WEBVTT 00:00:00.100 --> 00:00:02.080 I want to invite you to John chapter 17. 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:04.160 John 17 is where we're going to be today. 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:10.280 This is a powerful section of scripture and we're dealing with prayer in this section of scripture. 00:00:10.460 --> 00:00:11.700 I like to think of it like this. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:19.120 If you want to have a powerful prayer life, you want to be close to the heart of God, you 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:26.040 want to pray with the heart of God, and you can't pray the heart of God without knowing the word of God. 00:00:26.140 --> 00:00:28.160 The word of God is where God communicates his heart. 00:00:28.380 --> 00:00:31.480 It's like, well, you read Ephesians 6, and it tells you put on the whole armor of God. 00:00:31.500 --> 00:00:35.240 And the last thing it tells you is, and take up your sword, which is the word of God. 00:00:35.740 --> 00:00:39.160 And then it goes on after it says, take up the sword, the word of God, and then it says, pray. 00:00:39.540 --> 00:00:46.340 It's like the way you get to the point that you know how to pray is you've learned to pray the heart of God and you've learned to pray the heart of God, because you know the word of God. 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:50.320 Now saying all that, I don't think you need to know everything about God's word. 00:00:50.340 --> 00:00:53.900 If you're new to the Christian faith, you're like, "Ah, the Bible seems overwhelming and big. 00:00:53.940 --> 00:01:00.200 How do I know all of the Bible in order to pray God's word?" I would just relieve that a little bit in saying, "Look, you should know God's word. 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:06.520 He's communicated to you a reason." But when you start praying before the Lord, you don't have to know all of God's word. 00:01:06.580 --> 00:01:13.740 What you recognize is you start to read the word of God as God perpetuates his heart throughout all of scripture. 00:01:14.100 --> 00:01:21.100 So as you start to read the word of God, you see in each book, God's heart continuing to be communicated and you can get in 00:01:21.100 --> 00:01:28.880 rhythm with what God's heart is and learn to better pray with God's heart as you go through God's 00:01:28.880 --> 00:01:29.780 word. 00:01:29.780 --> 00:01:37.020 And one of the things I love in saying all of that to us is for me, and I've shared this with you is my favorite section in all of the Bible 00:01:37.020 --> 00:01:38.460 is where we've been recently. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:45.720 John chapter 13 and John chapter 17, because this is the section of scripture or Jesus is spending his final moments on earth in 00:01:45.720 --> 00:01:52.200 the most intimate settings with his disciples in the upper room, teaching some of the most beautiful lessons he's taught on the idea of being a disciple. 00:01:52.800 --> 00:01:59.820 At John 13, you start to see the heartbeat of Christ, continuing to be communicated, just being consistent in his character and in 00:01:59.820 --> 00:02:02.490 his purpose all the way through, even to the point of death. 00:02:02.780 --> 00:02:10.060 And in John 13, you see it Jesus washes the feet of the disciples, takes the form of the servant of servants, 00:02:10.060 --> 00:02:11.700 even washing the feet of Judas. 00:02:12.160 --> 00:02:16.500 And then John 13, he also tells us to love one another as he has loved us. 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:23.840 And then chapter 14, in the beginning he celebrates communion with his disciples, which is a reminder of the sacrifice he's made for 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:24.280 us. 00:02:24.280 --> 00:02:29.360 And it's in connection to the Passover because Jesus has become that Passover lamb. 00:02:29.380 --> 00:02:37.240 And he starts talking in John 14, 15, and 16 about the spirit of God as he's leaving that there's no reason to carry 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:40.320 concern because God is not abandoning you as orphans. 00:02:40.340 --> 00:02:44.700 He's bringing his spirit and the spirit of God would not only be with you, he will be in you. 00:02:44.740 --> 00:02:48.140 And he is like Christ, meaning he is God as well as a part of the triunity. 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:53.180 Jesus is communicating to us that God's presence in you and with you. 00:02:53.640 --> 00:02:59.140 So he talks about how that communion brings us into relationship with God because of this sacrifice. 00:02:59.160 --> 00:03:04.940 Then in 15, he goes on to describe us and the beauty of that you are a part of the vine. 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:12.040 He is the vine and we are the branches and we will bear much fruit in him that greater works than these Jesus says you will 00:03:12.040 --> 00:03:12.790 do. 00:03:12.820 --> 00:03:15.560 And Jesus is looking at his ministry in Jerusalem. 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:16.860 And he is saying, "You think this is great. 00:03:16.880 --> 00:03:17.980 You haven't seen anything yet. 00:03:17.980 --> 00:03:21.500 Wait until this spirit of God empowers God's people throughout all of the world. 00:03:21.540 --> 00:03:28.600 It's going to be incredible in how God's people live for Jesus and the things that are accomplished in our lives as we strive 00:03:28.600 --> 00:03:29.720 together for him. 00:03:29.720 --> 00:03:31.620 So greater works in these, you will do. 00:03:31.640 --> 00:03:36.840 Then you get to chapter 16, and we talked about this last week, the joy and peace that we have in Christ. 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:44.040 This just a beautiful section of scripture what it looks like in the following Christ and being fully devoted to 00:03:44.040 --> 00:03:46.880 him, committed to him and how that relationship works. 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:48.200 And then you get to chapter 17. 00:03:50.180 --> 00:03:56.420 When I think about the beauty of these chapters and how important they are, there is chapter 13, 14, 15, 16. 00:03:56.420 --> 00:03:58.420 And then for me, there is chapter 17. 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:07.040 In chapter 17, when I think of all of these, if I put one of them as the most important for me, out of what I think is the greatest section 00:04:07.040 --> 00:04:07.600 of scripture. 00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:09.780 It's chapter 17. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:13.060 Some people consider this the most sacred text in all of the Bible. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:14.760 All of it's really inspired of God. 00:04:14.760 --> 00:04:20.360 All of it is sacred, but there's something unique about this text that sets it all apart. 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:26.160 In fact, theologians referred to this section of scripture as the high priestly prayer. 00:04:26.180 --> 00:04:30.580 Now, I said to you in the beginning, you want a powerful prayer life. 00:04:31.320 --> 00:04:35.400 The way to have a powerful prayer life is to get close to the heart of God. 00:04:35.460 --> 00:04:39.870 And the way to get it close to the heart of God is to understand who God is and the way you understand who God is through his word. 00:04:41.180 --> 00:04:49.100 But in chapter 17, you're not only seeing God revealed in his word, but you're seeing God himself pray his 00:04:49.100 --> 00:04:49.580 own heart. 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:56.400 And this becomes a very sacred text to just ask the question, what would Jesus pray? 00:04:57.880 --> 00:05:02.120 And this is the final thing Jesus is involved in doing before goes to the cross. 00:05:03.200 --> 00:05:10.520 And Jesus in these moments, he chooses to pray and the disciples are invited to this very intimate setting to hear 00:05:11.080 --> 00:05:13.400 the heart of Christ praying. 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:22.020 And it gives us a place in our own prayer life to consider how powerful this is and this sacred text of scripture refer 00:05:22.020 --> 00:05:24.310 to Jesus as high priestly prayer. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:29.360 I think that's a good way to look at this Jesus high priestly prayer talking about the intimacy that he has with the father. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:31.280 And he's praying on our behalf. 00:05:31.280 --> 00:05:32.070 We'll see in these moments. 00:05:32.440 --> 00:05:35.830 But I often refer to this as the Lord's prayer. 00:05:36.860 --> 00:05:39.500 I know some of you, if you've studied scripture, you're like, wait a minute. 00:05:39.500 --> 00:05:41.480 There's already a section of scripture called the Lord's prayer. 00:05:41.580 --> 00:05:42.860 That's Matthew chapter 6. 00:05:42.900 --> 00:05:44.550 We pray in this way. 00:05:44.760 --> 00:05:49.640 Our father who art in heaven, hollowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:05:49.640 --> 00:05:52.010 Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses. 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:53.600 We forgive those who trespass against us. 00:05:53.900 --> 00:05:55.760 For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. 00:05:55.760 --> 00:05:56.080 Amen. 00:05:56.080 --> 00:05:56.260 Right? 00:05:56.580 --> 00:05:58.160 Matthew 6, that's the Lord's prayer. 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:00.180 And I say, baloney. 00:06:00.180 --> 00:06:07.180 We got it wrong in labeling it the Lord's prayer because when Jesus gives us that prayer, he gives us that 00:06:07.180 --> 00:06:10.820 prayer on the backdrop of the disciples saying, Jesus, teach us to pray. 00:06:12.580 --> 00:06:17.620 So Jesus then demonstrates for his disciples, Matthew 6, how to pray. 00:06:18.600 --> 00:06:21.020 But I don't think that it's correct to call it the Lord's prayer. 00:06:21.020 --> 00:06:25.140 I think it's better referred to as the disciple's prayer, because Jesus is teaching the disciples to pray. 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:29.580 You want to know the Lord's prayer, John chapter 17, that is the Lord's prayer. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:34.700 This is where you get to see the heart of God, and it's the heart of God on your behalf. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:37.900 So what does Jesus pray? 00:06:37.940 --> 00:06:42.860 And in looking at this, we get to learn how to pray ourselves or praying like Jesus. 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:47.880 So the first question in your notes, if you've got this, if you picked up the notes this morning, what does Jesus pray? 00:06:47.880 --> 00:06:52.100 Number one, he prays for himself. 00:06:53.760 --> 00:06:54.880 He prays for himself. 00:06:56.040 --> 00:06:58.160 Verse 1 reads like this for us. 00:06:58.180 --> 00:07:04.720 It says Jesus spoke these things and lifting up his eyes to heaven he said, "Father, the hour has come. 00:07:05.660 --> 00:07:13.380 Glorify your son, that the son may glorify you." Jesus, prays for himself. 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:15.290 And you may look at this and think, well, just how selfish. 00:07:16.040 --> 00:07:18.470 Here he is in these moments and he's just thinking about himself. 00:07:18.660 --> 00:07:19.520 Who starts off praying? 00:07:19.660 --> 00:07:24.860 Real servants don't start off praying for themselves, they pray for everything else and pray for themselves last. 00:07:24.940 --> 00:07:29.200 But I think we've seen enough of Jesus to see he's got the servant of servant's hearts, right? 00:07:29.580 --> 00:07:31.940 He's washing the feet of even his enemies. 00:07:32.660 --> 00:07:35.020 He has communion with Judas who's betraying him. 00:07:35.280 --> 00:07:41.420 He knows all the disciples are about to run away from him and Jesus does nothing, but continue to think about him up until the last hours. 00:07:41.420 --> 00:07:45.000 And finally, in these moments, he prays and he prays for himself. 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:47.980 But even in praying for himself, he's still not self-seeking. 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:54.980 And we'll see that in just a moment, but Jesus is just continuing to pray in connection to the father for the purpose of living out 00:07:54.980 --> 00:07:55.420 his mission. 00:07:57.460 --> 00:07:58.580 And how important is that? 00:07:58.580 --> 00:08:05.820 Because you think about in your own life, you could spend all of your time praying for other things or other people, right? 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:10.340 But the reality is if your walk with God isn't healthy, the rest of that won't work. 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:14.340 And you look at how Jesus begins this prayer. 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:21.180 I think it's important for us to say, if Jesus found need to pray for himself first, what about you? 00:08:24.780 --> 00:08:25.680 What does your soul need? 00:08:27.770 --> 00:08:32.159 I've heard a lot of people in the last year and a half or however long we've been in this COVID thing. 00:08:32.520 --> 00:08:33.940 We are creatures of habit. 00:08:33.980 --> 00:08:34.620 We like habit. 00:08:34.620 --> 00:08:39.500 When you break our habit, we oftentimes don't do well with broken habit for very long. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:44.640 We can do it for a little bit, but you get us out of our normal rhythms of life for a sustained period of time. 00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:45.620 It starts to weigh on you. 00:08:46.740 --> 00:08:51.590 And from time to time, I'll hear people communicate just how they feel, because things are just different. 00:08:51.740 --> 00:08:53.360 It's not what they're used to. 00:08:53.800 --> 00:08:59.360 And just look at a prayer like this with Jesus and just in consideration of yourself, just ask the question. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:00.920 Where is your soul right now? 00:09:02.920 --> 00:09:06.780 If Jesus starts by praying for himself, how much more should we begin? 00:09:06.780 --> 00:09:07.310 I mean, this is Jesus. 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:10.600 What does your soul need? 00:09:13.060 --> 00:09:20.340 When was the last time can remember where you pause very serious in your heart before the Lord and just considered 00:09:20.340 --> 00:09:22.740 the state of your soul before him. 00:09:24.780 --> 00:09:31.260 I mean, if you could pray anything right now for where you are and what you need, what would you ask God? 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:35.260 What does Jesus pray? 00:09:35.460 --> 00:09:38.940 Jesus prays for himself. 00:09:38.940 --> 00:09:46.000 And the beauty of this is God, in this prayer, it's important to know he is concerned for 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:46.540 your wellbeing. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:56.730 Because if you're not healthy, the way he desires to shine through you in this world, doesn't work at all that healthy. 00:09:58.700 --> 00:10:00.700 God's concern for your heart. 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:04.460 And then the second question, we have in your notes here is why does Jesus pray? 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:07.180 Why does Jesus pray? 00:10:07.260 --> 00:10:09.760 And we see this in verse 1 as he really lays out. 00:10:09.920 --> 00:10:14.260 We'll talk specifically about what Jesus says here, but the answer in your blank is this. 00:10:14.640 --> 00:10:17.080 He prays to glorify the father. 00:10:18.780 --> 00:10:20.480 He prays to glorify the father. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:22.170 And you see this communicated. 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:28.840 If I just walked us through moment by moment through each section of this verse, I'm not going to do this through all of the verses. 00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:34.340 We're going to look at all the way to verse 8, but I'm just going to do it through this section, just chunk by chunk for a minute. 00:10:34.760 --> 00:10:36.530 He says, and Jesus spoke these things, you can go back... 00:10:36.640 --> 00:10:37.640 I don't want to hit that up yet. 00:10:37.940 --> 00:10:42.270 And Jesus spoke these things and he says, and lifting up his eyes to heaven. 00:10:43.260 --> 00:10:44.580 Lifting up his eyes to heaven. 00:10:44.600 --> 00:10:47.330 So he is talking about his posture here. 00:10:47.780 --> 00:10:52.220 He's remaining fixed on where his mission is in this world. 00:10:52.280 --> 00:10:59.380 He's lifting his eyes to heaven as if to say before us, by his posture that he recognizes his home is not in 00:10:59.380 --> 00:11:06.120 this world, that he belongs to the Lord, his eyes, as he belongs to the father, he came on mission for what the father had called him to. 00:11:06.120 --> 00:11:08.160 So his eyes are towards heaven. 00:11:08.160 --> 00:11:12.870 He sees this world as broken this world as sinful, this world as fading away. 00:11:13.020 --> 00:11:16.540 He knows we need to live for a different kingdom that will live forever. 00:11:16.560 --> 00:11:18.260 So he's lifting his eyes in the heaven. 00:11:18.260 --> 00:11:25.460 Oftentimes, when you read in scripture, you'll see a couple of postures that is more formal to the Jewish way of prayer that is lifting their eyes and sometimes 00:11:25.460 --> 00:11:29.080 even lifting their hands a little different than the way we pray today. 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:31.180 We pray the more boring way. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:35.540 You fold your arms or you put your arms down or clasp your hands together. 00:11:35.540 --> 00:11:37.320 And you bow your head and close your eyes. 00:11:37.380 --> 00:11:39.120 I'm not saying that that's wrong. 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:41.640 It's just the posture is a little more reserved, right? 00:11:42.200 --> 00:11:43.860 I know why we do it today. 00:11:44.100 --> 00:11:44.780 You got young kids. 00:11:44.780 --> 00:11:48.900 You want to teach your kids in the faith to follow after the Lord and you teach them how to pray. 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:52.460 And if you let their hands be free, their hands might go places, right? 00:11:52.500 --> 00:11:53.140 So they're opening eyes. 00:11:53.140 --> 00:11:54.470 They can get very distracted. 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:59.160 So we have a different form of reverence, but the important part is that it's reverent. 00:12:00.560 --> 00:12:07.340 It's reminding us of the authority for which we are living our lives. 00:12:08.680 --> 00:12:09.780 Our kingdom is not of this world. 00:12:10.860 --> 00:12:17.980 And while he's recognizing that his life is for a different kingdom, he then uses this word. 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:19.200 He lift his eyes to heaven. 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:22.260 He said, "Father." Father. 00:12:22.260 --> 00:12:28.040 Historians will tell you that theologically that what Jesus is doing here by referencing God this way is very unique. 00:12:28.340 --> 00:12:33.280 It's not the way typically people would interact with God. 00:12:33.300 --> 00:12:36.690 They often saw God as this distant being of which they found unrelatable. 00:12:39.180 --> 00:12:39.740 Not Jesus. 00:12:39.820 --> 00:12:41.820 Jesus teaches us to pray in a different way, right? 00:12:41.820 --> 00:12:44.420 Jesus teaches us to pray Matthew 6, our father. 00:12:46.140 --> 00:12:47.260 Our father who is in heaven. 00:12:50.380 --> 00:12:51.300 It's a word of intimacy. 00:12:53.920 --> 00:12:55.490 It's a word that draws you near. 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:03.220 I mean the heart of a father should be in favor of the success for his children. 00:13:05.700 --> 00:13:14.920 And by this word, this is what God is communicating his desire for us, to draw you in, to 00:13:14.920 --> 00:13:21.920 calm your heart, to bring in here, to say to you that God is 00:13:21.920 --> 00:13:24.280 concerned for your life. 00:13:25.860 --> 00:13:32.880 We talk about topic of prayer and sometimes I know when I immediately say something about you want to pray well, you got to go know God's word, and all of 00:13:32.880 --> 00:13:36.740 a sudden we start feeling guilty not knowing enough about God's word not praying like we should on my word. 00:13:36.920 --> 00:13:38.010 I got to get out of here and pray better. 00:13:38.020 --> 00:13:39.480 And we start stressing out about praying better. 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:40.210 How can I pray better? 00:13:40.400 --> 00:13:41.280 But let me just tell you this. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:45.700 If you want to get better at praying, don't focus on getting better at praying. 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:54.360 Focus on your father, focus on your relationship with him. 00:13:56.400 --> 00:14:01.940 Because when you get intimate in relationship with someone, it's easier to communicate. 00:14:05.380 --> 00:14:08.000 It comes easier to relate and to share your heart. 00:14:09.100 --> 00:14:13.120 When you go through difficult times, the first one you want to talk to is the one that you're closest to. 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:18.180 And when you got something to celebrate, the first one you want to call is the one that you're closest to. 00:14:20.220 --> 00:14:24.820 And what Jesus in the story, what he's showing us is this intimacy that he has to the Lord. 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:27.650 He's just always tethered there because he's close. 00:14:27.720 --> 00:14:35.280 He has the son connecting to the father and he's showing us how to mimic this in our own lives, our father. 00:14:36.760 --> 00:14:41.210 Then he says this, the hour has come and you can go ahead so you can give me a click here. 00:14:41.280 --> 00:14:42.320 The hour has come. 00:14:44.460 --> 00:14:50.880 And this is a word of reflection for us because this thought has been communicated throughout all of John. 00:14:50.940 --> 00:14:53.350 I've highlighted it for us a few times as we've gone through this together. 00:14:53.660 --> 00:14:57.000 I'm doing it again, just in case we forgot because we've been in this for a little bit, right? 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:04.000 In John chapter two, this is the first time Jesus uses the phrase and it's at the wedding feast where Jesus 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:05.560 turns water into wine. 00:15:05.580 --> 00:15:08.580 He throws the best parties apparently in John chapter two. 00:15:08.740 --> 00:15:15.580 And in verse 4, when Jesus's mother asked him to turn water into wine, the comment that he makes is just strange. 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:17.640 "Woman, what does that have to do with me? 00:15:17.660 --> 00:15:24.980 My hour has not yet come." What we find out when you look at the story is that Jesus' mind isn't really fixated 00:15:24.980 --> 00:15:27.000 just on this particular wedding. 00:15:27.640 --> 00:15:34.720 Jesus' mind is fixed on the greater wedding, which the greater wedding feast that he has come with his own life to bring his bride into, 00:15:34.740 --> 00:15:35.360 which is his church. 00:15:36.900 --> 00:15:44.180 So his acknowledging for us while he's going to turn this water into wine, that this isn't the real miracle that he's here for, that the real miracle 00:15:44.180 --> 00:15:49.940 he is here for is to gather his church, his bride in his name, and by his sacrifice. 00:15:52.340 --> 00:15:52.920 That was the hour. 00:15:54.840 --> 00:16:03.200 And now in John 17, Jesus would've perked up the year of his disciples who were listening to this prayer because 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:10.300 Jesus is now saying that hour that I kept reminding you wasn't ready yet, hadn't come yet, wasn't the time yet. 00:16:11.800 --> 00:16:17.050 Now, that hour has come. 00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:25.780 And then Jesus gives the statement, "Glorify your son, that the son may glorify 00:16:25.780 --> 00:16:26.620 you. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:35.140 Glorify your son, that the son may glorify you." I just want to make a couple of comments about the idea of 00:16:35.140 --> 00:16:39.830 Jesus praying for glorification here and how that might relate to your life. 00:16:40.060 --> 00:16:42.640 And then talking about the father and his glory. 00:16:43.900 --> 00:16:51.280 I think the first question we could ask and look in this passage is why does Jesus pray to be 00:16:51.280 --> 00:16:54.100 glorified if he's already God? 00:16:55.740 --> 00:16:57.340 That seems a little bit strange, right? 00:16:57.340 --> 00:17:00.850 Jesus has told us that he's God, I and the father. 00:17:01.020 --> 00:17:08.069 John 10:30, "I and the father are one." And Jews picked up stones to stone him and he says, "For which of these good works are you stoning me?" And they say, 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:15.520 "Because you being a mere man, make yourself out equal to be God." It's very clearly understood what Jesus 00:17:15.520 --> 00:17:16.520 was saying about himself. 00:17:17.960 --> 00:17:19.319 Jesus saw himself as God. 00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:26.500 Even the apostle Paul, as he wrote letters, he said, "In him, the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form." In Colossians 00:17:26.500 --> 00:17:28.920 2:9, you want to see God look at Jesus. 00:17:29.040 --> 00:17:36.040 In fact, in John 14:6-9, the disciples asked him, "Show us the father." And Jesus says to them, 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:42.420 "He who has seen me has seen the father." And the reason he gives that claim is he's telling us he's God in the flesh. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:45.330 And yet being God in the flesh, he's asking to be glorified. 00:17:45.620 --> 00:17:47.540 How can you be any more glorified if you're God? 00:17:50.040 --> 00:17:54.920 Well, the answer is something theologians refer to as the hypostatic union. 00:17:56.300 --> 00:17:57.700 Dinner table conversations. 00:17:57.760 --> 00:18:00.040 How many times you sat around talking about that one? 00:18:00.580 --> 00:18:07.680 And what this means is in Jesus, you have 100% God and you also have 100% man. 00:18:10.080 --> 00:18:17.180 It's important for Jesus to carry both natures for us, because if he's not 100%, man, he's not a sufficient sacrifice on your behalf in 00:18:17.180 --> 00:18:17.600 this world. 00:18:18.780 --> 00:18:22.640 Jesus can never die for your sins unless he became who you are or like you. 00:18:23.020 --> 00:18:23.700 100% man. 00:18:24.980 --> 00:18:31.980 And he couldn't be sufficient in his sacrifice for you unless he was 100% God, because it takes an eternal 00:18:31.980 --> 00:18:36.120 God to pay for an eternal sin, committed against the Lord in a finite way. 00:18:37.020 --> 00:18:41.700 You being a finite being will pay an eternal consequence for your eternal sins against God. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:46.740 But because he's an eternal being, he pays a finite payment for your sins. 00:18:47.100 --> 00:18:53.180 He must be both God and man, and yet he's praying for a glorious God. 00:18:53.520 --> 00:18:54.310 How is that so? 00:18:54.400 --> 00:19:01.600 Well, Jesus, in this prayer, when he is asking to be glorified, what he's recognizing for us is 00:19:01.600 --> 00:19:04.800 his position as a human. 00:19:06.860 --> 00:19:13.900 His personhood remains deity, but his position in these moments is the form of 00:19:13.900 --> 00:19:14.320 a servant. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:23.000 While he was God, he becomes flesh and in flesh takes on the servant of servants to the point he even wash his 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:24.420 feet and dies on the cross. 00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:34.480 So in his servanthood position, he's asking the father to elevate that position for 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:35.000 you and for me. 00:19:37.660 --> 00:19:45.580 So the question we ask related to that is, "Well, if Jesus prayed this kind of prayer, glorify 00:19:45.580 --> 00:19:50.960 me that I may glorify you father, can we pray to be glorified? 00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:57.380 Is that even an okay prayer to pray that God glorify me, right? 00:19:57.380 --> 00:19:58.300 That seems a little... 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:05.780 I went back and looked up in the New Testament, is that word even used in relationship to any prayer that a human being prays like, 00:20:05.780 --> 00:20:07.480 "God glorify me." Right? 00:20:07.620 --> 00:20:09.740 That just seems blasphemous to me. 00:20:09.780 --> 00:20:11.860 I don't know how you think about that, but that feels a little blasphemous. 00:20:11.900 --> 00:20:19.120 I looked it up and I found out the only time the word glory is used in relation to a human being, it's all connected to 00:20:19.120 --> 00:20:20.760 really God except for one verse. 00:20:20.760 --> 00:20:23.740 I found one verse in the New Testament, it only looked through the New Testament. 00:20:23.780 --> 00:20:26.080 It was in 1 Corinthians 12:26. 00:20:26.100 --> 00:20:29.340 And that's where the passage says weep with those who weep. 00:20:29.900 --> 00:20:31.940 And then it says honor with those who are rejoicing. 00:20:32.080 --> 00:20:33.720 And the word honor there means glorify. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:35.840 It's being celebrated with them. 00:20:35.860 --> 00:20:40.540 When they're honored, all of God's people can celebrate, because really all of God's people get honored with that. 00:20:40.540 --> 00:20:42.300 When one of you succeeds, we all succeed. 00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:44.060 We're in Jesus together, right? 00:20:44.120 --> 00:20:44.880 We're all the bride of Christ. 00:20:45.420 --> 00:20:52.420 So it talks about honoring to one another, but you don't really see someone coming to God and be like, "Glorify me 00:20:52.420 --> 00:21:00.380 God, because I'm awesome." But when I think about it, sometimes, sometimes 00:21:00.380 --> 00:21:02.720 without recognize it, we may pray that way. 00:21:04.760 --> 00:21:05.700 We may pray that way. 00:21:05.700 --> 00:21:06.870 And let me give you an example why. 00:21:09.860 --> 00:21:16.940 We may come to God in our discomfort simply because all we want is for God to make things comfortable, because we 00:21:16.940 --> 00:21:22.460 want life to go back to the way things are, simplicity and the easiness of things, and just do our thing. 00:21:22.540 --> 00:21:29.660 We might look like this in our prayer because we're not real connected to God and maybe really thinking about mission and all we want is our 00:21:29.660 --> 00:21:30.020 glory. 00:21:30.020 --> 00:21:31.650 We'll come to God maybe like this, we'll say. 00:21:32.540 --> 00:21:34.420 God, it's me again. 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:36.900 You're one of your earthlings. 00:21:37.820 --> 00:21:39.140 Here I am God. 00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:44.020 Here's a list of things that if you could fix this for me would make my life more convenient. 00:21:44.740 --> 00:21:49.610 And I'll come back and talk to you again when I have another list of things that are inconvenient. 00:21:49.880 --> 00:21:51.530 Until then, I'll see you later. 00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:53.680 We just kind of pray that way. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:22:00.760 We just give God this laundry list of things that we don't like about life and that's as far as our relationship goes, but to be honest, it never 00:22:00.760 --> 00:22:01.420 feels right. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:05.020 And the reason it doesn't feel right is because we only use God for our punching bag, man. 00:22:05.040 --> 00:22:06.900 We just come to God just to take things. 00:22:07.340 --> 00:22:09.610 You know how that is in your earthly relationships. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:16.800 If you just have a friend that or someone you might call a friend, and the only reason you go to that friend is because there's something you want from that friend. 00:22:17.060 --> 00:22:22.480 It just makes that relationship feel weird because that's not what relationships are about, right? 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:28.060 Relationships are intended to be a two-way street, where you're just investing in giving of yourself to one another. 00:22:28.060 --> 00:22:29.300 That's the beauty of relationship. 00:22:29.760 --> 00:22:35.240 And if all your prayer life looks like is just coming to God and just asking for things for your own glory, and that's it. 00:22:35.940 --> 00:22:39.740 What you're communicating is the whole point of your relationship is about you and your glory. 00:22:41.370 --> 00:22:43.260 And it's really no relationship at all. 00:22:46.100 --> 00:22:50.380 Prayer life is intended to be about relationship, right? 00:22:50.520 --> 00:22:51.180 Our father. 00:22:52.500 --> 00:22:53.280 It's a word of intimacy. 00:22:54.780 --> 00:23:00.380 It's a word of communicating with God more than just a list of things I want like he's some secret Santa Claus. 00:23:02.340 --> 00:23:07.120 He's God and he's giving you an open door to connect to him. 00:23:07.580 --> 00:23:07.780 Father. 00:23:10.040 --> 00:23:14.260 When we think about those kind of prayers, here's the reality. 00:23:14.260 --> 00:23:17.380 If all we pray and all we do is come to God when we have a want and it's just like this. 00:23:17.420 --> 00:23:21.120 And God, when we're done with this conversation, we'll just push you aside until I need you again. 00:23:22.580 --> 00:23:26.560 What we're looking for is God to glorify us simply so that we're blessed. 00:23:28.340 --> 00:23:31.420 In the end, the blessing just ends with you. 00:23:33.540 --> 00:23:41.500 But if we're seeking God for his glory, the reality is not only are we blessed in that, but 00:23:41.520 --> 00:23:42.700 the blessing doesn't end with us. 00:23:44.660 --> 00:23:51.960 The blessing will bless all of God's people because when we strive for God's glory, that's 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:56.480 the result in pursuing God selflessly. 00:23:56.520 --> 00:23:58.740 And I'm not saying it's wrong to come to God in your needs. 00:23:58.980 --> 00:24:01.070 Jesus is coming to the father in his need. 00:24:02.760 --> 00:24:09.860 I'm not saying that is bad to tell God if you've got something that you're struggling with, but what I'm encouraging us to think about is 00:24:10.060 --> 00:24:15.780 how then it becomes impactful for the greater mission that God calls us on in this world for his glory. 00:24:17.620 --> 00:24:19.680 And you think about in these moments, here's how Jesus could have prayed. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:22.420 He could have come to God for just his glory and left it there. 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:25.100 His prayer could have been glorify your son and then that's it. 00:24:26.020 --> 00:24:28.070 And then if you did that, the prayer would've looked like this. 00:24:28.580 --> 00:24:32.020 "Father, there's some really bad guys out there. 00:24:32.020 --> 00:24:33.800 They're going to do some really bad things to me. 00:24:34.080 --> 00:24:35.580 Kill them and take me with you. 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:38.440 I mean, just about my blessing here. 00:24:38.460 --> 00:24:40.260 I just want it for me, Lord. 00:24:40.260 --> 00:24:43.020 It's all about my glory and my glory." But that's not where Jesus ends here. 00:24:45.600 --> 00:24:49.680 What Jesus is praying for, yes, he's asking for glory, but he's asking for glory in the cross. 00:24:49.760 --> 00:24:53.400 He's not asking for glory so everyone just sees him as super popular and amazing. 00:24:53.700 --> 00:24:59.400 He's asking for glory to serve in the capacity that God's called him to as a servant in giving his life. 00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:01.970 It's not selfish, it's selfless. 00:25:04.280 --> 00:25:06.820 So that God would be glorified. 00:25:08.940 --> 00:25:09.800 And here's the result. 00:25:11.380 --> 00:25:18.520 Because Jesus is living on mission for the father's glory, all of God's people are blessed. 00:25:21.600 --> 00:25:28.820 All of God's people have the opportunity, even this morning to rejoice in what this prayer is because Jesus lived 00:25:28.820 --> 00:25:30.020 selflessly. 00:25:32.920 --> 00:25:40.180 When you look at 2 Timothy 1:8, it says this, and I think we have it on the screen 00:25:40.180 --> 00:25:40.430 here. 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:47.820 And thinking about the importance of our own life, not just to live life or personal pleasure, but to see where God has us and 00:25:48.100 --> 00:25:49.420 leveraging that for his glory. 00:25:49.560 --> 00:25:56.560 Paul says this, last letter he wrote before he died, "Don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, 00:25:56.580 --> 00:25:56.720 his prisoner. 00:25:58.340 --> 00:26:06.220 Instead, share it in the suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God." There's 00:26:06.220 --> 00:26:07.560 a struggle in the gospel. 00:26:07.600 --> 00:26:15.300 Now, I'm not telling you that this verse is saying, "Go out and find suffering and then live for God's glory." This is not a seek 00:26:15.300 --> 00:26:16.320 suffering verse. 00:26:16.380 --> 00:26:17.440 That's not what this verse is. 00:26:17.580 --> 00:26:20.260 This is Paul writing to the church that's enduring hardship. 00:26:20.340 --> 00:26:22.880 Paul is about to die because of his faith in Christ. 00:26:23.380 --> 00:26:27.080 And he knows the church is going to go through some persecution because of their faith in Christ. 00:26:27.080 --> 00:26:34.400 Some hardship is happening because their faith in Christ and he's just encouraging them to not just run away from that, but to see if God can leverage that 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:35.000 for his glory. 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:37.080 Same for Jesus. 00:26:38.280 --> 00:26:41.820 This cross leveraged for the glory of God to the blessing of all people. 00:26:43.360 --> 00:26:48.080 And sometimes in our prayer life, I think we think that what God's will is for our creature comfort. 00:26:49.480 --> 00:26:53.280 God, my whole prayer life centers on you making things easy for me. 00:26:55.040 --> 00:26:56.320 So take away all the hard things. 00:26:58.380 --> 00:27:02.840 But the truth is when you read the gospels, you see that God isn't always interested in taking away the hard things. 00:27:04.980 --> 00:27:12.940 God isn't always interested in taking away the storms of our life, but rather what he's interested is the heart of the believer going through the storm, because 00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:20.060 God knows if he can strengthen your heart in that struggle, then you have the confidence to walk with Jesus no matter where 00:27:20.060 --> 00:27:21.710 you're going with him in this world. 00:27:22.700 --> 00:27:24.640 And that's what he says, sharing the suffering for the gospel. 00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:25.540 Look, here's why. 00:27:25.960 --> 00:27:27.440 Relying on the power of God. 00:27:28.800 --> 00:27:29.520 Relying on the power of God. 00:27:29.640 --> 00:27:35.380 God could remove all the hard things in life all day long, but the reality is in that, there's no relationship there. 00:27:36.380 --> 00:27:37.100 God make it easy. 00:27:37.120 --> 00:27:37.240 Okay. 00:27:37.320 --> 00:27:39.410 We'll be back when all of this is gone. 00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:42.320 And we'll just talk to you again the next time we have something hard. 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:47.440 The Lord is teaching us even in struggle is that he is sufficient. 00:27:47.520 --> 00:27:48.620 He can sustain us. 00:27:48.620 --> 00:27:49.970 He can carry us through. 00:27:50.140 --> 00:27:56.760 And the result when we seek the glory of God in our circumstance is not only are we blessed, but so is everyone else. 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:00.020 In verse 2 to 8, you see that. 00:28:01.060 --> 00:28:01.600 What are the results? 00:28:01.860 --> 00:28:03.050 It's the last point of the results. 00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:04.820 We are blessed. 00:28:08.180 --> 00:28:08.700 We are blessed. 00:28:08.840 --> 00:28:16.260 Now, I told you in the beginning, we're going to learn to pray like God, and we're actually looking at what Jesus prays and what Jesus prays here is for himself. 00:28:16.860 --> 00:28:19.560 But honestly, Jesus's prayer for himself is just one verse. 00:28:19.560 --> 00:28:23.380 It's just verse 1, verse 2 to 8 is the result of that prayer. 00:28:23.520 --> 00:28:27.090 And Jesus is going to talk about the result of that prayer as he continues to pray. 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:30.060 But verse one is really Jesus' prayer and the rest is a result. 00:28:30.280 --> 00:28:37.480 And through our rest of the time in John chapter 17, we're going to look at that this week, but in verse 9, we'll look at next week where Jesus 00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:38.950 then prays for his disciples. 00:28:39.140 --> 00:28:43.200 And in verse 20, he then starts to pray for his future followers. 00:28:43.280 --> 00:28:44.120 And it's all beautiful. 00:28:44.120 --> 00:28:47.980 It's very encouraging and hearing what God's heart is specifically for us. 00:28:48.540 --> 00:28:56.020 But in this passage, we're seeing Jesus' heart in these moments for what he desires to bless our lives with in verse 2 00:28:56.020 --> 00:28:56.400 to 8. 00:28:57.060 --> 00:29:04.220 In verse two, he says this, even as you gave him authority over all flesh to all 00:29:04.220 --> 00:29:07.500 whom you have given him, he may give eternal life. 00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:15.780 So Jesus is saying the result of this, as you elevate me to glorify me on the cross that I may glorify you, father, 00:29:15.800 --> 00:29:19.480 the blessing of this for others is that they get eternal life. 00:29:20.820 --> 00:29:23.800 I don't know about you, but I don't want to die, right? 00:29:23.800 --> 00:29:27.980 If I think about you can have life or you can have death, I pick life right now. 00:29:28.120 --> 00:29:28.970 I want life. 00:29:29.160 --> 00:29:34.800 But I've found in my Christian life early on that I had a very skewed picture of what life was. 00:29:34.800 --> 00:29:39.750 If you asked me to define what is eternal life, I would've probably said living forever. 00:29:40.040 --> 00:29:45.680 And then I've learned to thank God for John 17:3 because it tells us really what eternal life is. 00:29:46.080 --> 00:29:53.440 He says, "This is eternal life that they may know you, the 00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:59.760 only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." You know what eternal life is? 00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:07.600 It's not the shallow idea of just living forever, it's being connected to your creator. 00:30:09.660 --> 00:30:10.120 That's life. 00:30:11.280 --> 00:30:12.640 And the reason is because he is life. 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:17.480 The only reason we're breathing right now is because his grace allows us to sustain life. 00:30:17.600 --> 00:30:18.800 He holds all things in his hands. 00:30:20.540 --> 00:30:23.300 And to be connected to him is to be connected to life. 00:30:23.460 --> 00:30:25.860 God created you to belong to him. 00:30:25.860 --> 00:30:28.460 God created you for relationship in him. 00:30:28.680 --> 00:30:32.920 The blessing of Jesus seeking the glory of the father is that we get life. 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:41.620 The blessing of you seeking the glory of the father is that Jesus uses you to communicate this life to others, and you walk in life 00:30:41.620 --> 00:30:44.980 yourself in a relationship to God. 00:30:45.540 --> 00:30:48.320 This is eternal life that you may know him. 00:30:49.380 --> 00:30:52.020 The only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sinned. 00:30:52.540 --> 00:30:58.160 1 John 2:23 says it like this, "Whomever denies the son does not have the father. 00:30:58.820 --> 00:31:05.940 The one who confesses the son also has the father being 00:31:06.340 --> 00:31:10.960 connected to Jesus is being connected to the father. 00:31:11.500 --> 00:31:11.860 They're one. 00:31:13.800 --> 00:31:20.200 And Jesus' desire for our lives is to experience the blessing of walking in relationship to God. 00:31:20.580 --> 00:31:22.820 And then in verse 4, he goes on from there and he says this. 00:31:23.560 --> 00:31:25.590 This is a very precious section of scripture. 00:31:25.720 --> 00:31:33.000 He says, "I glorified you on the earth having accomplished the work which you have given me 00:31:33.100 --> 00:31:36.960 to do." The reason I love this section... 00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:44.240 We've already talked about this idea of glory a little bit, but I want to lean into it a little more because now Jesus is talking about a past tense. 00:31:45.020 --> 00:31:48.720 And this again, I think is really going all the way back to the beginning of John 4. 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:55.980 Jesus is tying it all together because when John is introducing 00:31:55.980 --> 00:32:03.100 Jesus in the Book of John, he's in the first 18 verses powerfully laying out who Jesus is and 00:32:03.100 --> 00:32:04.110 his identity. 00:32:04.660 --> 00:32:08.420 One of the things that he says in verse 14, he says and the word became flesh, and the word is Jesus. 00:32:08.500 --> 00:32:09.940 The word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:32:10.420 --> 00:32:14.600 And we saw his glory, the glories of the only begotten from the father full of grace and truth. 00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:16.650 Now for us, this is just a great verse. 00:32:16.800 --> 00:32:18.640 Jesus is here and glory is in the flesh. 00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:19.000 It's great. 00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:26.440 For the Jewish mind, this goes to a whole nother level because first century Jewish mind, if you wanted to experience the 00:32:26.540 --> 00:32:28.960 presence of God, the place that you went was the temple. 00:32:31.160 --> 00:32:35.140 And you went to the temple because in the Holy of Holies, that is where God dwelled. 00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:38.560 If you wanted to get near to God, you got near the temple. 00:32:39.720 --> 00:32:45.280 But the reality was even in desiring to get near to God, you couldn't go into the place where God actually dwelled. 00:32:46.540 --> 00:32:47.720 That was for the priests. 00:32:48.060 --> 00:32:49.250 They would go into the holy place. 00:32:49.940 --> 00:32:54.620 But truthfully, there was only one priest that could go into the Holy of Holies where God's presence dwelled. 00:32:54.640 --> 00:32:55.670 And that was the high priest. 00:32:56.020 --> 00:32:57.880 And he could only do it one time of year. 00:32:58.120 --> 00:33:01.980 And when he went, he had to fill the room with smoke so that God's glory cloud was covered. 00:33:04.200 --> 00:33:06.420 So they would get near God, but not really. 00:33:08.700 --> 00:33:12.180 Now, all of a sudden Jesus is gone. 00:33:14.040 --> 00:33:20.080 And now if you want to get near the presence of God, you don't have to go to the temple because the temple is walking before us. 00:33:20.080 --> 00:33:24.160 The very presence of God in flesh, you can get near to him. 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:27.780 And Jesus is now looking at this moment saying he's culminated all that. 00:33:27.780 --> 00:33:31.160 He has glorified God on Earth having accomplished the work. 00:33:31.160 --> 00:33:38.520 And what he's saying to us is he has now blown the doors of heaven wide open that all of God's people can gather before the presence of God, anytime, 00:33:38.760 --> 00:33:42.320 anywhere, no matter where you are, because the presence of God is going to dwell in you. 00:33:42.540 --> 00:33:46.640 He's communicated to that to us in chapter 14, 15, 16 about this spirit. 00:33:47.980 --> 00:33:49.100 You are the temple of God. 00:33:50.900 --> 00:33:52.860 He's saying to the father, "Father, I have done this. 00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:53.600 I have done this work. 00:33:54.920 --> 00:33:58.720 I glorified you on the earth and have accomplished the work which you have given me. 00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:01.260 Now, Jesus talking past tense here. 00:34:02.180 --> 00:34:07.380 But I think he's talking in terms of even the cross like Jesus is saying, "Look, I've been consistent all the way to this point. 00:34:07.940 --> 00:34:12.000 And I'm going to continue to be consistent to the point of being the full sacrifice on the cross. 00:34:12.060 --> 00:34:13.389 I have glorified you completely. 00:34:13.639 --> 00:34:14.880 And some may ask, "Well, how do you know. 00:34:15.300 --> 00:34:20.639 How do you know that Jesus is really referring to having finished his accomplished work on the cross? 00:34:21.139 --> 00:34:23.139 Jesus isn't even on the cross here yet. 00:34:23.139 --> 00:34:30.260 How do you know he's just not talking about the way he lived his life up into this point." Well, and I would say the answer to that is in verse 5 because 00:34:30.260 --> 00:34:31.560 in verse 5, what you find... 00:34:31.800 --> 00:34:32.690 If you can give me a click, Celia. 00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:38.500 Verse 5, what you find is Jesus in this moment then springboards ahead to thinking about being with the father again. 00:34:39.639 --> 00:34:40.520 He's come to the earth. 00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:43.210 He's been in servant and now he's going to the father again. 00:34:43.239 --> 00:34:50.260 He says, "Now, father, glorify me together with yourself, which the glory, which I had with you before the world 00:34:50.260 --> 00:34:57.340 was." What he's acknowledging is before Christ became flesh in all of eternity, he 00:34:57.460 --> 00:34:58.240 ruled and reigned. 00:34:58.240 --> 00:34:58.940 He was God. 00:34:58.940 --> 00:35:06.120 Colossians 1:15-17 says he made all things, principalities and powers, spiritual, all things, spiritual and 00:35:06.120 --> 00:35:10.380 physical, and he holds all things into his hands, all things consistent in Jesus. 00:35:12.240 --> 00:35:14.940 That was him and he becomes the servant of servants. 00:35:17.720 --> 00:35:20.500 While his personhood was God, he takes on a different position. 00:35:22.600 --> 00:35:25.880 Now, he's to return again in his glory. 00:35:27.240 --> 00:35:34.300 And Jesus is thinking about all of that accomplished work on your behalf and on mine as he 00:35:34.300 --> 00:35:38.400 blew open the doors of heaven for you and for me. 00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:46.380 Then in verse 6 to 8, he says, "I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out 00:35:46.380 --> 00:35:46.920 of the world. 00:35:48.380 --> 00:35:50.620 They were yours and you gave them to me. 00:35:51.740 --> 00:35:53.970 And they have kept your word. 00:35:55.320 --> 00:36:02.420 Now, they have come to know that everything you have given me is from you for the words, which you have given me, I have 00:36:02.420 --> 00:36:03.160 given to them. 00:36:04.120 --> 00:36:11.700 And they received it and truly understand that I came forth from you and they believed that you sent 00:36:11.700 --> 00:36:14.320 me." And this is full circle here. 00:36:17.180 --> 00:36:18.420 God's word is powerful. 00:36:20.320 --> 00:36:21.230 God's word is important. 00:36:21.840 --> 00:36:22.560 It's significant. 00:36:22.560 --> 00:36:25.120 It's how we continue the mission that Jesus has called us on. 00:36:25.260 --> 00:36:25.780 Jesus came. 00:36:25.780 --> 00:36:26.560 He lived this mission. 00:36:26.840 --> 00:36:33.840 He proclaimed the words of his mission and he passed those words onto us, and we have that word today that we can continue to strive to live 00:36:33.840 --> 00:36:35.940 the glory of Christ and the glory of the father. 00:36:38.300 --> 00:36:45.160 Jesus has given us that word and that word becomes important to us, right? 00:36:47.180 --> 00:36:54.000 If you want to have a powerful prayer life, you need to pray in line with the heart of God. 00:36:55.060 --> 00:37:02.360 And if you want to know the heart of God, you need to know the word of God because God communicates his heart 00:37:02.940 --> 00:37:04.580 and his word. 00:37:05.300 --> 00:37:06.690 Let me give you this last illustration. 00:37:09.120 --> 00:37:10.680 You can give me one more click, Celia. 00:37:12.020 --> 00:37:14.410 After today, I want you to go punch somebody. 00:37:14.740 --> 00:37:15.160 I'm just kidding. 00:37:15.400 --> 00:37:17.360 That's not what I'm about to say. 00:37:17.460 --> 00:37:19.250 There is a fist and what could this mean? 00:37:19.720 --> 00:37:21.860 We're going to get physical in just a minute. 00:37:23.100 --> 00:37:24.300 This is an illustration. 00:37:26.020 --> 00:37:31.150 There's a story of a father who said he used to play this game with his kids and he used to do it for fun. 00:37:31.240 --> 00:37:36.580 And he said every once in a while, he'd just grab a couple of pennies and he would put it in his hand and he would hold his hand out to his kids. 00:37:37.320 --> 00:37:44.460 And he would tell them, if you can pull my fingers open, you can have this penny or these pennies, whatever he had in his hand. 00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:48.640 And the rule was once they got a finger open, he couldn't reclose it. 00:37:48.720 --> 00:37:55.980 So they would pry and pry, and they would slowly one by one, get each finger open until they got all the fingers open and they would grab 00:37:55.980 --> 00:37:58.400 just one or a couple pennies that he have in his hand. 00:37:59.100 --> 00:38:00.660 And he just commented after it. 00:38:00.820 --> 00:38:02.700 He said it always struck him as so bizarre. 00:38:02.840 --> 00:38:05.660 He would open his hands and there would just be a couple of pennies. 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:11.360 And the kids would just be so excited and they would grab the pennies and they would just run away. 00:38:11.360 --> 00:38:12.280 And that would be it. 00:38:12.320 --> 00:38:13.780 That would be the end of all that. 00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:20.280 They're just so focused on these pennies and they go to the room and they would count their pennies and collect their pennies and put their pennies away, but it was all about the pennies. 00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:25.360 He thought how ironic it was that the kids, all they cared about was just pennies. 00:38:25.940 --> 00:38:28.850 And he thought in his mind before he'd even play the game, ah, I'll get a couple pennies. 00:38:28.900 --> 00:38:29.780 I'll just throw these away. 00:38:29.780 --> 00:38:30.520 Who wants these pennies? 00:38:30.520 --> 00:38:31.420 And he'd think, "Oh, you know what? 00:38:31.700 --> 00:38:36.100 I'll just clamp these in my fist and play a game with the kids." And the kids would have some fun. 00:38:36.160 --> 00:38:38.860 But then they would get so fixated on just these pennies and runaway. 00:38:40.680 --> 00:38:41.420 He said, "You know what? 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:49.000 As I thought about that, I thought about my own relationship with God that I often come to God and all I really wants is the pennies. 00:38:50.980 --> 00:38:53.400 And here he is holding out his hand. 00:38:55.020 --> 00:38:59.120 There is so much more value in his hand than in those pennies. 00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:03.720 When I come to God, all I ask for God are just pennies. 00:39:05.040 --> 00:39:11.320 When I walk away, I'm so excited about pennies, but I realize that I've walked away from the hand of God. 00:39:13.320 --> 00:39:20.600 There's so many greater things in the hand of God." I say all this to encourage 00:39:20.600 --> 00:39:21.240 us guys. 00:39:22.420 --> 00:39:29.420 When you think about the beauty of prayer and what it is and the intimacy with God, if we just stop seeking our own 00:39:29.420 --> 00:39:34.400 glory, how much we miss because we're just going after the pennies. 00:39:36.280 --> 00:39:42.100 But if we pursue God for his glory, the blessing doesn't just end with us. 00:39:43.100 --> 00:39:49.000 It blesses the world around us in a way that I think our minds, we don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about. 00:39:49.000 --> 00:39:49.800 Not you, guys. 00:39:49.860 --> 00:39:52.260 You guys are great, but other people that pray, right? 00:39:52.460 --> 00:39:53.180 Other people that pray. 00:39:54.620 --> 00:40:01.780 But when we think about the blessing of what's extended to us, because Jesus lived his life for the father's glory, 00:40:03.420 --> 00:40:07.340 that continues in God's people as we pursue the same. 00:40:07.640 --> 00:40:15.180 And it's that heart that should drive us to think about what we're praying about and 00:40:15.340 --> 00:40:16.420 why we're praying. 00:40:17.300 --> 00:40:23.820 And the results we could see if we would just pray big because we belong to a big God. 00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:27.720 We want to reach out and grab his hand and stop going for pennies.