(# 264) Romans 8 - The Lord Jesus Christ Sets the Tone for Prayer

Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.  Barah Ministries has a worldwide reach and an intimate impact on lives, through the gracious provision of our omnipotent God, the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Thank you Lord for the internet, a place where anyone with access can be reached with Your Word.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Lord Jesus Christ Sets the Tone for Prayer

We continue our study of the fourth passage in Romans, Chapter 8, which extends from Verses 26 to 30…and our focus is the first two verses, 26 and 27… and the subject is prayer…here’s the whole passage…

 

Romans 8:26

In the same way God the Holy the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but God the Holy Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words…

 

Romans 8:27

…and God the Father who searches the hearts knows what the mind of God the Holy Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God the Father.

 

Romans 8:28

And we know that God the Father causes all things to work together for good to those who love God the Father, to those who are called according to the Father’s purpose.

 

Romans 8:29

For those whom God the Father foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son (the Lord Jesus Christ), so that the Lord  would be the firstborn among many brethren…

 

Romans 8:30

…and these whom God the Father predestined, He also called; and these whom God the Father called, He also justified; and these whom God the Father justified, He also glorified.

 

Thanks to all of you who gave feedback on our lessons so far on prayer…and for expressing your appreciation of the lessons.  Welcome to a place where you can learn how to pray.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD

Chris Tomlin

 

As we prepare our souls for worship, let’s enjoy the music of Chris Tomlin as he sings HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD.

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, we come before You in a spirit of thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for.  We’re thankful for the things we see…and we’re also thankful for the things You do for us that we can’t see…thank you for everything you do in our lives.

 

We’re most thankful for the relationship we have with You.  You initiated this relationship, first, by creating us, and then by sending Your Son to die on a Cross for us.  By having the Lord and Savior shed His blood as payment of our sin…you redeemed us and You reconciled us to You.  Thank you so much for this amazing gift.

 

Help us to deepen our relationship with you by learning how to talk to you in

prayer…in every minute…of every day…for everything.  Help us to realize

the magic of prayer…the magic of bringing divine love…divine power…divine discernment…divine compassion…and divine wisdom…into human circumstances, especially during the times when we are powerless… (which is really all the time!)  Teach us, Father, to pray as we should…

 

We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name... Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Lord Jesus Christ Sets the Tone for Prayer

You’ve heard this prayer described as the Lord’s Prayer…

 

Our Father, who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy Name

Thy Kingdom come

Thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against us

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

The power, and the glory

Both now and forever

Amen.

 

In today’s lesson we’ll learn about the REAL Lord’s Prayer.  But first, a few announcements…

 

BARAH MINISTRIES ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Happy Birthday again to three of my favorite women…

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Dorothy McDonnell

March 4

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Susie Embree

March 12

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Lila Clark

March 12

 

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite men!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Brian Davis

March 4

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Next Deacon’s Meeting

March 26

7:30A-9:00A

 

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VISIT THE VETS

April 3

1:45P-3:00P

 

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The Next Lord’s Supper Celebration

April 10, 2016

 

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Coeur d’Alene Conference

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

August 5-6, 2016

 

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PRAYERS

Barah Ministries Prayer Request Group

Join me in prayer directed at all the intercessions and all the petitions of the

people visiting the Barah Ministries Prayer Request Group.

 

PRAYERS

Patti Dare

 

As she goes through her very own personal suffering gauntlet

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Lord Jesus Christ Sets the Tone for Prayer

Let’s look at the first two verses of the fourth passage in Romans, Chapter 8…

 

Romans 8:26 (Rory Translation)

In the same way we groan within ourselves (Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 23), waiting eagerly for our adoption as adult sons…waiting eagerly for the redemption of our bodies…and waiting eagerly for the freedom of the glory of the children of God…just that way, God the Holy the Spirit, the “first fruits” of our salvation, groans to help our weakness; for example, we do not know how to pray as we should…but God the Holy Spirit Himself personally intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words…

 

Romans 8:27

…and God the Father, who is searching the hearts of those who pray right now, knows what the mind of God the Holy Spirit is (through His groanings which cannot be uttered in words), because God the Holy Spirit intercedes for the saints (all believers in Christ) according to the will of God the Father.

 

If we are ever in a quandary about what to do about anything, especially

anything in the spiritual life…we can always turn to the bible and we can find out what the Lord would do about a thing…Hebrews, Chapter 12, Verse 2 tells Christians to keep on…

 

Hebrews 12:2

…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author (the pioneer) and perfecter (successful accomplisher) of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God the Father.

 

One of the subjects that can be quite confusing for Christians is PRAYER.  But it doesn’t have to be confusing.  We have asked ourselves, “What should my attitude be when I am praying?”  We have asked ourselves, “How do I pray?”  These are the subjects of our last two lessons on prayer.  If we fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and listen as He prays, we can eliminate a lot of the confusion concerning prayer.  What is the Lord’s attitude during prayer?  How is the Lord praying?  What is the Lord praying for?  John, Chapter 17, Verses 1 to 25 is the real Lord’s Prayer, the one He prayed on the night before He went to the Cross.  Let’s see what we can learn from fixing our eyes on Jesus in the matter of prayer.  John, Chapter 17, beginning at Verse 1…notice…

 

The Lord directs His prayer to God the Father

 

John 17:1

Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You…”

 

We see four things in the first verse…first, how to begin a prayer…

 

The Lord Acknowledges the Relationship He Has With His Father

 

Beginning the prayer with “Father” is an expression both of gratitude and of awareness of this relationship.  When we begin our prayers with “Father,” we are acknowledging this relationship as well. 

 

What is the Lord’s attitude in prayer?

The Lord Has An Attitude of Submission to the Father’s Will in Prayer

 

The Lord Jesus Christ’s sole focus is obedience to the Father’s will…our focus is to be the same.  The Lord is saying to His Father, “Let’s do this crucifixion-resurrection thing, just as we planned together in eternity past!”  Said another way…not my will, but your will be done.  The Lord has no reluctance whatsoever about going to the Cross.  He knows that what God the Father wants is the right thing to have.

Who does the Lord pray for?

 

First, the Lord prays for Himself

 

It is not selfish to pray for yourself.  You don’t have to be self-effacing with God.  You don’t have to keep yourself in the background and pretend with God.  In this first verse, the Lord says, “Father…Glorify your Son.”  In other words, the Lord is saying…protect me in my upcoming suffering…accept my sacrifice at the Cross, the shedding of My blood…resurrect me from the dead…restore Me to my former glory from eternity past.  The Lord is asking for things for Himself, things He knows the father will do for Him.  There’s a confidence implicit in prayer.  John, Chapter 17, Verse 2…

 

John 17:2

“…even as You (Father) gave Your Son authority over all flesh (all creatures), that to all whom You have given Your Son, He may give them eternal life (the resurrection life).”

 

The Lord Expresses His Concern for Others in Prayer…Intercession

 

The Father gave the Lord…God the Son…many things…the authority to judge…the right to take up His own life…the right to give the resurrection life…and the right to distribute the chance to have a deep, intimate and personal relationship with the One and ONLY living God…to “whosoever” believes.  An intimate relationship with the Lord is analogous to the sexual relationship…GINOSKO is the Greek word indicating such a relationshipandthat undoubtedly is why Satan and the Kingdom of Death introduces so much perversion into the sexual relationship…it is to destroy the feelings of unity and the magic intimacy that comes from such an intimate relationship.

 

John 17:3

“This is eternal life (the resurrection life), that they may know You, the only true God and Father, and that they may know Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

 

This relationship we have with the Father is eternal, not temporal…reserved in the heavens for us!  The best relationships are the ones that last.

 

The Lord Knows His Purpose in Life

 

John 17:4

“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) glorified You (Father) on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.”

 

What is your purpose in this life?  What is it that creatures do to bring glory to God?  Obedience brings glory to God.  That’s the work we are given to do. The work the Lord was given to do was the Cross and shed blood for sin.

 

The Lord Acknowledges That He is God…He Knows Himself

 

John 17:5

“Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was (even created…in eternity past).”

 

The Lord is thinking ahead…thinking to the moment when His work here on earth is finished…He’s thinking ahead to an established and irrevocable fact…and to the time when He is again returned to a position of glory and away from the position of being “for a little while lower than the angels.”  The Lord sees Himself as the star in His own movie.

 

The Lord’s Prays for the Apostles

 

John 17:6

“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) have manifested (made clearly visible) Your name (Your Person) to the men whom You (Father) gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word (they believed the gospel message…the good news about the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of creatures at the Cross).”

 

Those who are separated out FROM the world are sanctified…both the apostles and YOU, as believers in Christ, are set apart for a set of privileges that stager the imagination.  The PROCESS of setting someone apart is called “election” … and it is part of God the Father’s work on your behalf.  That’s why some angels are called “elect angels” and some are called “fallen angels.”  As “sanctified” and “elect” ones, we believers in Christ are a gift to the Lord Jesus Christ from His Father. 

 

What do people believe when they accept the gospel message?

 

John 17:7

“Now they (the apostles) have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You…”

 

John 17:8

“…for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.”

 

When we accept the gospel message we place our confidence for salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ…we are saying we believe He is who He says He is…the one and only living God. 

 

The Lord Prays Specifically for the Apostles…Pray is Specific

 

Now the Lord makes it clear that He is praying for the apostles…

 

John 17:9

“I ask on the apostles’ behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world (of unbelief and unbelievers), but I ask on behalf of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours…”

 

John 17:10

“…and all things that are Mine are Yours, and all things that are Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in union with them.”

 

Next, the Lord proclaims His equality with the Father…

 

John 17:11

“I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one (in unity) even as We are one (in unity).”

 

Let’s take a quick music break and we’ll continue our study of The Lord’s Prayer.

 

MUSIC BREAK

MERCY SAID NO

CeCe Winans

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Lord Jesus Christ Sets the Tone for Prayer

The Lord Prays for Unity

 

We pick up The Lord’s Prayer at John, Chapter 17, Verse 12.  The Lord also prays for unity among His apostles and among all believers. In addition, the Lord prays for the preservation of the apostles in “the world.”  In this next series of verses, as you listen, just feel the love the Lord has for the apostles as He prays…

 

John 17:12

“While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me…and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition (Judas Iscariot), so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”

 

 

John 17:13

“But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.”

 

The Lord wants us to be happy.

 

John 17:14

“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

 

John 17:15

“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”

 

John 17:16

“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

 

John 17:17

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”

 

John 17:18

“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”

 

John 17:19

“For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”

 

And now the Lord transitions…

 

The Lord Prays for Future Believers

 

John, Chapter 17, Verses 20 to 26…

 

John 17:20

“I do not ask (you for things) on behalf of these (apostles) alone, but for those also who(soever) believe in Me through their word…”

 

John 17:21

“…that they may all be one (in unity); even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

 

John 17:22

“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one…”

 

John 17:23

“I indwelling them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them unconditionally, even as You have loved Me unconditionally.”

 

John 17:24

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

 

John 17:25

“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me…”

 

John 17:26

“…and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the unconditional love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I indwelling them.”

 

The Lord Jesus Christ sets the tone for prayer with His prayer in John 17.  So what tone does He set?  The Lord communicates the desires of His heart.  And if you ask yourself, what are the desires of the Lord Jesus Christ’s heart as you reflect on this prayer, a few things come right to the front.

 

          The Lord Cares about Himself

 

          The Lord Cares About His Creatures

 

The Lord Wants His Creatures Protected from and Victorious Over the World

         

The Lord Wants a Great Future for Himself and for Us

 

The Lord Wants a Blessed Relationship the is Depp and Intimate and Personal…with His Father and with Us

 

And one final thing I am struck by…the affinity between the Father and the Son…as human beings we must strive for the same affinity with our parents…to love and to respect them without losing ourselves in the process.

When the Lord Jesus Christ

Promises Salvation, It’s a Guarantee!

 

Acts 16:31

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

Acts 4:12

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given to mankind by which we must be saved (except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).”

 

Luke 19:10

“For the Son of Man (the Lord Jesus Christ) has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

 

First Timothy 2:9

…the Lord has saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and through the grace which was granted to us in union with Christ Jesus from all eternity…

 

CLOSING SONG

COME INTO YOUR PRESENCE

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS- INTERCESSION- PETITION

 

And we pray You protect our steps as we go out into the world, Father…and that you keep us on the narrow way, completely dependent on You and Your Guiding, Mentoring Spirit…we ask this in Christ’s name, Amen.

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

 

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