Evangelism 17, Jesus Prayed for Those He Prepared
The longest recorded prayer in the Bible is John 17. The prayer included special petitions from the Father for care of those Jesus had prepared for evangelism.
Jn 17:6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.
7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.
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.
10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.
11 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.
12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.
14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
How beautiful is this prayer, and its lesson is deep. Those being prepared to carry the Good News to others are worthy and in need of great prayers. As we prepare those in our groups for evangelism, we must not neglect the critical time we should spend on our knees in intercession for them.
Blessings,
Larry
| More Instructions on Prayer
Jesus had more advice for us about prayer. We have been talking about “how” to pray. He also warned us about how “not to pray.” Let’s see a few verses.
Mt 6:5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Some people back then, just as some do now, pray to make themselves look important in the eyes of others.
That really isn’t the point, is it?
Praying together at church, in groups, in our families, it can be really great. We just need to keep it simple and keep it focused on Christ. When you have the chance, lead prayer with others. Just keep it:
- Authentic – from your heart
- Simple – use simple language that expresses what you feel
- Inclusive – pray on the issues that the group cares about
Some people have a wonderful gift for leading prayer – they bring us closer to God’s Holy Spirit as they pray. Perhaps you have that gift. Develop it with humility. It can be a blessing to many.
Next post we are going to begin a short series on the Word – the Holy Bible.
Blessings to you,
Larry
| Prayer – Listen to God
Prayer should not be a one-direction communication, where we simply unload all of our stuff on God. Yes, He listens to us, but we also should use our prayer time to listen to Him. But, how? That is what we will wrestle with today.
The Bible shows us powerful examples of when God’s voice was audible and clear, such as when He was trying to make an impression on the disciples Peter, James and John when Jesus was transfigured before them.
Mk 9:7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
Jesus taught us that as his followers we would “hear” his voice and follow him.
Jn 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me
And we know that the Holy Spirit is the helper sent to us by God to help us listen and learn.
Jn 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
And prayer should engage us with the Holy Spirit.
Jude 1:20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps you have known people that seem to have the direct line to God. Somehow they have a capacity to hear almost directly what He has to say to them. I know some people with this ability. One friend in Afghanistan, for example, just seems to hear the Lord with remarkable clarity and ease.
However, many of us, and certainly me, can struggle with the listening part of prayer. It can be difficult to listen and hear, and then discern what is God’s message, or what is simply the mind wandering as you struggle to pray.
There is no formula for this, but here are a couple of things that can help.
- Accept silent time in your prayer. If we are filling the void with all of our words, His words can’t come through.
- If you think your mind is wandering, examine what your mind wanders to. Could that be something that God is urging you to pray about. For example, if we have something that we are worrying about, that is an easy target for your mind to drift to. Examine that thing. If you are worried about it, perhaps God is prompting you to pray more about it. The best cure for worry is to put it before the Lord.
- Listen for God’s promptings in your most recent activities. In your prayer time, think about what has occurred today, or perhaps yesterday. Can you see any hints of God’s hand in those events? In particular, was there anything that occurred recently that you shrugged off as “coincidence” or “luck” or perhaps “chance?” Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it was God’s Holy Spirit giving you some subtle nudges and help. Pray about it, for clarity in His voice. Listen for what He might be telling you through those things in your recent activities.
Adjust some of your daily prayer time for listening, trying these techniques to better tune in. With practice and discipline, your sense of hearing Him will improve.
Have a blessed day,
Larry
| The Lord’s Prayer
Welcome back!
Christ’s disciples could see clearly through the life of their Master that prayer was critical in His life. They asked him to teach them to pray. As always, our Lord taught.
Lk 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
We will resume our discussion here. This is the point where Christ taught them a specific prayer – the Lord’s Prayer. This is without doubt the most widely known passage in all of the Bible.
Mt 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Praying this special prayer as presented in Matthew is very good. At times when you struggle for your words to pray, this is excellent, the perfect prayer to start with. Because this prayer is so well known, it is often used in church worship services.
To me, it is most valuable as a model.
For our next posting, we will explore the Lord’s Prayer as a powerful model that we can follow in order to have very special prayer time with God.
Blessings,
Larry
| Prayer
In the next few posts we will begin to discuss prayer. This is one of the most important elements of our Christian life. It is our personal time to talk with God. We will focus on private time in prayer for now. Prayer together is powerful, and it is appropriate. However, let’s begin with our private prayer time.
First, a question – why should we pray?
As I have mentioned in earlier posts, my favorite advice when a question is asked is to think about another question – What did Jesus do? In this case, what did our Lord demonstrate and teach us about prayer.
- The answer to “What did Jesus do?” is that He prayed.
- He had a habit of frequently praying to God the father. If it was important for him, the Son of God, to pray, my conclusion is that it is very important for us to pray.
Christ prayed at many important events, both before and during the event. He prayed blessings before he worked great miracles. He prayed in his most difficult moments – on the cross.
Let’s simply let the scriptures create this image for us – our Lord in prayer to the Father.
Prayer time alone was very important to Christ. Most days he was surrounded with great crowds of people. He would find time alone, early or late, so that he could go to the Father in prayer.
Mt 14:22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
At times his private prayer time was more important to him than sleep.
Lk 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
Although private prayer time was clearly important to Jesus, there were times when he took some of his closest disciples with him.
Lk 9:28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.
Time just before his crucifixion was without doubt more painful and difficult that we can imagine. At those difficult times Christ prayed with great intensity.
Mt 26:36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 8 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Christ’s disciples saw how important prayer was in the life of their Lord. They asked him to teach them to pray.
Lk 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
And this is where we will return with the next post.
Blessings,
Larry
| Basic Functions of the Church
In this and the next posting we simply list basic functions of our church and connect them to scriptures. We talked before about two formal ordinances of the local church – baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Now we look at scriptures that remind us of additional important work of the local church.
The church serves God in many ways:
Worship
It is a place where we worship, which is to glorify God.
Eph 3:10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
In this worship, He is glorified, and we praise him because we belong to God.
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
God’s Word
The church is where we can receive preaching and teaching from the Word of God – the Bible
This is critical. We see in Paul’s second letter to Timothy how Paul placed great importance on teaching and preaching. He was commanding Timothy to “preach to Word.” We all need that instruction so that we can grow in Christ and have positive direction in our life for God.
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
Fellowship
It is our location for fellowship with God and other believers. This was true in the early first century church, too.
Ac 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Prayer Together
Our churches provide a powerful center to bring our prayers together. We see it in the verse above, Acts 2:42. Christ taught his disciples of the power of asking of him together in prayer.
Mt 18:18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
Next time we look at more works that our local churches serve:
- Evangelism
- Charity
- Stewardship
Blessings,
Larry
| A Prayer of Acceptance The following is an example of prayer that is typical when someone accepts Christ.
Was your prayer to God at the moment similar?
Perhaps you can use this sample in the future when you are praying with someone special who is at that moment of acceptance.
Dear God,
Thank you for loving me. I confess that I have sinned against you.
I do believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross to pay for my sins, and I believe that you raised him from among the dead.
I now put my faith in Christ to forgive and take away my sins.
I confess that Jesus is my Savior and that He is my Lord.
Thank you for the gift of eternal life!
I pray this in the name of Christ,
Amen
Isn’t it beautiful – so simple how we can give ourselves, our lives to Jesus.
Next time, we add the dimension of receiving Christ’s helper, his Holy Spirit.
We are traveling to Guatemala tomorrow, so the next posting is planned for November 5, 2009.
Many blessings,
Larry | | |
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