Jesus Prays and God Answers

Many of you recognize that these words of Jesus recorded in John 17 by inspiration of the Holy Spirit are part of Jesus’ High Priestly prayer the night he was arrested.  Jesus knew what all was about to happen to him, yet he prays with such confidence!

Confidence comes from somewhere.  I’m sure you want your confidence to come from the right place otherwise it might result in overconfidence or false confidence.  Let me ask you seven questions about your confidence and we’ll see how you’re doing.

1. Are you confident as a Christian?  Are you running the race and fighting the good fight of faith as a Christian with confidence?
2. Are you confident that God still loves you & you’re going to heaven despite your struggle with sin and repeat offenses against God’s holy will as recorded in the Bible?
3. Are you confident that God is using every challenge you face right now for your benefit?
4. Are you confident in your church right now?  We are living in the information age where so many young people claim to be spiritual, but are they trusting in God?  Are you confident that we are handling the Word of truth and passing it on to the next generation?
5. Are you confident to raise children in our days of “Sodom and Gomorrah” to be godly children who love God and love their neighbors?
6. Are you confident to share the Word of God with someone and it would not return empty, but achieve the purposes God intended?
7. Are you confident that even if terrorists came to your house today to challenge you to deny your faith that you would “endure all things, even death, rather than fall away from it?”

 So, how did you do?  On one hand I could see how very few of us could be very confident.  It all depends on where your confidence comes from.  That is a key for us as we meditate on Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer.  In John 17

Jesus Prays God Promises

An Open Book

It may be puzzling at first why this is the gospel lesson for the last Sunday of Easter.  But, remember, when Jesus offered this prayer he knew exactly what was going to happen from his arrest, trial, crucifixion, resurrection, and his Ascension.  Jesus knew, but his disciples didn’t.  Jesus’ prayer builds their confidence. “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.”  When his disciples witnessed the mission of Jesus their faith would be shaken to the core.  They “lost” Jesus once on Good Friday, and they would “lose” Jesus again at his Ascension.  Therefore Jesus is an open book for his disciples to see and listen to.  Jesus had to come, died and return to the Father.  He wanted this huge thought to be in the minds of the disciples, and he wants us to remember it, too, and not forget it as Judas did when he despaired and committed suicide.

We can well imagine the disciples becoming sorrowful and even agitated at the thought of losing Jesus on various levels.  He was their Provider, their Protector, their Lord and Savior.  How could Jesus be gloried and also betrayed?  Oh, they must have wanted for Jesus to speak in terms of “team” or say “we will do this.” No, he says, “I will” and “I am coming to you.”  The disciples had to grapple with statements like these:  “I will be with you only a little longer, and where I am going you cannot come” (John 13:33).  “In this world you will have trouble….. They will put you out of the synagogues” (John 16:2).  “I am going away, but you should rejoice,…. for I leave you my peace and ….. I send you my Spirit” (John 16:7).  Jesus lays it all out like an Open Book!

Jesus is an open book to his disciples, but they must have felt like they were in no man’s land.  They want to be scared because Jesus is leaving, but he gives them every reason not to be afraid.  This is the worst thing that could happen, but Jesus says it’s the best thing that could happen.  He says he is going away, but he says you should have confidence in him.  If you had been there, you could have given them the confidence they needed.  How?  From God’s Word!  You could open up The Book and tell them Easter is what’s it’s all about, baby!  And we joyfully hold that baby in our arms!  We have seen through God’s Word all Jesus has done from birth to death to resurrection to Ascension as our victorious King!  Jesus sits on the highest throne and has received the name that is above every name!  If there is to be joy and confidence, where else would you find it if not here! “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.”  Jesus, the Open Book, Prays God Promises for us to hear and know and have confidence in his power!  Jesus Prays God Promises that point us to

An Open Heaven

Jesus proclaims God’s work in these words, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me.”  Remember, Jesus’ name is everything he has revealed about himself in his Holy Word.  Think about this protection a minute.  In the account of the stoning of Stephen he was face to face with the false teachers and under intense pressure to conform.  There is the temptation to die another day and choose an out that doesn’t lead to being stoned to death.  Or there was the temptation to despair that God had abandoned him and his mission to proclaim the gospel.  If Stephen had loved the world, he would have walked away.  If he had been apathetic and uncaring about God’s Word, he probably wouldn’t have found himself in this mess in the first place.  But, Stephen knew Jesus prays God Promises.  And God’s protection meant The Door of Heaven was Open!

Dear Christian friends, how many traps are laid for your faith!?  “For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and narrow the road that leads to life” (Matt 7:13-14).  Jesus Prays and God Promises Protection.  But notice how: “protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”  How powerful is a name?  Just ask Pastor Hering about the name on a box his wife got for Mother’s Day from the kids (Garmin!).  Jesus owns his powerful name and proved its power through his death and resurrection.  It is the power he gives you in his name, the name you received at your baptism to be called God’s own dear child!  Jesus prays God Promises!  Jesus prays for you to have eternal life.  Jesus prays for you to be one with the Father in heaven.  Jesus Prays God Promises as he ascended into heaven to return to his God and your God.  “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.” There is no greater place or person from whom we receive confidence even in the face of the world’s hatred.  We have the full joy of Jesus that assures us nothing can separate us from his love and from entering through the Open Door of Heaven.

But, we’re not there yet.  Live in the confidence of Jesus whether fighting the good fight of faith, struggling with sin, facing life’s challenges, raising the next generation of children to know Jesus, sharing God’s Word with people who have deaf ears, or even facing a terrorist who threatens to kill you if you claim Jesus as your Savior.  Live in confidence because Jesus has you here for a purpose! “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.”  Jesus has us here to be set apart as God’s people to proclaim God’s Word of truth.  For God’s Word of truth is the power of God for the salvation of souls.  You have been set apart as the salt and light of the world.  How can we do this with confidence?  Remember Jesus Prays God Promises!  That’s it.  It’s an Open Book.  It’s an Open Heaven!  Because everything Jesus prayed was 100% backed by our Father in heaven.  So live with confidence. God will meet all your needs as you are set apart to proclaim to the world what everyone truly needs.  Everyone needs to know Jesus Prays God Promises—an Open Book that points us to an Open Heaven for you!  Amen!