Category Archives: John

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Praying Like Jesus

Being With Jesus:
John 17:1 (NLT)

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed.

For so many Christians, prayer is a very private matter. But often, Jesus offered his prayers to God in a very public way—never to show off how great he was as an intercessor or to showcase how impressive his prayers were, but simply to model for his disciples how to connect simply and powerfully with his Father. Through Jesus, we come to understand that authentic prayer is in no way about overcoming any reluctance on God’s part to hear and answer our prayer, but rather it is about tapping into God’s desire to graciously give us what we desire and what he wills through our praying.

Jesus gives us several examples of how we can pray like he did. Obviously, the most famous example is what we call the Lord’s prayer—a brief but powerful, simple yet profound way to effectively connect our needs with God’s will. Another touching example of prayer is this one found in John 17, what we now call Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. This is his final prayer before going to the cross. He knows full well that he will have to suffer unspeakable pain, take the sin of mankind into his sinless spirit, and die the death of a common criminal to redeem mankind, yet facing that he still focuses his prayer on us. And he leaves us a beautiful template for how to pray.

Let me encourage you to take a moment to pray through Jesus High Priestly Prayer using the guide that following. Read the verses aloud as a prayer to God, then using the prayer focus, rephrase Jesus prayer in your own words.

Prayer Focus: Glorifying God through your praise—verses 1-5

“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

Prayer Focus: Acknowledging God’s Word and who you are in him—verse 6-11

“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. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 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. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.”

Prayer Focus: Interceding for unity and protection for Christ’s church—verses 11-12

“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.”

Prayer Focus: Asking for joy and sanctification—verses 13-19

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”

Prayer Focus: Lifting the world-wide church of Christ to God—verses 20-23

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Prayer Focus: Ask that the love of God will be revealed in you and through you—verses 24-26

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

This may time a few extra minutes, but it will be well worth your time as you enter into the same kind of praying that Jesus did. And as you do, you can have this confidence that if the Father listened to the Son, he will listen to you as you come to him in the name of his Son.

“Our prayers matter to God—all of them. They rise up to heaven as pleasing incense before his throne. God will not answer every prayer according to our desires, yet each prayer is an act of worship offered in faith that blesses the very heart of God. Prayer is practicing the presence of God. It is entering his very throne room in the great court of heaven. It is exercising faith in the One who rewards those who believe that he exists and diligently seek him. It is placing your needs, concerns and hopes into the hands of a loving Father who delights in your dependence and is pleased to provide for your needs according to his gracious will. Never forget, your act of prayer does far more in the unseen realm that you will ever realize this side of eternity. So pray—and let God.”

Getting To Know Jesus: Use this prayer guide ever day this week, and notice the results in your life. You will be pleased with the things that happen for you—and more importantly, in you.

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Peaceful Trials

Being With Jesus:
John 16:33 (NLT)

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

I hate to be blindsided, and I am sure you do, too. Nobody likes to be caught off guard by bad news or troubling circumstances. The shock and suprise of such experiences makes these difficulties doubly devastating.

That’s why Jesus gives us a divine heads-up in John 16. Standing at both ends of this chapter, like bookends, Jesus gave his followers an FYI on some of the challenges they would certainly face. In verse 1, he says, “I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith.” Then again at the end of the chapter in verse 33, he reminds them of this insider information so that when bad things happen, they won’t be unsettled.

Just what insider information did Jesus provide? Simply that your faith is going to get you into a fair amount of trouble in this life. People are not going to like you because you follow Jesus. You will be persecuted not only for the stand you personally take on moral issues, but just for the position your Christianity represents. In fact, some people will even hate you with a murderous zeal disguised as religious passion simply because of the Christian life you live:

“Indeed the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing God a service.” (John 16:2, LB)

Without even trying, your lifestyle of faith will bring them under such conviction that they will find it intolerable and want to do away with you. Things may get a bit rough, so be ready for it, Jesus says.

The good news, however, is that you will never have to face these difficulties alone. The fact is, through Christ you will overcome each challenge victoriously, even the most extreme challenge of staring into the abyss of martyrdom. You will overcome because you know what is coming. (John 16:1,4, 33) You will be victorious because Jesus has already been victorious under these same pressures. (John 16:33) You will be able to face these situations with courage and grace because of the presence of the Divine Helper, the Holy Spirit. (John 16:7) You will win in the hour of trial because the Sovereign Father who loves you (John 16:27) will hear and answer your every prayer. (John 16:23-24)

Knowing ahead of time what is coming, and knowing that your victory has been secured already, you can go about your day, and come what may—trouble, hardship, disappointment, failure, persecution, hatred, even death—live in the wonderful reality of what Christ promised: “In Me, you will have peace!”

Peaceful trials—that is what Christ has promised you.

“God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them.” (C.S. Lewis)

Getting To Know Jesus: You and I do not know what tomorrow holds, but we know Who holds tomorrow. And we know Who holds our lives in his hands. So why don’t you join me in thanking God ahead of time for His peace that will guard our hearts and ease our minds tomorrow, no matter what circumstances tomorrow may bring.

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Chief Conviction Officer

Being With Jesus:
John 16:8 (NLT)

And when he comes, the Holy Spirit will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.

Have you figured this out yet? You do a horrible job at being the Holy Spirit in other people’s lives.

Yet how tempting it is to do his work for him. It is easy to do when you are passionate about truth. It is easy to do when you see how someone you care about is living counter-productively to a bless-able life. And frankly, it is easy to do when people aren’t fulfilling your vision for their lives. Yes, God loves them and you have a wonderful plan for their lives—and it is your job to make sure they live up to your high calling. Right?

Wrong!

Spiritual maturity demands that we take care in observing the fine line between serving as the voice of reason for people and allowing the Spirit to transform their thinking. We step into the Spirit’s territory the minute we assume the role of CCO—Chief Conviction Officer. To be effectively used by the Holy Spirit in the lives of others, we must figure out the difference between sharing the truth in love, respectful persuasion and passionate debate—all of which are good and necessary to being the influencer Jesus calls us to be—and with being argumentative, rude, nagging, arrogant and flat out irritating. We have been called to lead the horse to water, so to speak, but only the Holy Spirit can create the unquenchable thirst that makes them want to drink deeply from Truth.

It takes real discernment and sensitivity to figure out what to say, how much to say, and when to say it—and when just to shut up and let God go to work. Oswald Chambers said, “One of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others.”

The truth is that God, indeed, has a wonderful plan for people’s lives, but we need to allow him to convince them of how that plan needs to play out. By all means, we ought to take the role of encourager, exhorter, and at times, admonisher, but only the Holy Spirit can bring the change of heart, the right thinking, and the right steps that will lead them to the incredible life God has envisioned.

Chances are, in this season of time you are being tempted to tell certain people what and/or how to think, how to feel and what to do about life. Perhaps it is your child, maybe it is your spouse, or it could be a friend or a co-worker—it is just part of the human equation. So let me suggest in that particular situation you simply take your foot off the gas pedal, pray a lot more, and let the Holy Spirit work. My guess is the transformation in that person’s life will happen a lot more quickly, deeply and enduringly if you take that approach.

Try to remember at all times: You are not the Holy Spirit!

“There is no better evangelist in the world than the Holy Spirit.” (D.L. Moody)

Getting To Know Jesus: Ask God to reveal where you have been doing the Holy Spirit’s work for him. When he shows you, first, repent, then second, ask for greater discernment and sensitivity to fulfill the role of influencer God has called you to play.

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What Does God Think About Terrorism?

Being With Jesus:
John 16:2-3 (NLT)

Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.

Not only the threat, but the daily reality of terrorism has occupied the twenty-four hour news cycle, dominated water-cooler conversations at work and planted fear in the hearts of ordinary Americans since the turn of the millennium. And now, daily debate in our political discourse focuses on what terrorism is (I’ve heard some even dismissively say, “Hey one country’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter”), what to call or not call it (so as not to inflame the terrorists), why terrorism is on the rise (are our Western values and lifestyles really to blame for the rise of terrorism around the world?), and how to combat it (do we send in the special forces to wipe them off the face of the earth or send the terrorists to the corner for a time out?).

Often, the what, why and how in our conversations about terrorism turns absurd on both ends of the discourse.

But what is not debatable or absurd is what God says about terrorism—as well as those who carry it out and those who perpetuate it through educational, philosophical, financial and spiritual support: Anyone who diminishes, hurts or kills another in the name of their god does not know the one true God or his Son, Jesus Christ, whom he sent.

“There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he’s doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father.” (The Message)

Thomas Carlyle said, “Violence does even justice unjustly.” Make no mistake, violence of any kind done in the name of faith—in the home, at the church, in the community, between political belief systems and countries—is terroristic, morally bankrupt and evidence in and of itself that those who inflict it (or stand by in tacit approval of it) are as far from God as can be. And God will judge it! Jesus said, “those who live by the sword will die by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52) Death will come—spiritually, relationally, perhaps even physically—likely in this life from the irreversible law of sowing and reaping, or in the next life as people, people groups, nations and world systems stand before the Great White Throne judgment of Almighty God. (Revelation 20:11-15)

Now Jesus spoke of the threat of religious violence to gives his disciples a heads-up that it was coming. And his forewarning was to serve the purpose of settling them in their faith when that awful reality was upon them. We, too, would do well to simply acknowledge the reality that religious terrorism will increase as the finals days of Planet Earth draw to a close. Jesus still doesn’t want his followers to be unsettled in their faith—either to begin doubting God or getting carried away in unproductively debating terrorism—by the rise of evil and violence done in the name of religion. Mark it down and get prepared.

Yet I can’t help but think there is a more practical application we should latch onto from Jesus’ insights into religious violence. In a sense, is spiritual terrorism occurring in our homes when violence or the threat of violence or some other form of intimidation is used to control others—and justified by the Bible? Do we commit spiritual terrorism when we can fling incendiary, hateful and hurtful words via social media—all justified by our spiritual point of view, of course—in ways for which we are not held to account? When we speak critical and judgmental words anonymously, isn’t that akin to throwing an emotional grenade into someone’s life without having to stick around to view the damage that it does—that we have done?

I have a feeling that violence—not just physically, but more likely, through emotional attacks, financial coercion and spiritual abuse—justified Biblically, happens more often, is inflicted more subtly and is carried our more creatively than we are either conscious of or care to admit. But from here on out, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the Chief Conviction Officer in our lives, let’s soberly remember that if we resort to spiritual terrorism, that in itself is evidence that we do not know Jesus like we think we do!

“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” (Isaac Asimov)

Getting To Know Jesus: Ask God to reveal to you where you might be inflicting pain on another in ways that you have justified by your faith. You might want to ask those close to you as well. And where there is evidence that you are guilty, repent of it, repudiate it and change!

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Hated By The World—Loved By God

Being With Jesus:
John 15:18-19 (NLT)

If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.

It is a real dilemma for Christians: God loves the world so much that he gave his Son to die for it, but the world hates God (they didn’t like his Son too much either) because it belongs to the Evil One. But wait, there is more: The story that he has commissioned his followers to bring to the world, called the Good News, is received most of the time as bad news because it first has to deal with the problem of human sin—which kind of makes sinners a bit uncomfortable.

Hold on, I’m not through yet: You and I belong to God, and since Satan, the current strong man who dominates this world and its inhabitants, hates God and every thing of God, we are included in that hatred. Jesus couldn’t have put it in any clearer terms:

“Since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.” (John 15:19, Message)

Now that is tough to swallow, especially in our culture, where Christians have been brought up for the last couple generations on a steady diet of positive mental attitude pablum, seeker sensitive evangelism, and a church growth movement that tries everything in its power to make the unbeliever want to come to church. For the last thirty-plus years, a great many churches in the western word have placed more emphasis on making sinners comfortable than making committed disciples, which requires preaching Christ and him crucified. More energy and resources have been devoted to creative messaging and capturing the “cool factor” than cross-bearing discipleship.

Don’t believe me? Just walk into any number of church lobbies, and you will feel like you are in a Starbucks rather than a sanctuary’s vestibule. When the service starts, listen to the music and you will think you are listening to America’s Top 40 in a sea of fans enjoying a rock concert rather than among engaged worshipers offering up the sacrifice of praise to please their God. Sit through a sermon and you will think you have just listened to a cross between a late night talk show host and a self-help guru, They will help you to smile your way in seven easy steps to your best life now. Check out the altar call at the end of the message, if there even is one, and you will think people have just signed up for a thirty-day free trial of Netflix rather than surrendering the rest of the lives to Jesus Christ.

What you are unlikely to find, though, is any talk of sin—it just makes people feel too uncomfortable. You may not hear words like “repentance” or “surrender” or “obedience” or “Lordship”—it may just scare the pre-Christians away. What you are going to hear, however, is what I would call a Burger King Christianity—you know, the kind that says, “special orders don’t upset us…have it your way.”

Now listen, I am not just a grouchy, out-of-touch, aging pastor—okay, I am at least one of those. I don’t think preachers ought to go out of their way to be offensive. I do believe that churches ought to think creatively about reaching the disinterested and hostile in their community. I love excellence, and think the church service out to be a first class affair—we are worshiping the King of kings after all. And by all means, believers ought to do what that can to build bridges to the lost people in their lives.

But our job is neither to impress the world by trying to be a cool version of it or to tell it that everything is mostly okay with it—except for a few minor adjustments. Our job is to talk about the Good News that Jesus died for our sin—sin that separates us and makes us hostile to a holy God. Once we deal with the sin issue through proclaiming the truth in grace and love, inviting sinners back to God through the repentance of sin and calling them into a surrendered lifestyle of committed, cross-bearing discipleship, both we and the sinners we help to rescue will realize that what we have found is something more satisfying, more valuable, more positive by far than anything this world can provide—the pearl of great price!

Quit worrying about whether the world will like you or not. It won’t—that is guaranteed. If you belong to Jesus, you will be hated, but that is okay, because you will be loved by God. And that is all that matters.

“Jesus Christ did not say, ‘Go into the world and tell the world that it is quite right.’” (C.S. Lewis)

Getting To Know Jesus: How much have you bought into the mentality that your job is to get the world to like you? Ask God to help you jettison that unhealthy need from your life. And take a moment to meditate on I John 2:15 (NLT): “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.”

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The Secret To Uncontainable Joy

Being With Jesus:
John 15:11-14 (NLT)

I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.

Several times throughout this Gospel, Jesus has tied true discipleship and authentic love for him to our obedience to his commandments. That is a message our current brand of Christianity needs to hear—and frankly, it is some tough medicine. The truth is, you cannot claim love of Christ while doing whatever feels good to you. Real faith requires the surrender of your will to God’s. It is this simple: If you love Jesus you will obey his commands.

By our definition of love, that doesn’t seem too loving. Love and obedience or love and commands usually aren’t terms we link together. But what we must realize about Jesus is that his commands are not oppressive. In fact, the Apostle John reminds us in I John 5:3, “Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.”

On the contrary, Jesus’ commands are the gateway to our joy. And not just joy, but Jesus described the gladness that would well up within us as overflowing. Jesus’ equation for authentic faith was that obedience to him would equal organic, unstoppable, spilling over joy in us.

But there was a particular kind of obedience that Jesus said would lead to this special kind of joy: Loving one another. And not just a brotherly love, but it was to be the same kind of love that Jesus demonstrated for his disciples. What kind of love was that?

It was proactive. Jesus actually searched out his disciples to be the object of his love. He didn’t wait to see if they were loveable or even if they would love him in response. His love went out of its way to find them, and then he poured out his love upon them—even on one of them he knew would end up betraying him.

It was unconditional. His disciples did nothing to deserve his love, and they certainly could do nothing to earn his love. In fact, the often did just the opposite. They fought with each other. They selfishly jockeyed for position with him. At times, they didn’t listen to him and often they didn’t understand what he taught them. They left him in his hour of trial. They even betrayed him. Yet he stubbornly loved them.

It was sacrificial. Jesus laid down his life for them. Yes, he ultimately died for their sins, but he also died to his own rights in order to serve them. He told them that even as the Lord of all creation, he didn’t come to be served, but to serve and give his life to redeem them. Nowhere do we see a more powerful and clear demonstration of sacrificial love than in Jesus giving up in order to give to his disciples.

It was inexhaustible. Nothing in their past, nothing they did when they were with him, nothing they could ever do in their future (because as the Omniscient Sovereign Lord of life, Jesus knew what was in their future) could or would diminish his love for the disciples. Since God is love, and since Jesus was God, we find in him that true love cannot be extinguished.

Jesus said that if we would decide to act toward one another with that kind of love—and make no mistake, Jesus made it clear by his life that divine love was a choice, an act of the will—it would unleash from deep within us an inextinguishable flood of uncontainable joy. While our flesh, along with the Evil One, supported by the philosophies of this world continually lie to us that joy comes from what is done for us, Jesus says it comes by what we do: proactively, unconditionally, sacrificially and inexhaustibly loving others!

Who can you love like that today—and every day from here on out? What person can you seek out to love as Jesus has loved you? What would be a way to love them unconditionally—in a way they did not deserve and could never repay? How might you offer love that is costly to you—and not necessarily in terms of the money you spend? And as you love them, can you—or will you—do it with a commitment to sustain that love indefinitely?

Fair warning: Choose to love like that and you are choosing to unleash the unstoppable joy of Jesus in you life. Good luck!

“Real love is an unconditional, sacrificial, proactive love that seeks out unworthy objects. It is a holy and righteous love; it is a tough love; it is an unchanging love. It is this love that is the essence of God’s being. And it is especially visible when it is on display in you. When you love with no thought of love in return; when you go out of your way to love; when you love in response to hurtful and hateful actions; when you suffer, but patiently love; when everyone else has given up but you stubbornly love anyway…when that kind of love in action is displayed in you, there God is seen.”

Getting To Know Jesus: Not that your love should be limited to one person, but who are you being led to love as Jesus has loved you? Specifically identify that person.

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How To Get What You Need—And Want

Being With Jesus:
John 15:7-8(NLT)

But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

Have you ever been around fruity Christians? Not the kind you are thinking. I’m talking about the believer who seems to enjoy more of God’s blessings than the ordinary Christian? They tend to get more prayers answered than you, live in a greater degree of Divine favor than you, appear to have more of an inside track with the Almighty than you, overflow with a lot more joy and definitely produce a ton more spiritual fruit than you.

They’re fruity—their lives produce much fruit.

In my younger days as a believer, I had a friend who was the most spiritually passionate person I had ever met. She talked about Jesus constantly, lived in complete dependence on God, and prayed about everything. And I mean everything—all her needs and even every single one of her wants. She prayed about things I wouldn’t have bothered the Almighty with. When she wanted a better car—she was even specific about the year, make, model and color of the exterior and interior—she asked God. And she got it—the year, make, model and color car she prayed for miraculously showed up one day not long after—I kid you not. When she decided a trip to the Holy Land was in order, she prayed for the funds to go. Guess what—she got it. She went on an all expense paid trip to Israel—and I stayed home. That was just her life as a believer—she was a fruity disciple.

Perhaps you wish you could live her kind of blessed life, but secretly feel a little selfish in asking God for it. Don’t feel selfish one second longer. God wants you to experience that kind of abundant life, too. In fact, Jesus said the God-blessed life is arguably the best proof that you are his disciple. Furthermore, he pointed out that your fruitfulness as his disciple is what brings much glory to his Father. The fruitier you are, the greater glory that goes to God. The more God answers your prayers, the more he receives the praise. That’s how you make God look good!

Wanting to live the God-blessed life is not selfish at all. It is no more selfish than God wanting to be glorified by giving you your blessings. It is simply the rule of God’s kingdom to ask for his favor and to live in his blessing.

That’s what God wants for you. So stop feeling weird about asking and start asking expectantly. What do you desire for your life? Ask for it. If you are connected to Jesus—and make no mistake, that is the key to receiving—the Father will allow you to bear not just a little, but a whole bunch of fruit. That what he wants for his disciples, and that includes you.

Now the proviso is, of course, use the fruit he grants you to glorify him. This isn’t about satiating your flesh. It is about reflecting the abundance of God’s grace in your daily life. Make sure that is your organic desire.

If you are not at the level of fruitiness that you would like to be, that ought to be your first prayer today.

“Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, ‘above all that we ask or think’. Each time, before you Intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!” (Andrew Murray)

Getting To Know Jesus: Speaking of asking the Father for anything you want, why not ask him for much fruit!