MOTIVATE
- 1900’s started movies but relied on live instrumentalists performing background music
- 1927 began synchronizing sound embed in film
- 1938 first commercial soundtrack album was released from Walt Disney’s Snow White & 7 Dwarfs.
- Best Selling Movie Soundtracks (not streaming),,,
Overall, if the Gospels had a soundtrack, the music would be at its highest crescendo – something to the effect of Jaws – at John 17.
EXAMINE John 17
John 17 is a lengthy prayer of Jesus on His last days on earth. I have a 10-Day prayer guide for those who want to go deeper in the chapter.[1] For today, my aim is to discern 2 emphasis for what Jesus prays, and how that should shape our prayers.
Pray when problems are intensifying (Jn 17:1-5).
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
- hour has come Jesus’ hour [literally] is at hand and these moments are unraveling faster than a navy aircraft carrier’s anchor dropping. Overwhelming pressure & grueling pain are on the horizon for Jesus, and what’s He doing? – Praying.
- Illus: Like a scuba diver hundreds of feet beneath the ocean surface, or an astronaut in outerspace, they maintain their lifeline while living outside of their element, so we must maintain our lifeline in prayer to God.
- lifted eyes to heaven >> When life is getting you down, look up.
Like Ps 55-56, there are moments when we’re afraid but we trust in the LORD (56:3). We might be tempted to fly or run away (55:6), but instead we should cry out to God bc He will save us (55:16). Cast your burden to God and He will sustain you, He will never permit the righteous to be moved” (55:22).
The imagery of casting/fishing to praying is relevant. Modern fishing tosses a line and then reels in back in each time. We do this with prayer but then reel back in our worries. Yet, biblical fishing typically used a dragnet to be set out and patiently left alone until there was something good to collect. - Father Jesus called God “Father” 6x in this chapter (17:1, 5, 11, 21, 24, 25). Note the adjectives “Holy” (17:11) or “Righteous” (17:25), indicating reverence & relationship. >>In our problems and pain, we need the reminder there is a God who is in control and also compassionated toward us.
- glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you
The word “glory” appears 8x vv.1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 22, 24 and it means weight or significant importance. Overall, God does not share His glory (Isa 42:8; 48:11). Yet, we see throughout the Gospels, that Jesus is full of glory, thus indicating His complete deity. >>Thus the priority of glory only belongs to God and not our circumstances.
Pray when people are imperfect (Jn 17:6-9, ff)
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
- praying for them Jesus is praying not just for self but for the disciples; and not just present disciples but those yet to believe (17:20). >>Jesus’ prayer was for people who would frustrate and fail Him – all imperfect people – yet, He still loved them enough to pray and sacrifice for them. That means there will never be something that you do that cannot be forgiven or push you further away from God.
Reading this prayer, we can observe the things for which Jesus prays for others.
Secure Identity
12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.
I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
- Jesus has kept/guarded (φυλάσσω[2]), language used for military protection. Interestingly, Jesus says He protected all the disciples, but admits one of them (Judas) was unprotected for the purpose of fulfilling Scripture. The point is that Jesus prayed for the disciples to have their identity and self-understanding based upon His purpose.
>> When challenging circumstances arise, or imperfect people who cause concern, then it’s vital to ground your identity and purpose in what is true. The truth is that we cannot fix our problems, nor can we change imperfect people, but we can pray to a God who can.
Joy
13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
- Jesus prayed for the disciples’ joy. Reading the next events in the Gospels is very little joy. Instead, we read about:
Betrayal. Hurt. Pain. Excruciating agony. Death. Grief. - Hook 1: Modern science prescribes medicine or other intervention to alleviate suffering. But what do you do when there’s no button to push or pill to swallow to remove pain?
Jesus shows us that we pray for joy that comes from God. - Hook 2: Sometimes God will use physical or emotional pain so that we truly strengthen our faith in God as our rock, and rely on the deep comfort of the Lord. Pain can be God’s professor to instruct or God’s megaphone to awaken us to what matters.
- 1Pet 1:3-7 According to the great mercy of the blessed God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- If you’re finding joy elusive, realize it’s not happiness that can be purchased or pursued; instead, joy happens to you as a byproduct from faith and obedience to God. Like PS 51:12, we pray: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation; uphold me with a willing spirit”
- Settle your heart. Slow your mind. See Jesus endure the cross who for the joy set before him…
Sanctification
14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
- Jesus prays for your sanctification. This means that Jesus is unwilling to give up on you. God will finish what He starts when it comes to your faith (Php 1:6).
*Right now someone is tempted to give in to sin
*Someone is tempted to give up, as they feel alone and that they’re not worth Jesus’ love and prayers.
DON’T believe the lie. Jesus is sanctifying you with His very own Spirit; and is inside you, not letting go, not giving up, holding on to refine and recover your purpose. May you pray, “Lead me in the path of your commandments… Incline my heart to your testimonies… Turn my eyes from worthless idols” (Ps 119:35-39)
Unity for Mission
11 “that they may be one, even as we are one… 20 I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just 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 have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
- One of the last requests on Jesus’ lips to the Father’s ears was a prayer for unity. Just as the Father, Son, and Spirit share incomparable community, Jesus prayed for us to experience vibrant unity.
- >> Christian unity is not uniformity; oneness ≠ sameness. Implicit in the word is differences coming together for a shared purpose. Thus, the cause of Christian unity is not just internal togetherness but a community mobilized for God’s mission: so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. If you’re saved, you’re sent.
- >> Christian unity confronts sin, comforts the struggling, and champions truth and grace in Jesus Christ. SO – – – when you hear gossip or when you see glaring sin, fellow brothers and sisters are mandated to speak truth in love / AND / fellow brothers and sisters are mandated to humbly receive critique with gentleness not defensiveness, and repentance where necessary.
Ps 133:1-2 “How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters dwell in unity. It is like precious oil on the head and running down the beard, and the collar of your robes.”
The idea is that God’s blessing runs down from head to toe when there is strived agreement, genuine affection, and unconditional love.
APPLY/THINK
There are moments that go by so quick but you wish would last a lifetime. And there are other moments that feel forever and you’re impatiently wondering when it will change.
While I do not understand all the purposes behind our pains or our praises, I do know this: time is running out.
- For every good on earth there is still a greater blessing in heaven.
- For every trial or trouble on earth, there is an expiration date.
Jesus knew time was running out, and concluded his moments by praying for you to know the immeasurable and inexhaustible love of God.
24 Father, I desire that those you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world… 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
- What’s pressuring you the most: an intensifying problem or an imperfect person? What will it look like for you to “lift your eyes to heaven” this week?
- What if instead of you praying “God, change them/this,” you pray, “Lord, work in them/this and change me”?
- If time is running out, what is one immediate area of obedience God is calling you?
- Jesus prayed for: secure identity, joy, sanctification, and unity for mission. Take time this week to explore Scripture on each of these topics. Meditate and pray on what God is saying to you.
[1] https://growinggodlygenerations.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/prayer-encounters-devotional.pdf
