Study inJohn’s Gospel

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Praying for His Own

Chap 17v9-10

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IntroductionThere may be some limited sense in which Jesus prays for everyone. On the cross Jesus prayed for his enemies: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do". But here he designates his disciples as the subject of his deep intercessory prayer; his prayer is for his people only! However, the most interesting thing about these verses is that they tell, from Jesus’ perspective, why he prays for them as opposed to praying for others. There are 3 reasons: 1. because they are the Father's. 2. because all that the Father has is also his. 3. because he is glorified in them.

And as we examine these verses we shall see that the reasons given are also why we should pray for other believers.

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Christ’s First ReasonFirst, Jesus prays for those who belong to God. Jesus values them simply because they are God's. Whenever we have been entrusted with something that belongs to someone else we tend to value it for their sake.Let me illustrate. When my wife and I returned from service overseas we were homeless. We had nowhere to stay!

Friends who were going to the U.S.A. for a year put their beautiful home at our disposal - our previous experience of living in our home town of Glasgow had been in a tenement flat as newly-weds. So to live in a villa in a beautiful part of the city was a great luxury. The garden was a particular delight.

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Christ’s First ReasonWe valued that home for the sake of those who had entrusted it to us. Understandably, we bent over backwards to care for the garden and maintain the property as best we could.

If we in this small way showed our appreciation for the use of a house gifted to us, then how much more did Jesus value those individuals who were the Father's and who had been entrusted to his care. Jesus is saying, "Father, I am praying for these folk because they are yours, and I am concerned for what is yours."

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Christ’s First ReasonBut more than that Jesus values us because the Father values us. He is saying, “Your interest in them has become my interest.” Although we have been given to Jesus by the Father - we’re told that 7 times in this chapter - the Father has a continuing interest in us. Let me illustrate: Imagine a father who gives his daughter to be married. He then watches her go off with his son-in-law to a difficult field or work, perhaps in another country. The father is anxious to know how they are getting on, and the son-in-law is naturally concerned with taking care of his wife, both for her sake and for that of the father, who entrusted her to his care.

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Christ’s First ReasonSuppose things go badly for the couple. The son-in-law writes to the father to say, "I am sorry to share news of a great financial loss. We are in jeopardy of losing our home, and I need help." Will the father not agree to help - even if he did not think much of his son-in-law’s business acumen - out of love and concern for his daughter? Yes!How much more is the continued interest of God, for the people gifted to his Son, being unpacked by Jesus in this prayer? First of all, Jesus is clearly interested in us because we belong to the Father, but secondly, the Father himself is interested in us and values us because we are his possession.

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Christ’s First ReasonJesus is interceding for us now - Scripture says so! [Heb. 7v25].For this reason believing men and women can come to him boldly and say,

"Lord, I come as one who does indeed belong to the Father and to you. I know that you value me and that the Father values me. So I ask for help to lead the kind of life you want me to lead, and I pray knowing that you will help me."

The value which the Lord Jesus Christ places upon us should be of great encouragement to us in our prayers.

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Christ’s Second ReasonThe second reason Jesus gives for praying is found in the words: "for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine." What does this mean? It means that the Lord is speaking of an interest in us that the Father and the Son share jointly. Jesus therefore comes, not pleading for a cause that is of interest to the Father only, or to himself only, but for that which is of interest to them jointly.

If a young couple can passionately share a mutual concern for the wellbeing of their family, how much greater do you imagineis the joint-concern within the Godhead for their adopted family!

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Christ’s Second ReasonNot only is there a mutual interest between the Father and the Son but there is also a mutual interest between the Father and the Son and ourselves. Those who are Christ's are wrapped up in the same package of life with the Godhead and Jesus prays for us accordingly. This means that our concerns, however small, are God's concerns; and God's concerns, however noble and beyond our understanding, are our concerns also. Let me try to illustrate that from what has been a very popular TV series called, “Upstairs Downstairs.” The upstairs household consisted of an MP, Richard Bellamy his wife and children while the downstairs staff was made up of a number of servants…

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Christ’s Second ReasonThese two groups of people belong to two quite different worlds, and so two different sets of concerns and problems are found under one roof; one group often being quite oblivious to the concerns of the others. At dinner parties those upstairs were oblivious to the fact that the cook’s sister was seriously ill or that housemaid’s boyfriend had ditched her. Similarly those downstairs were not privy to the fact that the MP was being blackmailed or that the son was on the verge of financial ruin. These two worlds operated independently.

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We would think it strange if the dinner guests were to ask the servant waiting on them if her heart was still broken or, if she, while serving the meal asked the MP if he was going to pay the blackmailer. These issues belonged to different worlds.

Christ’s Second ReasonIn stark contrast, there is a sense in which the Father and Son, while not forgetting or neglecting the other great issues of the universe, are also involved in our domestic concerns - no matter how small. Why? Because God has placed such immeasurable value upon us! And it is for this reason that he has entered into our world in order to equip us to inhabit his world for all eternity. You and I are caught up in the shared interests of the Godhead. Remarkable!!!

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Christ’s Third ReasonThirdly, Jesus prays for his disciples because he is “glorified in them.” How so? First, He is glorified in us by saving us. It is all his doing and the glory of it must rightly and, inevitably go to him.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -not by works, so that no one can boast.” Eph.2v8-9.

As you read Christian biographies you will discoveragain and again how those who have experienced the grace of God’s forgiveness have wanted to express their great love and gratitude to Jesus - tofind ways of glorifying him.

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Christ’s Third ReasonSecondly, Jesus is glorified by our trusting him in this life. An evangelist was once asked, "But what does God want. Just tell me, what does God want?" The evangelist replied, "What God wants most in all the world is to be believed and trusted." Do we live as those who truly trust God? You do not trust him if you complain about circumstances. You do not trust him if you always worry about the future. You do not trust him if you are fretting over small daily disappointments. But you trust him and so glorify him when you say, "I am His, and will walk with him and trust him whatever the sorrow or circumstance."

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Christ’s Third ReasonThirdly, Jesus is glorified when his people live holy lives. Holiness is the attribute of God most mentioned in scripture. God says to his people, “Be holy because I am holy” 1 Pet.1.16. And so if we would glorify him, we must allow him to work holiness in us. That doesn’t mean wearing hair shirts, sandals and living on a bread and water diet. But it involves leading a morally distinctive life and refusing to compromise our Christian values despite being pressurised by the world to do so! When Daniel and his friends dared to be different they were walking in the path of holiness.

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Christ’s Third ReasonFinally, we glorify the Lord Jesus by our efforts to extend his kingdom, that is, not just by our speech but also by our activity. Many Christians are content to sit around and do nothing. They want, in the words of the hymn, to be "carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease," while all around there is suffering and need. People are in need, of compassion, of help and, above all the gospel.

We need to stir ourselves from armchair mode. We need to sense the calling of the Spirit in the field of Christian service.

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Praying For OthersIn this passage we have observed Jesus Christ praying for us and in so doing he has provided us with reasons for his intercession. But it is not only Jesus who has a ministry of intercession; we have this ministry too! And the reasons why we are to pray for others should be precisely the reasons Jesus gave when he explained why he prayed for us. Why should we pray for fellow Christians?

First, because they belong to the Father and are valued by him. What the Father values we too should value!

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Praying For OthersSecondly, we should pray for others because we have a mutual interest in them in the sense that all Christians are bound up in the life of God together. Jesus has not simply called us to an individual relationship with him but into the church.

Jesus takes people from every nation, race, culture, social class and academic level, and he puts them together to show that the binding principle is the love of Jesus within them and the power of his Spirit.

We are together in this, whether we like it or not. Therefore, we should pray for one another, because the success of others is our success, and their failure is our failure.

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Praying For OthersFinally, we should pray for other Christians that God might be glorified in them. We want that do we not? When one hears of friction that exists between certain Christians or, between congregations, then God is not being glorified in those situations. Are we secretly pleased when some Christians or congregations get a bad press and think that our dislike of them is vindicated? This is not right. We should grieve over their sin and pray for their restoration. God has called us all, whatever our background, personality or circumstance to bring glory to his wonderful name.

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