Bible Study/ Coffee Talk @ Pastor's place (Tues)

29 Sep 2015

We were having coffee talk in place of bible study this morning with Joshua, Jan, Pastor, Joel, Mavis and I. Joel asked Pastor, what does he as the lead pastor pray for? Pastor shared 3 things Jesus prayed for when He prays to the Father~

3 parts in the Jesus' prayer to the Father:

“After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.” (John‬ ‭17:1-5‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

1) Jesus always starts by praying for himself!

“I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me. “My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold. “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.” ‭‭(John‬ ‭17:6-19‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

2) Jesus prays for his inner circle (12 disciples)
- the people in your core (ministry wise)
- the people in your family/ close friends

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!” (John‬ ‭17:20-24‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

3) Jesus prays for all the believers and those who are going to believe (includes us)

As I look at the 3 points pastor shared this morning, I realised that it was very similar to what the back portion of Acts 1:8 says about reaching Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. But only Jesus was referring not to unbelievers this time, He prays for us! You and me! It encourages me so much to know that! And we can to do that too!:) not by obligation or following blindly but because we get to do itSmiling face with smiling eyes

My takeaway:
Praying for ourselves is super important, if we don't we lose sight of God in our own lives. Would we be able to then pray for others? Yes of course, but they will be obligatory. Not out of a believing, faith-filled heart! To fill, you need to be filled. To bless, you need to be blessed. And to give, you need to receive! All these can only happen when you who know yourself best (apart from God) pray for yourself! No one will know your heart better than yourself! So never ever despise the prayer that you pray for yourself! It is important, Jesus showed us that in John 17!