith
Humility to put my own preferences aside for the sake of others
So today will you choose to live humbly in unity with all believers around the world
Unified in our belief in:
God
We believe in God. He is, He was, and He always will be. He created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them. He is known as Father, came as the Son and lives in believers as the Holy Spirit.
Jesus
Jesus, God the Son, came to Earth and was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died for our sins and rose from the dead. He’s still alive and changing lives today!
Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a comforter and a guide for every born-again believer. He actually lives inside of us, His Temple, and does more for us than we can imagine.
The Bible
The Bible is the book God wrote for us. It’s true, it’s accurate, it’s authentic and it’s absolutely applicable to our lives today.
Salvation
It’s a gift. It’s free. It’s God’s grace, not your good deeds. Jesus’ death allows your sins – all of them – to be forgiven. Wiped out, canceled, deleted, erased…you get the picture. The gift is free; all you have to do is accept it.
Heaven
Heaven is real
I've heard it said this way
“How do we know that Christians go to heaven? Because of the price that Jesus paid (1 Thes. 5:9–10)“For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
, and the promise that Jesus made (John 14:1–6) “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”, and the prayer that Jesus prayed (John 17:24)““Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”. The Father always answers His Son’s prayers, so we know that believers who die do go to heaven to behold the glory of God.”
The alternative to heaven is well…
Hell
There is also a hell and it is real
Unified in doctrine
Liberty in opinions
But in all things love
And one more thought about this prayer
Why did Jesus pray that we would be one?
That the world will know Jesus was sent by the Father!
John 17:23 ”...Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Call to Action
So today If you are humbled that Jesus would take time to pray for you before you were even born.
What is your response?
Why not in humility decide today to follow Him.
The choice is all yours
Let Me Pray For You