The Prayer Jesus Prays For Us

The Prayer Jesus Prays for Us

Text: John 17:13-23

(Give Thanks and prayer)

Let’s go ahead and open up our Bibles to the Gospel of John this morning… John 17, and while you’re turning there I want to ask you a question – What should a Christian look like? What should the Church look like? I’m not talking about the design of the building, this building is simply one of the places where members of the Church meet… But the Church is you and me – it’s those who have been saved by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ. It is a gathering of believers called out by God. Called by God, saved by God, and being sanctified by God. So what should that look like? A football game? A rock concert? A political rally? I mean… people gather at those… they whoop and holler, and shout… they get emotional… but is that really what the Church should look like? Is that what Christians should look like?

Well in John chapter 17 we see the answer to that question, and it comes in the words of Jesus’ prayer. In you look at verse 1 (John 17:1), you’ll see that’s what Jesus is doing here in this chapter. He lifts His eyes up to heaven and begins praying. And I point that out to you, because I want you to understand that this is a prayer that Jesus is offering up. He begins by praying for the glory of God to be made known and manifest, and then in the second half of His prayer He begins praying for His followers… His disciples, His Church. So let’s go ahead and look at our text this morning. It’s there in John 17:13-23 (READ).

Right off the bat, there in verse 13, Jesus prays that His joy would be fulfilled in His disciples. So let me ask you – what is “JOY”? Is that what you feel when the Sooners or ‘Pokes win a big game? Is what you feel when someone gives you a gift you had been hoping for? Not exactly. A while back my wife bought me a 6.5 Creedmore rifle. I’d been wanting one for a while, and it’s nice, and I was very happy to get it. Very appreciative and thankful, but that’s not the kind of joy Jesus is talking about here. The joy or happiness we might feel when our team wins a bowl game, or we get a gift we were hoping for is common to all of humanity. A person can feel that kind of joy without being a Christian; but the kind of joy Jesus is talking about here is only for Christians. If you notice, Jesus says it’s “HIS” joy.

So that’s not something that you manufacture. It’s not something that the world can give you, and it’s not something you get just because you wish for it.

Both of my daughters are very talented and very good at what they do… the oldest one is an artist, and the younger daughter is a chef, and I’m not just saying they’re good because they’re my kids… they really are goodand very skilled at what they do… but they didn’t get that way by just wishing they were good. They both practiced, went to school, put in the work to develop their talent and ability. And that’s a Biblical thing. You see; the Bible teaches that God not only ordains the ends, but also the means to those ends. Think about it… if you’re going to grow a flower bed, you have to plant the seeds, fertilize it, water them. Those are the ordained means that God has provided to reach the ordained ends, which is a flower bed full of pretty, beautiful flowers. If you don’t put in the work, you end up with a bed of weeds, not flowers. So in this verse, the ordained end is the joy of Christ in the believer, but the ordained means God uses to bring about that ordained end is faithfully living for Christ.

Turn back with me a few chapters to John 15:10-11 (READ).

Jesus is saying that in order for our joy to be full, HIS joy must be in us, and for His joy to be in us, we need to be faithful followers. It’s like the hymn says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way… to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.” And I’m not talking about works here, or anything like that. I’m talking about the way that God has designed this to happen. The Joy of Jesus comes as we know Him and follow Him.

Now… it’s interesting, because most people feel like obeying God and following God is actually going to hamper your joy. They think that being a faithful Christian is akin to some kind of drudgery or some kind of joy sucking experience. But the reality is that the exact opposite is true.