Listen, Jesus Is Praying

LISTEN, JESUS IS PRAYING

John 17

“Some brethren pray by yard; but true prayer is measured by weight, and not by length,” so spoke Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The greatest prayer ever recorded is found in our text, and it takes about six minutes to reverently read it aloud. There is not much length, but there is certainly a great deal of depth and weight.

Chapter 17 allows us to eavesdrop on the greatest prayer ever prayed. What is it about this prayer that makes it so great? Let me suggest several reasons. FIRST, it is great because of the PERSON who prayed this prayer. SECONDLY, it is great because of the PERIOD in which it was prayed: just hours before the cross.

If Neil Armstrong had made the statement, “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” while he was playing hopscotch with children in his neighborhood, nobody would remember his words. But he made that statement as he stepped from his spacecraft, as the first man to walk on the moon. The occasion of the words gives them weight. THIRDLY, it is great because of the PETITIONS in the prayer. As Jesus commences in prayer, He prays for himself. As He continues in prayer, He prays for His disciples. As He concludes His prayer, He prays for us.

What we will discover from the prayer of Jesus can change our lives. It is truth that can alter your life forever!

I. DIRECTION that He considered (1)

He looked to Heaven and spoke to His Father. In a time when he needed direction, He looked to God.

Where do you look for direction? Where do you look in times of distress? Where do you look in times of discouragement or distress?

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear.

What a privilege to carry,

Everything to God in prayer.

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer.

Prayer is not like those little red boxes we see in buildings, marked USE ONLY IN EMERGENCY. We should be looking to God hourly. If prayer is an interruption in our life, then something is wrong.

If Jesus the Son of God saw the necessity of prayer, how much more should we. If Jesus depended on prayer during His life and ministry on earth, how much more should we. If Jesus with all of His power and perfection, depended on prayer. how much more do you and I, with our multiplied imperfections and weaknesses, need to depend on prayer!

A. Prayer is a necessity because it is COMMANDED of Saviour

B. Prayer is a necessity because it is the CHANNEL of supply (blessing)

God will supply that for which we have K’NEED.

A little boy was helping his father clear a lot. He was trying very hard but failing to lift a big stone. “Are you using all your strength?” asked the father. “Yes, sir,” answered the boy. “No,” said the father, “you are not. You have not asked me to help you.”

None us us all our strength, live up to all our potential, or take advantage of all our means until we have called upon our heavenly Father.

C. Prayer is a necessity because it is the COMFORT of the soul 1 Peter 5: 7 informs us to unload our care upon God.

1. The ACTION - “casting” 2. The AMOUNT - “all your care” - Philippians 4:6

3. The ADVOCATE - “upon 4. The AFFECTION - “for he careth for you”

II. DESIRE that He cherished (2)

Jesus desired - wanted to glorify the Father. His desire should also be our desire. He wanted to magnify, praise, and ascribe honor to the Father.

I Corinthians 10:31

A. God’s glory should be the GAUGE that is applied to life

Paul introduces a gauge by which all things should be evaluated and assessed in a Christian’s life.

B. God’s glory should be the GUIDE that is adopted in life

Let God’s glory be the rule we measure things by in our behavior.

C. God’s glory should be the GOAL that is assumed for life

Is God glorified in your actions, attitudes, and ambitions?

To glorify His name means to direct attention to the One of that name. The glory of God comes through the manifestation of His nature. It signifies showing forth. When the Christian is Christ-like, he glorifies God.

Are you doing everything for the glory of God?

A customer in a restaurants once asked the waitress suspiciously after seeing the menu, “Why do you call this ‘enthusiastic stew?”

The waitress explained, “The cook puts everything he has into it.”

Are you putting your everything into the glorifying the Lord? Glorifying the Lord is the right attitude, the right action, and the right aim of life.