The High Priestly Prayer (1)
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Father
Father
Before we jump into our new series that we are going to do I need you to all help me with something.It’s an experiment. Very scientific.Here is what I need you to do.I need you to all ask someone a question.It can be any question. How was your week? Were you a peacemaker? Would you like to go out on a date? Where did you get your hair done? What did you have for dinner? Any question you want. This is where I need your help and the scientific data collection.Did any of you ask like this? Change your voice. The Oh God Voice.Did any of you speak in old King James English?Finally I know the answer to this one already, but DID ANY OF YOU YELL YOUR QUESTION AT THE OTHER?Let me tell you why I needed this research.Today we are going to start a new series through John 17.It is known as the High Priestly Prayer.For me the title of the prayer isn’t all that important to our series but what I want us to look at and learn from this is to see how Jesus prayed.Boy can we learn a lot from this prayer.Here is what I hope we learn from this series.Prayer is an important part of the Christian life.It is a part that many people would love to learn how to do better but find it very difficult.To be blunt and honest they find it frustrating and disappointing.They are not sure that they are heard, they often find it boring, they find their minds drift off as they pray and finally feel they never get what they pray for anyway and so why do it.Did I cover everything or is there more?So here is what we will learn today and frame the series.And I have pointed it out before.If you were one of Jesus’ twelve disciples or apostles, and you spent three and half years with Jesus and watched him do everything He did.Things like teach, heal the sick, cast out demons, calm storms, walk on water, need to pay tax so sent Peter out to catch a fish and find a coin it, multiply food, water into wine, find the best fishing spots to cast the nets. And many other great things.If you saw all those and could ask Jesus to teach one thing what would you ask Him to teach you?For me it would be a toss up between walking on water and multiplying food. Both are pretty cool.The only thing that is recorded in Scripture that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them was to pray.Nothing else.There was something about Jesus praying that just made them want to learn, HOW DID YOU DO THAT? TEACH ME.Jesus did. In Luke and in Matthew’s Gospel.Here is the thing with those.That is Jesus teaching them to pray.John 17 is actually Jesus’ prayer.It is the longest prayer He prayed.So if we want to learn how to pray we should study Matthew and Luke’s teaching about how to pray.But we should also study the real thing, Jesus doing it.It’s kind of like with Sports.When you have a game against another team do you know what they do? They don’t go to the books to learn about how the game is played.The get the films out and study the real thing.That’s how we will look at Jesus’ prayer.What did He do? Why did He do it? How did He do it.My hope is that as we do this we will all start to pray like Jesus.Today’s take home will be to learn the starting place: How and Why Pray?Part of it will be to do a little reprograming.Let’s read
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
We will not read the whole prayer at once but look at it in sections as we go through this study.The prayer is naturally broken down into three very important parts.First part is Jesus prayer for Himself or about Himself, Second He prays for His little community of disciples with Him, those close to Him, Finally He prays for those outside His group. Just for context before we dive in it is good to know that this was came right after the Last Supper.Jesus just spent time telling His disciples that He would be leaving them, that He would leave them with the Holy Spirit, He washed their feet as an example of serviceAnd sent Judas off to betray Him.Jesus knew all what was ahead of Him, which we will get into next week.But for now this is basically the very last thing the disciples would see Jesus do before being put to death.And Now He Prays.Because I am one of those that believes every word that is recorded in the Bible is inspired to be there by God I believe we can learn from everything that is recorded.Look at verse 1 and see How did Jesus pray
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
17 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come;
How did Jesus pray? Well first of all He did not change His voice and do the Oh God thing.Nor did He yell or use some funny language.That is not required to pray.Matter of fact it probably hinders you from really praying.It is something that was demonstrated to you but not taught or learned from Jesus.It’s funny Tammy’s family is primarily 7th Day Adventists.One big tradition they have is this huge Thanksgiving Day family reunion.In in 1989 when we came back from living here the first time for five years and we went to that.Before dinner they asked me to pray. Pastor, missionary it’s only right that I do this. It will be special. I prayed, thank you God. The next day I was fired. They had grandma pray.The reason why is because I didn’t pray in King James English.That’s God’s language and how we must talk to Him.It isn’t. That’s just learned behavior. Here is what we can learn from this.First of all notice that Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven.This is not telling us that when we pray we must lift our eyes up to Heaven.But there is a huge lesson that we can learn from Jesus.And it’s also what is taught when He taught His disciples to pray.What did He tell them? Our Father who art in Heaven.What He is teaching and now demonstrating is that prayer is something that is beyond this world. It is a very spiritual exercise.If I can be so bold it is to the only thing I know that gives us a time out from this world and takes us into another realm.The unseen realm.That should not sound strange to you but should sound very exciting.Let me tell you why.In this journey called life we need a break. We need a place of rest and refreshment.The daily place we can get that is prayer.Over the next few weeks we will learn how and why but this is just to set the stage for it.For now it is just to see that prayer takes our eyes off this world for however brief that is and gives us refreshment.Even Jesus did it.At least 4 times we see Jesus getting away to pray.Every time you lift your eyes to heaven you are taking a break from this world, the pressures, the hurts, the worldliness and enter into a little taste of heaven.By the way this isn’t just so you can unload about all of the cares of the world.This is entirely different.That is the first part to see with Jesus and to learn.It takes us to a spiritual place.2nd about lifting your eyes to heaven, especially when you have a need or are in some pressure.You are turning to someone who has a whole different perspective.Here is what I mean by that.For many what drives them to prayer is that they have issues, trials, problems because of life.Quite frankly it is that you feel lost.Like right now with all that is going on in the country we feel pressure and a little lost, beat up and confused because of what is going on.For me it’s almost like being in a fog at times.Some may say they feel lost in the forest.Don’t know what to do.Prayer when you look up to heaven you are looking to God who is above all of this.You are looking to someone who sees clearly no matter what is going on.He is not lost in the woods, He is not confused and He feels no pressure about what’s going on.So part of the break we get from prayer is connecting to God who is not in the mess.He is above it. That is the first part.Next this is the main take home for today.It’s to realize the relationship we have with this God that we are looking up too.Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven and said, not yelled but said.Father.What is prayer, it is talking to your Father in Heaven.Now this is so key.See Jesus had to do a lot of reprogramming with the people He was teaching.They had really lost touch of who God is. Lost touch how to relate to Him and really lost touch with how to pray.They had come to the point that God was way up there and that He couldn’t really be approached in a personal way.That was never a way that God tried to reveal Himself.Even in the Old Testament God tried to teach that He was their Father.All that was to show how He wanted to relate to them.Listen to these verses.
With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me.
For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.
But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.
God’s interaction with His people was always to be like a Father to His children.But it often got lost.Jesus never lost it.So when taught us to pray and when we see Jesus pray it always starts the same way: FatherWhat we can learn here is that prayer takes us out of this physical world into a spiritual world.And it connects us with our Father.Next week we can learn a little of what to pray.But for this week the application is:We all need a break from the pressures of this world, the pressures of Zimbabwe.The place to get it is to look to a new place, heaven,And know that The Father is waiting.All we have to learn to do is open your heart to Him, open your should to Him, That’s how you get God into your life.Reading God’s Word is wonderful, going to church is wonderful,But prayer is on a whole new level.go check out this week.Even if its 5 minutes and lift your eyes to heaven and just call on the Father.Put the list aside and just call on your Father and say Father I am here, I want you, I open my heart to you.I want to experience what Jesus did, I need refreshing.