Jesus prays for you

I seek your prosperity.

So if you have your Bibles, perhaps you can turn back with me to John chapter 17, page

John 17 · chapter mention

!

But before we get into that, just to think about the process of learning a language.

So we have just come back from another holiday in France, and every time we go to France,

I come away with that desire to learn the language well, to get beyond the basics of, you know,

shop, cafe, French.

But I know I'll never commit myself to the time.

But it's always that chance to ask the question, how does language learning work?

How is it possible for us to pick up a language?

Think about how that works for babies.

How do babies learn to speak?

It's a remarkable thing, I think.

And we are told it's through listening.

Lots of listening, especially listening to parents, but perhaps also to older siblings.

And over time, all those random sounds begin to form into ideas.

Over time, a baby is able to give a basic one-word answer to certain prompts.

And then there's the process of learning to repeat those words that are heard over and over.

And slowly, an ability to use language is being formed.

As Christians, how do we learn the language of prayer?

I would suggest, in many ways, it's a similar process of slow formation.

Of us listening to our Father.

Listening to God speaking to us in His Word.

We learn to pray in part by listening.

Listening to what God says in the Bible, because then we know what He cares about, what He wants.

Perhaps we also listen to others who are mature and who have grown up in prayer.

So we listen, especially we listen to God's Word, and we learn to speak God's Word back to Him.

And if that's the case, slow formation, listening in, and learning to repeat,

then that's especially true when we come to a section like John 17.

Because what we have here is nothing less than the Son of God in prayer.

In prayer to His Father.

Here is the man of faith, the man of prayer,

and we get to learn a pattern and priorities for our prayers from Jesus.

And wonderfully, we discover as we listen in to Jesus,

we find that all the time, Jesus is praying for us.

So our plan for the next few weeks is to work really slowly through this prayer,

often known as the high priestly prayer of Jesus.

We'll keep coming back to what is Jesus praying for.

We'll look at certain themes each week.

And we will especially remind ourselves who it is who is praying.

Because I think there is for us as Christians a particular comfort and encouragement

as we recognize Jesus, our mediator, is praying for us.

He's also our model teaching us how to pray.

We're going to go slowly and reflectively.

Martin Luther, the reformer, when someone asked him,

Mr. Luther, help me to pray,

what he would do with that person would be to encourage biblical meditation.

To take some words of the Bible, perhaps a verse or a couple of verses,

and to reflect on them so as to bring one's thoughts and one's feelings to converge on God.

And so my hope and prayer for us week by week is something similar.

That as we spend time meditating on some of these ideas that Jesus prays for,

that we'll be helped in our own prayer lives.

We'll find ideas and priorities from God's Word to fuel our own praying.

But especially we'd be helped as we consider and as we hear

the praying life of Jesus, the Son of God.

So that's where we're going to begin.

We're going to begin thinking about Jesus, the man of prayer.

This is, you know, in John's Gospel.

And it's a portrait that we find within John, and especially Luke,

that Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, the chosen King, was a man of prayer.

And we know that he devoted considerable time, sometimes entire nights, to prayer.

And we understand as we scan through his life that he made it a priority to spend time with his Father.

Here is Jesus, in human form, taking on a true humanity.

He could receive God's mercy.

He could receive God's wisdom.

And so he prayed.

He wanted it.

He needed it.

We see as we read the Gospels a pattern for his life at key points in his life.

Facing the pressures of a busy ministry.

Facing the pressures of the devil when tempted.

Having to choose disciples.

He would take time to pray.

So we understand from the Gospel writers that the Son of God prays.

And that's highlighted for us here in John 17.

This prayer takes place shortly after what we now know as the Lord's Supper or the Last Supper.

So this is perhaps just hours before his arrest, before his suffering, before his death.

This is after he has given extended teaching to his disciples designed for their comfort.

Designed to strengthen them.

He turns to pray.

He closed his teaching, which runs from 14 to 16.

In 1633, 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.

And after Jesus said this, he looked towards heaven and he prayed.

All of this is happening in the presence of his disciples.

Jesus knows he will shortly return to the Father.

And that return will take him by the way of suffering and death on the cross before his resurrection,

before his ascension.

And what we find in John 17 is that Jesus prays well aware that the cross will happen,

but he looks beyond.

He prays about the outcome of the cross.

And so he begins by praying, knowing that the cross will bring glory for the Father and glory to the Son.

We hear him praying protection for his followers, for the believers.

We hear him praying about the mission of the church, his followers.

So we hear the Son of God pray.

And we hear him pray as our great high priest.

Back in the Old Testament, the high priest had a number of roles.

A principal role would be to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people.

But the high priest would also carry the names of God's people on his heart right into God's presence in the temple,

and especially as he went into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement.

And especially the book of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is our great high priest.

And we know that Jesus, when he goes to the cross, he is offering himself as the great, the perfect, the once-for-all sacrifice for sin.

But we also know that Jesus takes up this role of the priest in that he prays for us.

That he carries the names of his people on his heart.

That he brings the people of God right into the presence of our Father in heaven.

So we are sitting here and we are in the very throne room of God.

Because of the ministry of Jesus, our great high priest.

Now why does it matter that the Gospels highlight that Jesus was a man of prayer?

Let me suggest three reasons for our encouragement.

First, when we think about the words of James in chapter 5, verse 16,

as he closes his letter, he reminds his readers that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

And James at that point, he takes us to the story of Elijah.

Elijah prayed before King Ahab, and there was no rain as a sign of God's displeasure.

And then three years later, he prayed and there was rain.

Or we might think of Moses.

The number of times that Moses stood in the gap praying for rebellious Israel.

And his prayer was powerful and effective.

Jesus is the righteous man.

So we have the guarantee that his prayer does contain nothing less than the power of God.

That Jesus' prayer must be effective.

Recognize that when we come to John 17.

If you're here and you're a follower of Jesus, that your confidence lies in this.

That the Father does hear and he has answered this prayer of Jesus.

Another way I think it matters for us that Jesus is a man of prayer.

Go back to a different Old Testament story.

Think about Joseph.

Book of Genesis.

Joseph, remember, had been sold into slavery.

But eventually, after many years, he ends up in the palace of Pharaoh.

And there's that point where his brothers come looking for food.

And then his brother and his father come looking to settle down in Egypt.

And what does Joseph do?

From his position of influence, he speaks in favor of his father and his brothers.

Jesus is our greater than Joseph.

He is our friend in the core of heaven.

He speaks for us.

And we live every day under the benefit of his prayer for us, of his constantly praying for us.

Here's another reason why it matters that Jesus was a man of prayer.

We see, and John's gospel brings this out, Jesus always did the will of God.

And by extension, Jesus always prayed the will of God.

And he encouraged us to do likewise in the Lord's prayer.

Your kingdom come, your will be done.

Even in Gethsemane, as Jesus anticipated, what it would be like to become the sin bearer,

to go under the curse of God, to suffer the judgment in our place.

He prayed, not my will, but yours be done.

His life lined up with the Father's will at all points.

And his prayers do likewise.

And because Jesus' prayer always lines up with his Father's will, his praying is heard.

His prayer is answered.

And again, we as the church, we enjoy the fruit of that prayer being answered.

I've been reading, there's a collection of sermons by the Puritan Anthony Burgess on John 17.

And he describes the prayer of Jesus as the key of heaven that opens heaven for us.

And what becomes clear as we get into John 17 is that our salvation,

our sanctification, our growing in holiness, our eternal security,

they all rest safe and secure in the prayers of Jesus for us being answered.

So it matters that Jesus pray.

So Jesus was the man of prayer.

Let's think secondly about the matters of prayer that Jesus picks up.

But before we get into the text, some of you I know will have read the autobiography of John G. Payton.

He was the missionary to the New Hebrides, now known as Vanuatu.

And he tells in his autobiography the story really of his father as a great man of prayer.

That every day, regardless of the working responsibilities of his father,

every day, regardless of the company that might be in the house,

there was always a time of family worship in which John, in which his family,

in which the church, in which the nation and the nations would be prayed for regularly and fervently.

In fact, his autobiography tells the story of the most notorious woman in their neighborhood

who came dramatically to faith in Jesus.

And she said she came to faith in Jesus because she would often pass under the window of the Payton's house

and she heard John Payton's father multiple times praying for her.

He didn't know she was there, but he prayed for her and he prayed for many.

Now, I use that example just to remind us that there is power in prayer

and there is power when someone prays with us and someone prays for us.

Many of us will know that privilege of having someone sat with us and prayed with us and for us.

There's power in that.

Well, how much more when we come to understand that the one who prays for us

is none other than the eternal Son of God and the High King of Heaven?

What weight there is then to his words

and when we consider that his prayers are answered.

So, as I say, each week what we're going to do is we're going to slow down

and we're going to think about different ideas.

But this week, just by way of overview, we're going to see three of the matters that Jesus picks up in his prayer

and why each of these matters to you and to me.

For those of us who are here and we're believers in the Lord Jesus,

let me encourage us to listen in with joy as we recognize Jesus prays for us.

Remember verse 20,

My prayer is not for them alone.

I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.

But maybe you're here today and you're not a Christian.

Let me encourage you to ask God to help you to listen in with a sense of longing

that it could be true of you that Jesus, the Son of God,

prays for you and is concerned for your eternal good.

That you might pray for the gift of faith.

That this prayer would be true for you also.

Three things that Jesus prays for his people.

First, Jesus prays for your salvation.

Look at how his prayer begins.

Father, the hour has come.

Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you.

For you granted him authority over all people

that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.

Now, what's this glory that Jesus prays for?

There's many aspects to it.

It's certainly the glory of God's mission of salvation being accomplished.

It's the glory of God being worked out as the eternal plan of salvation

is now being worked out in history

through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, the Lord Jesus.

Jesus also understands that every time a person turns from sin to trust in Christ Jesus,

glory belongs to God.

We believe that we're saved by grace.

It's a gift of God so that all glory in salvation belongs to our God.

He also prays recognizing the gift of eternal life.

What is that gift?

It's that by God's grace we are brought into a personal living relationship with God.

That we get to call God as our Father because Jesus has come and he's forgiven our sins,

so the barrier is gone and we can be adopted in God's love.

That we can know Jesus as our Savior, as our King, as our brother, as our friend.

And so Jesus has come with this specific purpose to bring glory to his Father

by completing the work of salvation.

Jesus has come to do God's will and he did not fail.

And we hear him praying for our conversion,

for our life of holiness,

that we would be saved to the end.

And that prayer of Jesus, it cannot fail.

John chapter 6, he'll never lose any that the Father gives to him.

John 6 · chapter mention

Some of us, as parents, some of us as kids, we have stories of getting lost.

We were talking about this in our community group this week.

Sometimes kids get lost in shops or in busy cities.

Sometimes kids even get lost in churches.

But we have the wonderful promise in the prayer of Jesus

that our almighty, all-wise Father in heaven

never loses any of his children.

He never even takes his eyes off us for a moment.

So Jesus prays for our salvation.

And tied to that, secondly, Jesus prays for your protection.

Just to continue with the parent-child analogy,

we will be familiar with this.

You come to a new place,

you go to a busy place,

perhaps the risks are thought to increase.

And if you're with young children,

instinctively you'll say something like,

take my hand.

Verse 11, as Jesus prays,

I will remain in the world no longer,

but they are still in the world,

and I am coming to you.

Holy Father,

protect them by the power of your name,

the name you gave me,

so that they may be one as we are one.

While I was with them,

I protected them and kept them safe,

that name you gave me.

None has been lost,

except the one doomed to destruction,

so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

In Jesus' prayer,

we have the assurance,

as the people of God,

that we will always be protected.

That we rest safe and secure

in the double grip of God the Father

and God the Son.

Just to remind ourselves of Jesus' words,

John 6, 37.

Here's assurance.

All those the Father gives me

will come to me,

and whoever comes to me,

I will never drive away.

We are protected, Jesus prays,

by the powerful name of God himself.

We are marked as belonging to him,

and we cannot be lost by him.

And we see so many stories in the Old Testament

of God acting for the protection of his people.

Think of the story of Daniel's three friends,

even there in the fiery furnace.

Those held by God's power and God's goodness

will not be burned.

We go through life,

and sometimes maybe it feels a bit like a fiery furnace.

There are trials,

and there are troubles,

and there are temptations.

But for the child of God,

our protection,

our eternal protection,

is guaranteed.

As Jesus said to his disciples

in chapter 16, verse 33,

those troubles that we face,

they do not have the last word.

They are real.

We will face troubles,

but we can take heart,

because Jesus has overcome the world,

and if we belong to Jesus,

then our protection is guaranteed.

So Jesus prays for our salvation.

Jesus prays for our protection.

And he goes beyond there to pray, too,

for our future glory.

One challenge that we might face

in our own prayer lives

is that often don't we find

that our prayers can seem so narrow

and limited and small and weak.

And we turn to this prayer of Jesus,

and we see how expansive it is.

This prayer takes in the whole of our salvation.

Past, present, and future.

Look at verse 22.

I have given them the glory that you gave me,

that they may be one as we are one,

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.

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.

Jesus has given us glory.

We are united as God's people

in the love of God.

And we hear the longing of Jesus

as he prays that his people

would be with him in glory,

that we would be made like him

and that we would see his glory

and we'd find then all of our joy

and all of our longings met.

And we recognize that as Jesus prays

and he prays that we'd be united in love

and that we would be filled with that,

that awareness of God's glory,

that that's something that we experience now.

That our normal, local church,

by God's grace,

is a preview,

an imperfect preview,

but a preview of that perfect,

redeemed community.

So that as we spend time together

and as people walk in,

there should be a sense of the love of God

among us that binds us together,

that there should be that ability

to get a sight of the glory of God

in our worship and in our lives.

And let's recognize too

something of the amazing love of Jesus

in that he connects his eternal happiness

to ours.

His longing is that we are with him forever.

There is that sense in which Jesus' joy

will be incomplete

until all of his people

are gathered together

in the new creation

to enjoy his love

and happiness forever.

Jesus prays for us.

And his prayer is wonderful.

And it takes in our salvation

from beginning to end.

And just to remind ourselves,

so we're going to keep coming back

to these two ideas,

to think about Jesus

as our mediator.

And thirdly,

and this is just by way of reminding us,

you know,

we know that who speaks for us

can be so important

at different times.

If we're applying for

a position of some kind,

a job perhaps,

then the references that we get,

the letters of recommendation

that we can supply,

they might be the difference

between getting a job,

a post, or not.

Or if we find ourselves

in a court of law

and we're on trial,

then we want to get

the very best defense,

the very best person

to speak for us.

And so it's true

when we think about

standing in the court of heaven.

And here,

as we listen to Jesus,

we find comfort and hope

as we understand

that the one who speaks for us

at that point in time

is the one who always speaks

for us now in heaven.

Our Savior,

our King,

our brother and our friend.

Recognize that as we listen

to Jesus,

we're listening to the God-man

who prays.

And so there is infinite worth

and there is infinite merit

in his prayers,

there is an infinite value

and effectiveness

in his prayers,

that his prayer

can no more be refused

than his blood could be refused.

That we know

that the blood of Jesus,

the sacrifice of Jesus,

is the basis for our acceptance

into the Father's presence.

Likewise,

his prayers guarantee

our access

to our God.

Our mediator

is none other than

the beloved Son of God.

When he prays to his Father,

he prays

to the one

who has been loved

and who has loved his Father

from all eternity.

We know

that the Father

denies nothing

to the Son

whom he loves.

We know

that Jesus

is the beloved Son,

he is the perfect Son,

and he offers up

perfect prayers

and those prayers

are certainly

answered.

And the one

who mediates

is our great

high priest.

To go back again

to another idea

from the Old Testament,

back in the Old Testament

temple,

the high priest

when he was in

the tabernacle

or the temple,

he would sometimes

offer incense

on the altar.

And the smell

that would go up

to heaven

and the smoke

that would go up

to heaven

was a picture

of God being pleased

to hear the prayers

of the priest

on behalf

of the people.

Jesus' prayers

are acceptable

to his Father,

but also,

Revelation chapter 8

Revelation 8:4

verse 4,

we hear this,

the smoke

of the incense

together with

the prayers

of God's people

went up

before God.

So this isn't

just an Old Testament

temple idea,

this becomes

an imagery

of life

in the church

that our prayers

like incense

are going up

to God,

and do you know

the altar

for our prayers

is also

the Lord Jesus.

It's as we pray

in his name

that our prayers

are accepted.

Not only is

Jesus the high

priest who

prayed for us

on earth,

he's also the

high priest who

prays for us

in heaven,

he's also the

one in whom

our prayers

are accepted.

He perfects

our prayers

and he presents

our prayers

before our

Father.

Our praying

needs the

prayers of

Jesus.

And so I

hope week by

week we're

going to

recognize this

truth that

it's this

Jesus,

the eternal

Son of God,

the beloved

Son,

the great

high priest,

this is the

one who

prays for

us.

And when we

hear him

pray,

we know that

his prayers

are accepted

and answered,

and so we can

have confidence

as he prays.

And when we

think about our

own prayers,

we acknowledge,

yes, our

prayers are weak,

but we pray

in Jesus'

name,

and Jesus'

prayers are

infinitely strong.

And so we

find encouragement

from Jesus

how to pray

and to keep

on praying

because his

praying is the

foundation for

our salvation,

it's our

security in

this life,

and our

guarantee of

eternity.

And the

fourth thing

is to just

think about

Jesus offering

us a model

of how to

pray, a

great example

of how to

pray.

And we'll

come back

to this

week by

week.

As

Christians,

we're to be

like the

disciples.

Remember the

disciples coming

to Jesus and

saying, Lord,

teach us to

pray.

We're to

take the

attitude of

little children

where we

need to

learn how

to pray.

And as

we come

with that

kind of

instinct and

humility,

we understand

that we've

been given

so much to

help us to

pray.

We've been

given the

whole Bible,

the whole

Word of

God telling

us about

His character

and His

promises.

We've been

given the

Lord's

prayer as

a model

that we

can follow.

And here

in John

17, we

have a

prayer that

the Lord

Jesus

Himself

offered.

And we

are invited

to listen.

Like

children, we

are invited

to copy.

Like

children, we

are invited

to have our

language of

prayer formed

from His

example.

Because as

we listen to

Jesus, we're

listening to

the man of

faith.

We're

listening to

the righteous

man, the

pattern, the

example, the

forerunner we

follow after.

And so I hope

week by week as

we come back to

this text, we'll

recognize this.

If Jesus

prays for

something, it

is good.

it is God's

will.

So we

should pray it

too.

So we'll

find fuel

every week to

pray for

ourselves, to

pray for our

families, to

pray for our

church, to

pray for our

city, and to

pray for the

world.

So even just

thinking about

what we've

covered, we

can follow

Jesus this

week.

Father, please

will you grant

eternal life to

my family

members and to

my friends who

I'm praying for,

who don't as

yet know Jesus

as Savior.

We can pray,

Father, thank

you for the

glory of

salvation that

you have

revealed in

Jesus, but

also that you've

revealed in the

lives of my

brothers and

sisters in

Christ.

Thank you for

every example of

lives transformed

and being

transformed.

We can pray

following the

pattern of

Jesus for

others.

Father, I

know this

person is having

a hard time.

Please will

you protect

them through

their trouble.

Please will

you let them

know that you

love them and

you're watching

over them and

you will keep

them.

Father, I know

this person is

facing suffering.

This person is

anticipating death.

Please open the

windows of heaven

so they sense

your coming

glory and your

loving commitment

to keep your

people from now

you until

eternity.

So I hope this

prayer is really

going to help us

in coming weeks

and we can give

thanks as we

recognize that the

one who offers

this prayer is

the one who will

shortly offer up

his life in our

place for our

sins to open up

the way of heaven

for us, who

teaches us to

pray, the great

Savior who prays

for us.

Let's pray

together now.

Lord God, we

thank you for

this remarkable

opportunity that we

have to listen

to Jesus

praying for

us.

And we thank

you for the

privilege that we

have.