Jesus Prays!

In the passage of John 17:1-12, after the last supper and His most profound and imperative teachings, Jesus then prays for His Disciples, the Church, and us! He looked to God as our model, seeking His glory to glorify the Father who has ultimate authority and who gives us eternal life. Jesus prays for His personal priorities (that are not self-centered) that the Church would be sanctified. For us, when we pray, we commune with God with not just words of want but with praise to Him for all He is doing and can do in our lives. Prayer is to be conformed to His likeness, to perceive before we receive. The key to a successful Christian life, ministry, and church is prayer. There is no way around it (Psalm 2:7; John 12:41; Philip. 2:11).

We can go to God; we can know Him; we can choose Him because He laid the foundation by choosing us first, and we have been given to Him. Jesus modeled and did everything God the Father directed Him to do; now was the time to pay the ultimate price for our sins meant for the ultimate glory and God’s ultimate purpose. We have to be careful not to be influenced and overcome by the world, rather focused on Christ, His precepts, and His way. He takes us out of the world into the presence of the eternal God for eternity; what a glorious gift that we neither earned nor deserved. We are to keep His Word, trust, and obey as we receive this incredible gift from God because we belong to God and His glory.

Jesus prays for us as we pray to Him! If you are too busy or too preoccupied with life and the struggles thereof, how can you solve them with just adding more stress to them? If your faith is in Christ, then you must rest in Him; pour over His Word, glean the biblical knowledge, and apply it to your life for success in life and in faith. If not, you will fail at everything! Keep in mind this very important point: when we engage the text of the Bible, we engage God! We experience His essence; we are enfolded not just within His precepts, but also within His presence! We are with the living, eternal God of the universe. Thus, when we open up the Bible, we are opening it up to receive Christ and His intimate, personal instructions to us. If we really read the Bible, paying attention to not just the words, but also the essence, we will receive not just our direction; we will become transformational in our lives and work!

When we act in good character and live rightly as His representatives, we prove His name. When we act in the flesh, we prove the world and show our disobedience and disrespect, even profaning His Name. The call to make every effort indicates that we are to pay close attention to Christ and take the spiritual initiative and be productive with our faith and lives! Always be willing to acknowledge the difference between what is counterfeit and what is true

Truth and be willing to repent and seek forgiveness when you are wrong! True Christianity and its practice never retires or becomes counter-productive (John 16:33; 21:18-19; 1 Cor. 10:31; 2 Pet. 1:12-21).

Does God need to stir you up? Are you spiritually lazy or apathetic? Does your Christian activity line up to His revealed truth or is it based on your plans and agenda? Is your teaching from His Word or is it counterfeit?