Jesus’ Prayer

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today’s program is called Jesus’ Prayer. Let’s turn to John 17:1-26, we’re going to read through this prayer that Jesus prayed, Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to Heaven, and said: Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your Word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the Words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your Word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. In verse 6, Jesus said,  I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. And in verse 12 He said, While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. So Jesus manifested the Father’s name to the men that God gave Him. In verse 26 He said, And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. Rom 15:6, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Co 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort… 2Co 11:31  The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever… 1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Jesus revealed the Father to us; He manifested His name, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He also has made us sons and daughters in Him. He is our Father in Heaven; hallowed is His name: Father, God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is so important to understand that Jesus became the Son of God when He was born of the Virgin Mary; conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit: the Son of the Father. God also became His Father. Let’s look at John 1:1-5, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. And if we go to verse 14, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Let’s turn to Luke 1:26-38, Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women! But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I do not know a man? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. We see clearly in these scriptures that the angel said to Mary, Therefore also that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. You can clearly see that if you are honest. So Jesus became the Son of God. Before this He was the Word, as we read in John 1: The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. In the beginning was the Word, then the Word, when the Father sent Him, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Amen! So Jesus is the Son of God. He became the Son of God when He was born of the Virgin Mary, and God became His Father. Thank you Lord! 1John 3:1-3,  Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Do you see that? Behold what manner of Love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. That is the key. The Father so loved us, as it says in John chapter 3, that He gave His beloved Son. He sent Jesus to become the Son of God, and Jesus gave Himself to live His life for 33 years, being tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. He loved the Father and He did the will of the Father, and He loved us, and He washed us from our sins in His own Blood on the Cross. How could that be? It’s because He lived as a man in the Earth; He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin, as it is written in Hebrews. Therefore He was able to offer Himself a living sacrifice for our sins; a pure sacrifice, acceptable to God, to satisfy God for all the sins of the human race; for all those who will hear that and turn and repent of their own sins, and come to Jesus, and take His yoke upon them, and learn of Him; then they too will become sons and daughters of the living God; baptized into His death; raised into newness of life; Jesus Christ dwelling in us, and us in Him. Through faith in the Gospel, repentance, and water baptism, we are baptized into Jesus’ death and raised with Him into newness of life in Him: a new creature; a son and daughter of God. We have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father. Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying Abba, Father. Wherefore you are no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Since Jesus has revealed the Father to us and declared His name: our Father which is in Heaven, thus we can know the love of our Father, just as He loves His only begotten Son.  

Jesus prayed, when He was praying that prayer, in verse 21,...that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us…verse 23,  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one. The Father loves the Son; the Son loves the Father. When we repent and truly come to Jesus, believing on Him, He comes to dwell in us. We love Him and the Father. Why do we love them? Because the Father so loved us that He gave His only beloved Son for us to save us from our own destructions; to save us from our sins. God loved us when we did not care at all about Him. He loved us and gave Himself for us; Jesus did. The Bible says, We love Him because He first loved us. So we love Jesus, and the Father, keeping His Words. Jesus said, If you love Me you will keep My Words. And Jesus and the Father are in us, and we are in them, in the love of God, and we are one, walking in the Holy Spirit, doing the will of our Father every day; taking up our cross and denying ourselves, Jesus said, taking up our cross and following Him. They that are led by the Holy Spirit are the sons and daughters of God. Jesus is our Shepherd, and we are His sheep. His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him. He will lead us in the paths that are the Father’s will for us to perfect us. All of this works through love. Faith works through love. All of this will come to pass through love. God loved us. He gave His Son for us. We love Him, and we keep His Words. If we ever sin, we go directly to Him immediately, to settle it before Him, because Jesus paid for it with His own sacrifice of Himself; He paid for all of our sins. We can confess our sins, and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us of all that unrighteousness. And we go on, from faith to faith, being purified, being cleansed, and sanctified; conformed more and more to His image. The work that He has begun in us, He will complete it unto the day of salvation, but it all works through love. It doesn’t work through knowledge. Knowledge without love does not work. It’s empty. Faith without love is empty, as we read in 1 Cor 13. So that is the key: It’s for us to understand the love of God: that He so loved us! We need to ask God for a revelation of His love, and that He would deliver us from our religious blinders, that keep us from really understanding how much God loves us.  I just want to repeat that verse that Jesus said in John 17: verse 23, I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.