Jesus Prays

I love it when people come to me and tell me they are praying for me. I can assure you I need people praying for me.

The thought of Jesus, the Son of God and my Savior and Lord, praying for me is beyond awesome, it is pure grace. It is grace because I don’t deserve Jesus praying for me.

We are told in 1 John 2:1 that we have an advocate with the Father - Jesus.
We are told in Hebrews 7:25 that Jesus as our High Priest makes intercession for us.

Based on those two passages it is very clear that Jesus prays for us.

In John 17 we are given a glimpse of Jesus as He prays. This is a picture of the heart of the Father and of the heart of the Son. It shows the intimate relationship between the Father and Jesus.

This prayer occurs on the last night of Jesus’ earthly life. It shows the heart and mind of Jesus as He approached the cross.

In John 17:1-5 Jesus prays for Himself.

The key word in Jesus’ prayer for Himself is GLORY.
The purpose of the prayer is for Jesus’ former glory.

When Jesus is glorified it brings glory to the Father and salvation to those who surrender their lives to Jesus.

Jesus gives us four reasons for Him be gloried.

John 17:2
Since you have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him.

First, Jesus has power over all mankind.

Jesus is not just Lord over those who have become His followers, Jesus is Lord over everything and everyone.

John 17:3
And this is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Second, Jesus is eternal life.

In John 14:6 Jesus says that He is The Life.

Eternal life is not found in:
A Belief System
A Way of Life
A Religious Viewpoint

Eternal life is found in the person who is life - Jesus.

John 17:4
I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave Me to do.

Third, because Jesus finished all the work that the Father gave Him to do.

In Matthew 5:17 Jesus tells is that He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it, and He did.

Jesus did everything the Father gave Him to do.
Jesus did everything the Father gave Him to do when the Father told Him to do it.

Jesus did everything the Father gave Him to do the way the Father told Him to do it.

John 17:5
And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.

Fourth, Jesus had glory with the Father before the world was created.

John 1:1-3 tells us that Jesus was with God in the beginning, that Jesus was God and everything that was created was created through Jesus. In John 1:14 we are told that when Jesus became flesh His glory was evident. The glory that was evident was the glory Jesus has had for eternity as the Son of God.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is glorifying Jesus above everything.

In John 17:6-19 Jesus prays for the Eleven.

The key word is KEEP.
The purpose is for His disciples to have unity and experience joy.

Jesus gives us two reason for the unity and joy of His disciples.

John 17:6-7
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. Now they know that everything that You have given Me is from You.

John 17:10
All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.

First, that Jesus owns all those who have surrendered their lives to Him. We who call ourselves Christians belong to Jesus.

In both 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 & 7:23 we are told that we were bought with a price and that we don’t belong to ourselves.

I know to some, belonging to Jesus and not belonging to ourselves means that Jesus is in control and not us, and that is “bad” news.

But the fact that I as a follower of Jesus belong to Him takes all the pressure off me.

Life is not about me, life is about Jesus.

I do not have to depend on me, I can depend on Jesus.
I don’t have just my human resources, I have the resources of Jesus.

Belonging to Jesus means He has my back and I have nothing to worry about.

John 17:8
For I have given them the words that You gave Me, and they have received them and have come to know the truth that I came from You, and they have believed that You sent Me.

Second, Jesus gives His disciples the truth of God’s Word and that leads to His disciples knowing who Jesus is and who they are.

The Word of God reveals:
Who God is.
That God can and will do what He says.
That we are who God says we are.
That we can do what God says we can do.

Knowing we belong to Jesus and that we have His word of truth brings unity and joy.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing unity and joy in Jesus through the truth of His Word.

In John 17:20-26 Jesus prays for all believers

John 17:20
I don’t ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.

This is the part of Jesus’ prayer where He prays for you and me.

The key word is ONE.
The purpose of Jesus wanting us as His followers to be one is twofold.

John 17:21
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.

John 17:26
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.

Jesus desires unity in His followers in the 21^st century so that the world may:
Believe
And
See God’s Love.

When we fight over trivial things in the church we diminish the glory and truth of God.

When we have a unity, one in Jesus and one with each other, we show the world God’s glory and the truth of who He is.

The reason we can have unity is found in John 17:23.
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 love Me.

We can be in unity because the Father and Son are in perfect unity.
We can be in unity because the Son is in us as His followers.
We can be in unity because The Father and Son love us.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being one with Jesus and with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Jesus is praying for you and me as His followers.

We as followers of Jesus can:
Glorify Jesus
Experience Unity and Love Through His Word
Be One with Jesus and His People - The Church

With Unity and Love Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
                                                     Joe