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6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power ofyour name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (John 17:6-19 NIV)
Happy Monday to you, ConCafe Family! May this day find your wide awake, blessed and refreshed, and ready to face the opportunities and blessings of this day, my Friend! We continue to trust in the Lord as we pray for one another, especially for those with pressing needs before the Lord. We continue to pray for my cousin, Bobbie, whom I learned stands in need of a lung transplant. She also lost one of her ears due to her not being rotated often enough in the hospital where she is. Prayers for her husband and family. Make time to lift your needs before the Lord.
This weekend was Mother's Day. And I remember the day when it was the busiest time of the year to use the telephone. Some of you may not want to admit you remember long distance charges, but you do! A call from one city to another, depending on distance and other factors, could be an expensive enterprise. And many made a call to Mom so they could wish her a happy and blessed day. The telephone company loved the holiday as much, if not more, than Hallmark Cards! What I miss most about my parents being dead is not talking to them. The first years were the toughest when we had so much to share about our daughters and their accomplishments and development. It was such a joy to share with Mom how much they looked like her, shared some mannerisms, did great in school, and the list goes on and on. The silence now is tough.
And while we may not have long distance charges any more, communication between loved ones is important and vital. With almost everyone having a cell phone and most have free long distance calls covered, making and receiving calls from parents and children is relatively easy. Getting your kids to leave a game or a chat with a special person, well, that's another thing altogether. With communication devices as modern and as effective as they've ever been, communication between loved ones is not what it used to be, or what it should be. And prayer, as easy and as powerful as it is, runs a close second, some would argue, first, in neglect and usage.
Today's passage is all about prayer and the special place it had in Jesus' life. It was His lifeline and life of support. Jesus was truly a man of prayer. We can't forget He was fully human and fully divine. He needed and loved prayer. It was His way of staying in touch with His Father; He could share what was on His heart and mind, and God would respond to Him with exactly the words He needed to hear and use. The pressures and stress of this world on His life and ministry made prayer vital to His success. In this passage, Jesus is openly talking to God and sharing just what has been happening in His life and in the life of the twelve whom He called into ministry with Him. And in the opening verses of this passage, Jesus says clearly that He is praying for them, "for those You have given me, for they are Yours." Wow! Jesus truly loves and wants to bless the twelve in marvelous ways. He knew what lay ahead for all of them, and prayer would be the only way all of them would make it. Prayer is like those phone calls I would make to my Mom when I was in college and starting to have exams and tests. I would study but I would also wait in line for the one pay phone in the dorm. Kids, ask grandma or grandpa what a pay phone was. Ours was a super interesting, to put it nicely, because there was only one operator at night in Jacksonville and sometimes her questions were more than what one would be willing to answer. I cannot remember the exact conversation I had to have with her and still could not get her to dial my home phone in Houston. Question after question, and probing ones at that, and I finally said, "Never mind, I'll send a carrier pigeon!" I told those waiting to use the phone, "When she calls back, you don't know my name or where I went!" They laughed. I think they had been through that before as well. The phone call that did matter was when I could speak to my Mom, answer her loving questions and then share with her the upcoming exam. "Have you studied?" Yes, ma'am. "Are you ready?" I will be! "Mom and I will pray for you." Yes! That's what I wanted and needed to hear; that prayers would soon be on their way to the Throne of God where these two dear ladies would plead on my behalf the great need that I had shared with them. Jesus' prayers were a bit more stressed than mine, and I respect and honor those; but you get the point - we all need to stay connected, and in touch with God our Father. Jesus mentions key words and ingredients of prayer; glory, protection, power in God's name, safety, joy (a full measure of such), and protection again. Oh yes, sanctification by truth, and the commission to go into the world to work on God's behalf. It is important to note that such work is best done under the covering of sanctification; the purifying power of God's sacredness upon us; a purifying and making holy of us, is a process that takes all our lives to accomplish. Remember Wesley's added dimension, that he expected to be made perfect in love in this life. Not by his own strength or merits, but by those of King Jesus at work in us. My phone calls to my mother and grandmother were the assurance to me that I would be under the protection of God in my academic journey at college and beyond; an armor plating on me that I needed as I waged war against him who would have rather I do something else with my life.
Dear friend, what battles have you been fighting, and how have you clothed yourself? Paul made it clear in his epistle that fighting the battles against the devil are best fought wearing the armor of God; and this prayer shows that Jesus was way ahead of Paul in asking such clothing for Himself as well as His disciples, for He knew they would win in the end, thanks to the nonstop prayers He lifted up on their behalf; and when we ask of Him, on our behalf even today. There is no need to feel weak, or vulnerable; with Christ Jesus praying on our behalf, more than half the battle is won; our faith and our obedience will carry us on through, and God will receive the honor and the glory and the blessings shared will bless those with whom we live and work.
Pray. Pray. And pray again. Develop a holy habit of constantly praying in your life. Thought prayers, silently lifted up, are heard by God. Prayers of moans and aches of pain are also lifted up and interpreted by the Holy Spirit; we are not now, or ever, alone. We stand in the presence of He who loves us and goes with us. Take full advantage of that today!
PRAYER: Loving God, as we pray, we pray that Your will be done in all that we are facing. We pray for strength, wisdom, courage, and the faith to be obedient and triumphant. Lift up our sorrows, hears our sighs as praise, and our cries as that which will bless us ultimately; in Christ Jesus our Lord we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Pray for as many people as you can today; ask God to give them for whom you pray, victory after victory!
Receive my prayers of victory for you!
Pastor Eradio Valverde
