Things That Make Christians Different From The World: Prayer Part II
Last week’s message was about how differently Christians look at prayer from the way the world looks at prayer. We talked about the fact that there are major differences in the way we pray, who we pray to and the results of our prayers versus the way the world prays, who they pray to, and the so called results of their prayers.
We talked about the fact that God doesn’t hear the prayers of lost people except for a prayer of salvation. We talked about the way God answers our prayers with either a yes, or a no or a wait answer, but the bottom line is that God ALWAYS hears our prayers and answers all of them in one of these ways and always in His perfect time.
Today I want to look at how we pray for ourselves, each other and who is our intercessor with the Father. People have asked me if it is okay to pray for one’s self and the answer is YES, it is absolutely necessary to lift yourself up in prayer as long as the praying isn’t self centered and by that I mean for example, “Lord I need million dollars and a Leer jet if you don’t mind, I could really use them a lot! Thanks in advance, Amen!” Praying for yourself correctly is necessary and Scriptural.
And so is praying for others, this is called intercessory prayer. There is power in lifting up others to the Father in prayer, not only for the one being lifted up but also for the one doing the praying. Intercessory prayer can be done in two ways, you can lift others up in prayer during your prayer time or you can lift them up in prayer either in person or when you are talking to them on the phone, etc.
I have found that both ways work well but I have to say that there is something very special about being able to pray with someone else when they need it and ask for it right there on the spot. I have to confess here that I need to take advantage of praying with people more when I am talking to them about something that they ask me to pray for them about.
I know that we all have asked someone to pray for us and we always tell them that we will but to further my confession here, sometimes I forget to pray for their need and if I could discipline myself better to pray with the person right then and there it would be much better. There is something wonderful that happens when people pray for each other at the moment of need.
The world doesn’t understand our way of praying but Jesus does. In the Gospel of John chapter 17, we can read one of the most wonderful and powerful prayers ever prayed! In this prayer Jesus prayed for Himself, for those who were with Him then and for all of us here today.
1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.
5 "Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. 6 "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 "Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 9 "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 "I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12 "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
18 "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. 20 "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even 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 sent Me. 22 "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 "O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
The world doesn’t understand this prayer nor are they a part of it as we will see in just a bit. Bit first in verses 1-5, we can see Jesus praying for Himself: 1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,
2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 "Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
Now if Jesus knew that it was okay and necessary for Him to lift Himself up in prayer to the Father then we should take His example to heart and lift ourselves up in prayer to the Father too. But notice here that Jesus was not selfish in His prayer about Himself. Jesus knew that His time on earth was short and He was saying to the Father I have done what was required of me and now I want to go home and be with you forever. The Father wanted His Son to come home too, they were agreeing with each other in prayer. And heaven must really be a great place if Jesus was even longing to go back there! Amen!?
Jesus’ prayer was sincere and honest; he wanted to go home. What about your prayers about yourself? Are they honest and sincere? In The Gospel of Luke 18 verses 10-14 we see an example of how not to lift up yourself in prayer and another good example of how to do it right: 10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'
13 "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' 14 "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Do you get the concept of lifting yourself up in prayer in a biblically correct manner? God hope’s so!
In verses 6-19 Jesus lifts up those that were with Him that the Father gave Him to watch over and protect:
6 "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 "Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 9 "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 "I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12 "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
18 "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
Jesus is interceding on the behalf of the people He was with. What a glorious thought it is that Jesus Himself is praying for each and every one of us even today! In verse 9 Jesus says something very important, He reinforces what I said last week about the prayers of the world or lost people, Jesus said: "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;
Intercessory prayer is vital to the life of Christians worldwide. You don’t have to know exactly who you are praying for at all times because God knows who they are. And isn’t it a huge comfort to know that we have an intercessor with the Father when we pray? In 1st Timothy chapter 2 verse 5 we read this: 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…
I know that anything that I lift up to the Father in prayer is going to be heard, thought about and brought directly to the father by Jesus Christ as He intercedes on my behalf and the same thing is true for you too!
Prayer is a wonderful gift that God has given to us. Let us take it for the wonderful gift that it is, use it, and treat it with the respect and reverence that it deserves! I love being able to pray for each and every one of you. Whether it’s in person, on the phone or in my own prayer time it is a joy to be able to be a part of your Christian walk in such an intimate and powerful way!
So keep on praying for yourselves, each other and Christians worldwide and especially the lost of this world. We need to keep praying for our church family because as we do more of that we will become a more unified church family and that is a powerful weapon that we can use against the enemy! Keep on praying because as we all know, prayer changes things!! Amen!?
