Message: We Pray for Others, Cuz He Prayed for Us!
Like ripples in the water, time strides before us. Seemingly undaunted by our challenges, hardships, and strife. Regardless of our epiphanies, big ideas, joys and discoveries, or perceptions of God, of life, and how we fit into the scheme of the creation, time and events seem to promenade on. Throughout all of the above life unfolds in this stint of existence we live in, as we seem to be dwarfed in comparison.
And yet each of us have access into the greatest source of power for good that exists in the Universe. That access is not like a Country Club, Fraternity, or secret society. It’s the gift of belonging from our God to all of us, a family out in the open like our ancestors in God (the children of Israel) living out in the wilderness thousands of years ago, relying on the Lord for survival and hope. With reverence for our God, we actually become more complete, better realized with deeper understanding of what is truly important. When people of good will and courage join in prayer and worship of our Lord God, hope abounds across the planet.
Today I am excited to share with all of you and any of the willing who are listening, that when members of the creation, you, me, our fellow believers in God humbly come to Him, repent, dedicate, and cling to His ways, everything begins to change in our lives. Yes, today is about you and what can indeed happen, when we and others come to our Lord in prayer.
What today and this message is not about is;
All the above are the world’s misplaced reasons for coming to God. Many times, people come to Him, only after everything else has gone south and there is no one or anything else to turn to. Only then will some come to the Lord for help. And then what they are asking for are just what the world decorates and masks death in. Fame, stuff, and more junk! No wonder their requests are not indulged. We keep asking for stuff that’s not good for us!
This, is generally followed up by many with complaints that God is not answering prayers, and then another helping of cynicism and self-pity are added to the mix by a portion of humanity that are looking for reasons not to believe in the creator to begin with. Many of us wouldn’t recognize a gift from the Lord, if it was in the same room with us.
No… When we come to the Lord in truth, in deep-set humility, and in the infancy of our understanding of where we stand in relationship to the Creator and the created, we come for communion with God. In English what I’m saying is; when I am ready to listen to God, serve the Lord, and house His Spirit in my life, the Godhead now has even more use of me. Now we can begin a real relationship.
Instead of believing that I am in the driver’s seat calling the shots, I now begin to have a sense of what driving the car of life really all about. And it’s not control, because I lack control of things and other people. Always have, and on a good day, I barely have control over my own poor attitude. So much for driving…
Now, that we have begun to get a handle on our attitudes, have begun to reflect on what’s really important in life, we are in a better position for worshiping God, praying with the Spirit, as we celebrate our Lord’s reign over the creation. Now I am really ready to read, digest, and absorb today’s Call to Worship from, Psalm 97
1 The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.
2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.
4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all peoples see his glory.
*Side Note; All ofthese traits of God’s majesty, are there to remind us of how He is ever-present, powerful, and capable of sustaining the earth with everything including us in it. Instead of running from Him, we must be in the business of running towards our God! Let us be glad in joy that our Father loves His creation.
This joyful celebration of God’s rule is centered by the next verse which serves as a counterpart to our faith and reliance on our God. Reading now the pivot verse 7;
7 All who worship images are put to shame,
those who boast in idols—
worship him, all you gods!
** Verse 7; These simple facts, not only remind all of us that my earlier comments about the world shamefully are still a reality, and the brazenness of replacing God with anything still happens and thrives even in the modern age we live in. Continuing now at verse 8:
8 Zion hears and rejoices
and the villages of Judah are glad
because of your judgments, Lord.
9 For you, Lord, are the Most High over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.
10 Let those who love the Lord hate evil,
for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light shines on the righteous
and joy on the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous,
and praise his holy name.
Let our fear be rooted in the sincere hope that we have not let God, or our family in the Lord down by our missing the mark through selfish sin. Hopefully our realization that the good life is available because of who God is, and not what we are. That when we are really striving to live in and with our Lord, our mindset is not like the rest of the world’s focus. No longer am I consumed by numbers, ratios, and rules (laws), that only lead to avoidance of rules laws, and more sin.
In our Faithwalk with the New Covenant of the Gospel, I am more focused on how my family in God lives with and in the Lord, and not just following rules. Now I try not to hate, envy, lust, horde, and connive. My very attitude! Not because there are rules about that kind of stuff (the Ten Commandments), but because in our family, we don’t act that way, and I don’t want to let the God I love or the family that loves me, down!
In our family we don’t focus on;
- Worldly power and stuff
- Because our God as demonstrated in today’s Call to Worship Psalm 97, That He has all of the power in the universe, and stuff is just stuff.
- Money, wealth, and junk
- The Lord provides when we ask for the right things, and we learn what is appropriate, and healthful
- Popularity, influence, or admiration
- Being in God’s family, means we don’t have to worry about the competition for fleeting fame.
- Being safe or yielding into fear
- Wanting to feel safe, and running from fear have ruined more than a few in their relationship with the Lord, and God’s family.
- We must be there for each other in the face of fear to walk with each other as the Lord walks with us.
As we learn to walk and equip each other in this incredible thing called life, our prayer life becomes more and more essential as we seek God’s reassurance, guidance, and blessings, not only for ourselves, but especially for other people. Hence, we are trying by living today’s message title: We Pray for Others, Cuz He Prayed for Us!
More than that, we are beginning to understand what it means when we say; He made us, lived, died, lived again, and redeems us, with His Spirit sustaining us. We have the Lord actually leading by example through His own prayer life with the Disciples as demonstrated in today’s Message reading from John 17: 1-3, and then 20-26
1After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent…
*Side Bar; Notice the innocence and intimate way our Lord addresses our “Father”. In private, when we are alone with the Lord, I hope each of us may begin to have some of the intimacy with God, that we are witnessing here from our Lord. Not the kind of closeness that equals have, but the kind we have with a child and parent, when everyone knows who is in charge and who is dependent on whom.
Notice that eternal life is knowing our God, the Father and Son, and this is facilitated through their Holy Spirit that resides within our very being when we are in relationship in and with God. Continuing at verse 20;
… 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
**Cutting in Again; To say that this is indeed where our hope lays imbedded. That if we would in this room, in our community, and across the planet, be one as a family in God. That all of us that reside in the various and widespread Communities of God might be one in our Lord, even if we have differing doctrines, and ways of explaining the joy we have in our Faith life… This world would be a much better place, and the what an opportunity awaits you and me! Continuing now with verse 22;
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
***Side Note; The members of God’s family have been given glory so that we may be as one. That is achievable in our case when we walk in true humility with our God! It’s not being glorified in this life to be the boss, a bully, a know-it-all, or even a walking martyr. It means we care for and humbly help one another in our walk.
And then we will be in the Lord’s footsteps of serving others who He has placed in our lives. This is where true complete unity might be found with fallen people living in a fallen world. Continuing now with verse 24;
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
****Just Think; At some point in our future with God, we will be where our God the Father, the Lord Jesus, and enveloped with Their Holy Spirit, in Heaven. And where is that? It’s wherever your God is, that you might be allowed exist with. Finally, we have our Lord praying;
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
As members of God’s family, our job must be the business of sharing God’s Good News of hope, redemption, and salvation, to a world groping in the dark for something better. The Lord in His prayer also states that He has made God known to us through Him, and that is what the Gospel is all about. And that is why we must be about sharing the Gospel with all who are willing that God places in our lives.
If today, you are not exactly sure how to pray, there is nothing like just getting into the habit of sharing your day with your God. (For form and style, you have the format that the Lord provides in Matthew 6:5-14) Specifically what we use each Sunday Matthew 6:9b-13 plus;
9…“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our trespasses / debts,
as we also have forgiven those who trespass against us / our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
And then we include;
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
Forever, and ever, Amen!
We do this each Sunday to help teach our children what prayer is, and to remind us on how we can structure a prayer that is directed to the Father, in the Son’s name, surrounded in the essence of the Holy Spirit. All four of you!
At the end of the day, you do not have to look, sound, or even organize your prayers like anyone else. Cuz we are talking about you and your prayer life with God. My hope, is that as you begin to pray more and more in the way or ways that work for you, that you will more and more keep others in your thoughts as you humbly come to Him!
Today, we have talked about what to avoid (that stuff the world thinks is important), and about how others must be a part of our concerns that we bring to our Lord.
It is my hope, that as you begin to think about, and then pray about others in your life, that you let the Lord lead you into those green pastures that are the joy of living a good life with God and His family. And that you have a blast, joyfully serving and enjoying the people God has placed in your life!
Amen!