Jesus' Prayer

Jann Martin May 28, 2006

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John 17:6-25

Gospel Lesson

Jesus prays for the disciples and future believers:

⁶ "I have told these men about you. They were in the world, but then you gave them to me. Actually, they were always yours, and you gave them to me; and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, ⁸ for I have passed on to them the words you gave me; and they accepted them and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.

⁹ "My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. ¹⁰ And all of them, since they are mine, belong to you; and you have given them back to me, so they are my glory! ¹¹ Now I am departing the world; I am leaving them behind and coming to you. Holy Father, keep them and care for them-all those you have given me-so that they will be united just as we are. ¹² During my time here, I have kept them safe. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.

¹³ "And now I am coming to you. I have told them many things while I was with them so they would be filled with my joy. ¹⁴ I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not. ¹⁵ I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not part of this world any more than I am. ¹⁷ Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. ¹⁹ And I give myself entirely to you so they also might be entirely yours.

²⁰ "I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony. ²¹ My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father-that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me.

²² "I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one. Then the world will know that you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me. ²⁴ Father, I want these whom you've given me to be with me, so they can see my glory. You gave me the glory because you loved me even before the world began!

²⁵ "O righteous Father, the world doesn't know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. ²⁶ And I have revealed you to them and will keep on revealing you. I will do this so that your love for me may be in them and I in them." (1)

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Jesus had just finished His meal with the disciples and was in the garden of Gethsemane. He had asked the disciples to wait for Him and pray for Him as He went a little further into the garden to pray to His heavenly Father. He knew His time here on earth was coming to a close and was concerned about the disciples and those who would come after them. This prayer in John is called The High Priestly Prayer. It contains the key points in Jesus ministry, that He is God's Son, that He came to glorify God, and to let all who believe in Him know that they too can have eternal life.

In verses 6-8 Jesus talks about who He is praying for: ⁶ "I have told these men about you. They were in the world, but then you gave them to me. Actually, they were always yours, and you gave them to me; and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, ⁸ for I have passed on to them the words you gave me; and they accepted them and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me. Jesus is talking about the disciples and how they have come to know the truth about who Jesus is and that they believe He was sent by God to spread the word of God to all they come in contact with.

Then starting in verse 9 Jesus prays for what is to come. He knows there will be many trials for those He will leave behind and those who will come after them. He prays for God to watch over them and help them stay strong against the evil one. That they will know God's word and teach the world the truth that Jesus is His Son and that if they believe Jesus died for their sins, they will receive eternal life in His name. In this great sacrifice we learn just how much God loves each of us. As it is stated in the familiar words of John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."(2) We can say these same words to someone we come in contact with to share with them just how far God will go to show His love and concern for each of us.

In Jesus prayer he continues with: ¹³ "And now I am coming to you. I have told them many things while I was with them so they would be filled with my joy. ¹⁴ I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not. ¹⁵ I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not part of this world any more than I am. ¹⁷ Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. ¹⁹ And I give myself entirely to you so they also might be entirely yours.

Just as Moses received the Word from God at the burning bush, the disciples, and now all of us, receive the Word through the words spoken to the disciples by Jesus. In His prayer Jesus offers up four petitions for the community. First He asks for protection from the evil one. We each face many trials in our daily life: one of which is the word of others. Words can build us up or tear us down. We each need to be mindful of the words we speak, especially to children. We can build people up with a statement like "You are so special and I'm glad to have you in my life" or really tear them down with a statement like "you'll never amount to anything".

The second petition is asking that the people in the Christian community work together as one, just as Jesus and the Father are one. We can do this by supporting and praying for others, and ourselves, as trials come into our lives. Some of the things we face are disease, natural disasters, and the suffering caused by war. We can pray for those people that are facing these difficulties that live far away from us. Sometimes we are able to help with our financial support, and sometime's we are able to physically go and help those in turmoil. Today we especially remember those who have died in the service of our country. They have given the ultimate gift of love by giving their lives for the sake of others.

The third petition shows the contrast of the joy that Jesus can bring with the hostility that we see in the world. There are lies that come at us from all directions. From TV to movies, where we find them telling us that we have many shortcomings, that we need their products to live better lives. That our lives need to be full of excitement, sex and violence in order to really know what life is all about. We need to be careful when we come across these messages, we need to listen to God's Word and filter our thoughts and actions through what Jesus has taught us. In 1 John 1:8 it says, " ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (3) We do have sin in us and thus can easily be deceived and do things we shouldn't do. We need the truth that God has taught us to be able to see this sin and to turn away from it. Martin Luther had ways of dealing with the lies of the world. At night when he couldn't sleep and was tormented by the temptations that surrounded him he would call out: "Satan be gone! I am baptized." In his Small Catechism he would end the explanations of each of the 10 Commandments with the following statement, "This is most certainly true." At times I too have yelled at Satan to go away and leave me alone, and then I ask God to help me make the right choice, whether it is to have the fattening cake or the low fat ice cream sandwich when I am feeling down because of someone's hurtful words. At a time like this I tell Satan to go back to hell and shift my thoughts and prayers to God to help me forget those words and dwell on His love for me.

In the "Pulpit Resource," a resource I use to prepare a sermon, is the following; "In his early days a famous evangelist, Brownlow North, had lived a life that was anything but Christian. Once, just before he was to enter the pulpit in a church in Aberdeen, he received a letter that recalled a shameful series of events he had been engaged in. And North's stomach turned. It concluded by saying "If you have the gall to preach tonight, I'll stand and expose you." North took that letter and went to his knees. A few minutes later he was in the pulpit. He began his message by reading the letter from start to finish. And he said, "I want to make it clear that this letter is perfectly true. I am ashamed of what I have read and what I have done. And I come tonight, not as one who is perfect, but as one who is forgiven." God used that letter and the balance of his ministry almost as a magnet to bring people to Jesus Christ.(4) We all have skeletons in our closets, but we can use them for good if we ask for forgiveness, accept it and then use it to help ourselves and others.

Then we come to the fourth petition, asking that God would sanctify our church, and that we would live our lives in service to Him. When we live in service to Him we can stand up to the lies of the world. His love and the gift of salvation give us the strength to go out into the world and care for others. Our Stephen Ministers reach out to those who are hurting, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Each of us can also reach out to those hurting in the world. If you know someone who has lost a loved one due to war, illness, or separation reach, out in God's love and be there for them by listening and sharing your concern for them.

Our greatest joys in life aren't from material things, but in helping others as Jesus has taught us to do. God will protect each of us because He loves us. Don't let the world take you down, you are a loved child of God; you are special. Take time to quietly come before God in prayer and thank Him for all He has done for you. Make sure you also take time to be quiet and listen for His response.

One way to listen for His response is through meditation. Let's try one now: Close your eyes; sit straight and comfortably. Take three slow, deep breaths to relax. Now imagine yourself in a meadow or grassy area. Feel the warmth of the sun moving through your entire being. Look around to see what is there with you. Notice the colors of the grass and foliage, if you see any. Walk around to get a sense of the larger area. You see a bench. Walk over to it and sit down. You are enjoying sitting there by yourself... Then all of a sudden you see a man walking your way. As He gets closer you realize that it is Jesus. He comes over to you and sits on the bench with you. He asks you what is on your mind. You say you are fine. He says He knows you need to talk to Him. You smile and admit there is something you would like to talk about. Take the time to open up to Him. Once you have talked to Him, listen to His response. After a while He says He needs to leave but will return when you need Him. Let yourself stay in the meadow for awhile. When you feel ready, open your eyes.

Sometimes we have difficulty taking our concerns to God. Take time to go to God in prayer and quiet time to hear what His guidance is for you. God loves each of us and wants us to turn to Him in all that we do for strength and guidance.

Our prayer time is meant to be a dialog, not a monologue. So make sure you take the time to listen for the answer. It's a time to change our will and desire to the will and desire of God. Remember He knows what is best for us. The time Jesus spent in prayer was not just asking for the cup to be taken from Him, but for the will of God to be done. He would go to Him and ask for help in serving the people.

We probably have all meditated and not realized we have. An example is a beautiful starry night, and we sit back and just gaze at the stars without thinking of anything in particular. Or maybe we watch a sunrise or sunset, listening to some beautiful music or looking at a beautiful picture. If we just quiet ourselves we have the opportunity to hear what the Holy Spirit would like us to do.

Four forms of receptive prayer are Breath prayer, Lectio divina, Visualization and Affirmation. A Breath prayer is inhaling the love and life of God for a long restful time, and exhaling our pain, fear and anxiety. Eventually we will be breathing out what we breathe in: the love and life of God. We share what we receive, picturing and sensing their blessings. Such deeper intercession goes far beyond just asking.

A "Lectio divina" prayer is prayerfully reading Scripture until one thought, word or sentence claims our attention. We read it over and over, simply experiencing it. We may put ourselves within the story as a nearby observer, or best of all, we may become part of the story, even one to whom certain words are expressed. We experience and then think to discover what the quote means personally to us.

Visualization is seeing Christ with us, laying His hands upon us wherever there is pain, tension or need, and comforting and healing us. We may see Christ between us and an antagonist, looking at us both in love, seeing the treasure that is in us both. Beginning to see with God's eyes, we are helped to understand the others' problems and needs, as well as their beauty.

Affirmation is choosing one word or phrase that inspires or comforts, quiets or energizes us. We say it aloud several times, and then hear it in our minds until it begins to fade away. Finally we are left in silence, experiencing the reality behind the words. Some of these might be "O, come to my heart, Lord Jesus; They kingdom come; or My Lord, My Lord."(5) You can use any of these prayers in a group or by yourself. I pray you will have a closer relationship with Christ and open yourself to more meditation and prayer.

Amen.

©Jann Martin 2006