How to Pray In the Final Hours: Part 1
Text: John 17:1-5
Introduction
1. Read John 17:1-5
2. Illustration: A middle aged woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she had a near death experience. Seeing God, she asked "Is my time up?"
God said, "No, you have another 43 years, 2 months and 8 days to live."
Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a facelift, liposuction and a tummy tuck. She even had someone come in and change her hair color. Since she had so much more time to live, she figured she might as well make the most of it.
After her last operation, she was released from the hospital. While crossing the street on her way home, she was killed by an ambulance.
Arriving in front of God, she demanded, "I thought you said I had another 40 years?"
God replied, "I didn’t recognize you."
3. People have often asked the question "If you knew that today was your last day on earth, how would you spend it?"
4. As Pentecostals, we have always believed that the second coming of Christ could come at any moment. If we truly believed that it should produce in us a sense of urgency.
Proposition: If we truly believe that this could be our last day on earth, we ought to spend it in prayer.
Transition: Jesus models for us what a last day prayer should be. We need to...
I. Pray For Glory (1)
A. That Your Son May Glorify You
1. The first thing that we must notice about Jesus prayer is how he prayed. The text says that He "lifted up his eyes to heaven..."
a. He assumes a common Jewish posture for prayer by raising his eyes toward heaven (Burge, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: John, 462).
b. Isn’t it amazing that we do just the opposite. Usually when we pray we lower our heads.
c. Perhaps this has something to do with confidence in prayer.
d. The word tells us that if we pray according to God’s will we have confidence that He hears us. So why shouldn’t we be confident in prayer?
2. Next, we must notice what Jesus prayed. He prayed "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee."
a. Jesus knew that his "hour" of suffering had come--several times previously in the Gospel, John had pointed out that Jesus’ time had not come (2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20).
b. But the time for Jesus’ glorification had arrived.
3. What does Jesus mean when he asks to be "glorified"?
a. The Greek word used here (doxazo) means to venerate, bring homage or praise (Burge, 462).
b. For Jesus the cross is not a place of shame, but a place of honor.
4. He prayed that the Father would glorify Him in His death, but notice why: that He could glorify the Father.
a. The whole purpose for God sending Jesus to earth was to give eternal life to men; so in asking the two questions, "How is God glorified?" and "How is Jesus glorified?" the answer is simply: "by men receiving eternal life."
b. If the Father would glorify the Son in the Crucifixion and Resurrection, the Son could, in turn, give eternal life to the believers and so glorify the Father.
5. Jesus only concern for His own glory was that the Father would receive glory from Jesus being glorified.
a. He was not concerned with Himself, but with the will of the Father.
b. He was not concerned with Himself, but with how His obedience would bring others to the Father.
B. Giving Glory to God
1. Illustration: The English poet William Blake stood looking at a sunrise with a London merchant. The poet asked the shopkeeper, "What do you see?" The merchant replied, ’"I see a yellow disk which looks to me like a golden coin. What do you see?" The poet replied, "I see a host of angels, and they are crying, ’Holy, Holy, Lord God almighty, heaven and earth are filled with Thy glory. Glory be to Thee, O God, Most High."
2. If the elements of sun, moon, earth, and sky give glory to the Father, then should we seek to glorify God in all that we do and say?
3. If the birds of the air, fish of the sea, and animals of the land give glory to God in all they do, shouldn’t we seek to give glory to God in all we do?
4. Shouldn’t our prayers in these last days focus on how we can give glory to the Father?
5. Shouldn’t our lives in these last days be centered upon giving glory to the Father?
Transition: Next, we must...
II. Pray For Power (2-3)
A. Power Over All Flesh
1. As Jesus prayer continues, He reminds the Father of the power He had given to Jesus.
2. He says "As thou hast given him power over all flesh..."
a. Jesus made his requests to the Father, knowing that from eternity past the Father had given him authority over everyone in all the earth.
b. He was given power over demons, religious leaders, sickness, and death.
3. However, we cannot ignore the purpose of that power: "that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him."
a. He was not simply empowered for the sake of having power.
b. He was not empowered to draw attention to Himself.
c. He was empowered to impart eternal life to those who had been given to him. - Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM
4. Jesus defines eternal life as to know experientially the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one he sent to earth.
a. We find eternal life only by knowing the one true God. This knowledge is ongoing and personal.
b. Knowing Christ is not simply knowing something about him but having a personal knowledge of him. —Preaching the Word
5. The purpose for His coming, and the purpose for His power is to remove the barrier between us and the Father due to sin.
B. Power to Serve
1. Illustration: Power can be used in at least 2 ways. It can be unleashed or it can be harnessed. Drop an atomic bomb and just watch as raw power is unleashed or harness the power of the atom and it will produce energy to make enough electricity for entire states. On the Day of Pentecost, and on the day you were filled, the burst of power was evident by the tongues of fire, but the controlled release of that power has caused the people of God to go great distances and effect many lives as the Power was manifest in them.
2. Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
3. Jesus promised that when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit that we would receive power, but that it would be a power with a specific purpose.
a. That purpose would not be for us to feel better about ourselves.
b. That purpose was so that others could see how spiritual we are.
c. The purpose of that power is to help us to be His witnesses.
4. The fact that the time is nigh for His coming should instill in us a desire to seek after the baptism of the Spirit.
a. If we truly understand that Jesus coming is just around the corner, then we should be at the altar begging God to fill us with more of His Spirit.
b. If we truly understand that Jesus could come at any moment, then we should seek after the power we need to win as many people as possible to Christ.
5. We need to pray, "God fill me today with the power of your Spirit that I may be a faithful witness until you come for me."
Transition: We must also...
III. Pray For the Mission (4-5)
A. Finished the Work
1. Jesus prays in verse 4, " I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do."
2. In this statement, Jesus affirmed that he had brought glory to the Father on earth by doing everything God wanted him to do.
3. The last phase of Jesus’ revealing work was about to be accomplished through his death on the cross.
a. Jesus spoke of his work as though it had already happened--his obedience to death on the cross was a certainty.
b. Though he was aware that he had the option of refusing the Cross and so escaping death, he had resolved irrevocably to complete the work for which he had been sent.
c. To all intents and purposes it was already done. Though the obstacles were many and though the prospect was terrifying, Jesus never once faltered from doing the Father’s will. - Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM
4. Looking beyond the Cross to his resurrection and ascension, Jesus asked the Father to restore the glory he had shared with the Father before the world began.
5. In saying this, Jesus gives us a glimpse of his relationship with the Father before the beginning of time.
a. Jesus wanted to return to the glory he had with the Father before the world was created (see 1:1, 18).
b. Jesus would enter into that glory as the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, Jesus’ return to God was not simply a return to his preincarnate state, since Jesus would have his resurrected body.
c. Jesus’ resurrection and ascension--and Stephen’s dying exclamation (Acts 7:56)--attest that Jesus’ prayer was answered. He returned to his exalted position at the right hand of God.
B. Finish the Race
1. Illustration: Pastor Mark Thompson of Faribault, Minnesota, suffered terrible knife wounds from an assailant in his home, in October 1988. One of the many consequences of his difficult recovery was being forced to miss watching his son Chris run in the state cross-country championship meet. Pastor Thompson commissioned his brother Merv to go in his stead.
According to the account in the St. Paul Pioneer Press & Dispatch, Mark told his brother, "I can’t be there to see Chris run. So I want you there at the beginning of the race. Holler a lot. ... Then at the end, I want you to really cheer loudly. And I want you to make your voice sound like mine."
Merv heeded the advice, and Chris ran a strong race, finishing second. Merv, also a pastor, discerned the theological truth in the story. "That’s what Jesus wants us to do." he said. "Make your voice sound like mine."
2. 2 Tim. 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
3. When Jesus comes for us, He wants to find completing the work that He has given us to do.
4. He doesn’t want to see us:
a. Hiding in a corner
b. Running from the battle
c. Asleep at our post
5. We need to be praying:
a. Lord, help me to finish strong
b. Lord, help me to be about your work
c. Lord, help me to complete the mission you have given me
Conclusion
1. Since we believe that Jesus is coming soon, let us pray:
a. Father, let me give you glory
b. Father, empower me to do your work
c. Father, help me to finish the mission
2. What is your prayer in these last days?
