Sermon Nuggets Mon Oct 20
Theme- Praying for the Disciples
Verses- John 17:6-8
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.
Prepared
There is a story about a man newly hired to recruit for the Auburn athletic department. The head football coach wanted to prepare him for the type of men to find.
“Do you know the kind of man who gets knocked down and stays down?”
“Yes,” said the new recruiter.
“That’s not who we want for this football team. Do you know the kind of guy who gets knocked down and gets up, knocked down again and gets up, gets knocked down again and always gets up?”
“Yes, that’s the one we want for Auburn.” Said the recruiter.
“No”, said the coach. “That’s not who we want. We want the man who keeps knocking down the others.”
As Jesus continues in His prayer to His Father, He moves from personal prayer to prayer for His disciples. Certainly, they will be knocked down, only to get up again. But to be entering into Satan’s turf He prays they will be the men who keep advancing the gospel and knocking down the barriers by the power of the Lord. Satan will be the one defeated.
Jesus is well aware that He is about to go to the cross. The work which the Father gave Him to do was now to be handed over to the disciples. They needed prayer. They needed to be over-comers, not knocked down but carrying forth what Jesus came to do.
In His prayer He makes is clear that they were chosen by the Father. They were to be servants even as Jesus was a servant. They were to magnify the Father as Jesus magnified the Father. They were to present to others the truth as the Father gave truth to Jesus.
He was praying for them acknowledging they have been prepared by giving to them what they needed to know. They have gone out two by two. They have put their faith in the Son of God. They knew God Almighty was doing the work through Jesus and would do the work through them by the authority granted to them by Christ.
The most significant part of their preparation for the work to which they have now been given is prayer. Prayer is the preparation that puts things in the right perspective. It is the awareness that this is God’s work through us. We need the preparation of being in the presence of the Lord and those who are about to do Spiritual battle are prepared by the prayers of one another.
Jesus knew more than the others how important it was to pray for them. Not just to teach them and watch them at work, but to bring them before the Father that they would be prepared to speak the truth, declare the wonders of Christ and take what belongs to Satan and free them from bondage by the power of the Holy Spirit
As you start your days the best preparation you can have is begin with prayer. Like Christ you can also pray for one another. Realize that Jesus is praying also for you today. Realize that you have been given truth, and go empowered in the Holy Spirit. Go humbly realizing that God wants to do something today in your life, even if it is nothing more than trusting Him to do whatever He wants, whenever He wants, even if you don’t know it. There will be times when you are called on and know God is using you. But more importantly than what you do, is knowing whose you are. That is part of the preparation and joy of being a disciple.
Pastor Dale.
