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There is a sense in which this morning where we should be taking the shoes off of our feet. We are about to tread on holy ground as we look at this precious prayer.
Jesus our Lord was a praying man, He prayed a lot. We only have a few sketches of Jesus praying in His time here on earth.
It is important to understand the context in which Jesus prays this prayer. Jesus knows that He is about to go to the cross, and so He prays a prayer of benediction for His disciples, and for His church, for you and I.
In the first eight verses here Jesus is praying for Himself. He asks God to return to the glory that He had before He came down to the earth. Jesus saw beyond the shame of the cross.
In verse nine he shifts to praying for the disciples and the future church. God is intimately involved and working in the local body of believers.
Jesus narrows down to about four things that He prays for the church.
– He prays for separation from the world. Why did Jesus leave the disciples behind when He returned to the Father? Jesus left them behind for the sake of the going forth of the Gospel.
– He prays for sanctification. Jesus understood that there would be lots of unsound doctrines.
– He prays for unity among believers. Jesus prays for the church to experience oneness like that of the Father and the Son. We live in a world that is centered around individualism.
– He prays for glory of the believers. That we too may share with Him that glory that He had with the Father. There are two things that are always manifested when God’s glory is present. God is present there. God’s power is there.
Scriptures used – John 13-17:1-26, Mark 1:35, Luke 6:12, Hebrews 12:1-2, Exodus 14, 2 Corinthians 3:18