Author: Nick Booth

What Jesus wants

John 17:20-26

He wants you! – John 17:20

Jesus is completing a long intense prayer immediately prior to the arrest he was certain was coming. He initially prayed that the Father would be glorified through the granting of eternal life to his disciples through the completion of his death and resurrection. He prayed also that he would also be glorified by the Father and return to him on the completion of his work. ^{vv 17:1-5} Jesus went on to pray for the disciples who had journeyed with him as they would be left behind to continue their gospel ministry after his ascension. He prayed for their protection from a world that will hate them and the evil one who would seek to sink their mission by leading them into sin. ^{vv 17:6-19} But then Jesus gloriously prayed for you. Yes you. Not just you of course but definitely you if you have believed in him. How about that, just before Jesus was arrested he remembered you with his Father, because he desperately wants you and loves you. His death was intentionally for you as was his resurrection. In his prayer he lifted his eyes to the end of history and prayed for each one who would turn and believe in him. You and I really matter to Jesus. What he wanted and prayed for his immediate disciples, who walked the countryside and streets of Palestine with him, he wants for each one of us. He knew we were going to live lives that reject him and cause him pain but he still wanted us to believe and receive his mercy and eternal blessing. Paul in writing to Timothy urging that prayers be said for all people goes on to say God our Saviour, ‘desires all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.’ Have we taken time recently to enjoy his love for us and be thankful for it?

When we feel our faith or God’s work is under attack whose strength do we rely on?

What flaming arrows need to be extinguished in our lives?

How do we make a stand for righteousness, justice and peace? Is there any area God is prompting us to be active in?

Have we created time in our daily lives for pray on all occasions?

Who are we praying for that they will be strengthened in the sharing of the gospel? Who are we praying for that they will come to faith and have their life transformed?

Mercy me – Even if

Remaining aware of all these aspects is demanding. Paul places an emphasis on constant prayer. He says to pray in the Spirit, which means praying according to the mind of the Spirit and in harmony with the Spirit. Our own sin causes us to not be in harmony with the Spirit of Christ and therefore confession and repentance in prayer ought to be part of regular prayer life. ^{1 John 1:8-10} It is possible that our prayer life concentrates on one type of prayer or one grouping of requests. We may ask but only infrequently give thanks and praise. We may read the bible regularly but not remain in his presence prayerfully allowing God to bring fresh and deeper understanding. Our requests may focus on our personal wants rather than God’s character and righteousness. Our prayers may concentrate on those who are already part of God’s family but prayer for others to receive Christ into their lives may be only an infrequent occurrence. We may pray repeatedly for missionary needs worldwide and forget the needs in our neighbourhood or the other way round. The Lord’s family needs our prayers and to pray for our immediate fellowship by name is praying in accordance with his will. However, Paul’s request to be prayed for, especially that he will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ^vv19,20 shows that nobody is above needing prayer in this battle with the evil one. It also shows there is a special need to pray for those who are sharing the gospel.

Who is our enemy – Ephesians 6:12

Paul sees spiritual forces not just actions of people behind opposition to the gospel, the existence of the church, righteous and just behaviour and belief in Jesus. Paul is not alone in this view it is a view expressed by all the apostles and Jesus himself. It is a view that runs through the whole of the Old Testament from the Garden of Eden account, through Job, the Mosaic Law and the ministry of the prophets as they opposed spiritual evil. The powers against Christ and the church are frequently by means of human activity but Paul is saying look behind that and there is a spiritual dimension which he terms, ‘the powers of this dark world and … spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms.’ ^v12 The “powers of this dark world” take many forms but they include those things that trap people into sin. Such things may be those things that cause addiction, they can also be those things that cause people to be oppressed. We can imagine governments, companies and criminal organisations working in this way. However, individuals may also cause Christians to fail to stand and we have our own susceptibilities to sin which can feel like a repeated focus for attack. Within the church false teachers can lead people away from Christ and faith which is why the apostles wrote such strong letters that warned of such teaching and condemned the teachers. It takes great spiritual strength to oppose such force and frequently spiritual courage. We are not called to stand as lone individuals but as the collective body of Christ. A lone soldier is weak, a soldier who stands as part of a Roman legion is much stronger. However, we need to pursue spiritual discernment to identify the many subtle ways Jesus and his righteousness is opposed and its impact on our own lives.

( Being strong in he Lord )

It is possible to get too drawn in to the literal detail of the armour when reflecting on the passage. If the letter had been written in a different age the armour would have been different and so alternative items might have been selected to represent the true spiritual armour. What matters is the spiritual armour that enables both an individual and a church to stand on and hold the ground Christ has won. These are truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation and the word of God. It is a demanding list for the Christian to engage in. Being a Christian is not a passive activity it requires full engagement. If you are in a battle you can be certain that an enemy will target those areas of vulnerability. If for instance the heart or head are exposed then that will be the area targeted. The absence of any part of God’s provided spiritual protection will be where an individual or church will be liable to falter or fall. The interconnectedness of these spiritual defences is similar to the interconnectedness of the body of Christ. Where there is a weakness or an element of defence is missing the individual or body of Christ is more liable to suffer. We learn about and are empowered to apply all of these elements of spiritual defence through the last one mentioned, the word of God. A church needs to root itself in the word of God. The study and exposition of the word is an essential function of the church. It is not something that is done and then can be moved on from. It is to be part of the ongoing life of the church and each one of its members.