???????????????????????????????????????????????JOHN 17:11-26 ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Lesson # 36

???????????????????????????????????PRAYING FOR OTHERS

I.? Introduction:

???????????Q? Has anyone ever prayed for you?? Who, and was it affective?

???????????Q? Why is praying for others important?

???????????Q? What should we pray for others?

I.? Jesus’ First Request:? Praying For Others.? John 17:11-12

>>>> Have someone read John 17:11-12

???????????Q? What is the condition of the disciples as described in this verse?

????????????? An = They are in the world, but without Jesus, Jesus is going back to the Father.? Jesus’ leaving makes them vulnerable.

???????????Q? If we follow Jesus’ model, whom should we pray for?

???????????Q? What does Jesus request of the Father as He is leaving those He has guarded?

????????????? An = That the Father keep them, or protect them (17:11).? Remember now, they are over hearing this prayer.

???????????Q? Should we pray for the safe guarding of those we love and let them know it?

????????????? An = Yes.? >>> Have everyone turn Proverbs 18:10.? If they turn to God then they are indeed safe.? >>> Have everyone turn to Luke 22:31-32.? Jesus prayed for Peter in specific and notice the goal, not perfection, but “turning back”, a “turning back that will strengthen others”.

???????????Q? What does this say about our praying for the safe keeping of others and our children?

????????????? An = That they are free to make mistakes and our prayers keep those mistakes from becoming total disasters, but rather opportunities for them to turn to God themselves (Proverbs 18:10) and to strengthen others (Luke 22:32).

II.? Jesus’ Second Request:? the Full Measure of My Joy Make Be In Them.? John 17:13-14.

>>>> Have someone read John 17:13-14.

???????????Q? How can the full measure of joy and being hated co-exist?

????????????? An = Bultmann reminds us (p. 507) that our joy is knowing that we are separated from the world and belong to Him.? A fullness of joy that only such an experience can give us.

???????????Q? What does this say to us about our Christian experience?

????????????? An = If we are obeying Jesus’ Word, it will separate us from the world and it will cause, at times a deep divide between us and those who reject Jesus’ Word.? If we give into the world, we will escape the hatred but if we are loyal, we experience His fullness of joy. >>> Have someone read James 4:4, I Thessalonians 1:6.

>>>> Have someone read John 17:15-16

???????????Q? What is He praying for here?

????????????? An = Not to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the world.

???????????Q? What do you think this means for you, “not taken out of but kept from” the world?

Note:? Ask them to ask the Lord what this is to mean in the days to come.? Assure them that if they ask, and believe He will answer, He will.

???????????Q? According to verse 16, what is the key to understanding what it means to not be of the world?

????????????? An = To be like our Master.? We do not want to be such that folks cannot tell that we belong to Him.?

???????????Q? Is it very easy to want to be Christians, but accepted and even praised by the world?

Note:? If we want to be more like Him, and not of the world, watch what Jesus prays for next….

>>>> Have someone read John 17:17.

???????????Q? What is Jesus requesting of God for us?

????????????? An = That we may be sanctified by the truth.

???????????Q? What does it mean to be sanctified and how is this “done by the truth”?

????????????? An = To be made Holy, not a common word in everyday modern conversation.? In the Old Testament, it comes from a word to be separate.? That which was holy, was separated from the profane.? ?????Q? How does sanctification take place?

????????????? An = 1)? We were chosen and loved by the Lord for the purpose of being sanctified.? 2) It is done through the work Spirit of God and through belief in the truth.

???????????Q? What does it mean to believe in the truth?

????????????? An = As the Holy Spirit reminds us of the teachings of Jesus, we risk that what He said was true and obey.? John has equated all through His book the two words:? obey and believe.? We have seen that it is a costly thing to believe or obey and thus by faith we risk that obeying His truth is right.

>>>> Have someone read John 17:18-19 ???

???????????Q? Why be holy today?? Why should you be holy, really holy?

????????????? An = Certainly not to be “highly regarded by the Christian community”.? I think such a selfish motive causes some of the weirdness or deadness.? Jesus was sanctified for others, we are sent into the world as Jesus was sent by the Father.? He sanctified Himself for us, and so we should sanctify ourselves for others.

Note: ?Jesus’ holiness is for others, not Himself.? Our glory is to be sent, as He was sent (to die), only the sanctified can be sent.? We become part of the team, part of glorification, yes hated by the world, but loved by God.? Like Him, we can be for others.

II.? Request For the World:? John 17:20-26.

???????????A.? Who is prayed for Identified:? those who will believe through the disciples.? John 17:20

>>>> Have someone read John 17:20

???????????Q? Who is being prayed for?

????????????? An = Not just the disciples, but those who will believe through the disciples’ testimony.? Note:? Notice the threefold progression of the prayer of Jesus in chapter 17:? prayer for Himself 1-5, for the disciples 9-19, and now for those yet to come to faith beyond the disciples, but through them 20-26.

???????????Note:? Jesus is showing us that praying for ourselves that we glorify God, and then for other believers naturally leads to bringing those outside of the church into faith in the Son.

Note:? Our prayer life is not complete until we reach beyond our needs and the needs of other christians.? We must pray for the world!

???????????B.? The Twofold Petition of Unity and Belief that the Father Sent the Son:? Jesus’ Purpose.?

???????????????????????John 17:21-23.

>>>> Have someone read John 17:21

???????????Q? What is being requested here?

????????????? An = Two things:? that may be as one and that the world may believe Jesus was sent by the Father.? We are to be unified so that the world may believe.

???????????Q? What is this unity that He prays for?? What does He want?

???????????Q? How is Jesus one with the Father??

????????????? An = If one ponders 17:1-10 where Jesus and His Father’s relationship is explained.? I believe it is here that the unity spoken of in 21-23 is defined.? It could be that lack of unity could undo all our plans for serving Him.? Perhaps understanding 17:10 and being like that could jump start amazing evangelism.

>>>> Have someone read John 17:22-23.

???????????Q? Is there repetition here?? What is it?

????????????? An = The request is repeated.? That they may be perfected in unity (22) and that the world may know the Father sent Him and loved them.? Again two things:? unity and knowledge of Jesus’ mission and love for them.?

???????????be one = unity

???????????believe = know.

???????????Q? Why is it repeated?

????????????? An = This is a typical hebrew technique for showing something is importance.? This is Jesus’ purpose for coming to earth:? belief He is sent by God and unity among those who believe.

>>>> Have someone re-read John 17:23.

???????????Q? How does God love you?

????????????? An = As the Father loved Jesus.

???????????Q? How did He love Jesus?

????????????? An = He glorified Him, which we have seen entails the cross.? He sent Him to love and suffer for the world but then to be raised in glory.

???????????Q? If we say to people God loves you, what are we saying according to John?

????????????? An = God wants to glorify you as He glorified His Son.? He calls you to die to self and suffer for the world, to be hated by the world, but to be raised in glory.

???????????Q? What does this say about some of our “God loves you” messages?

????????????? An = This is not just John.? See >>>> ?Matthew 10:16-22 and especially 10:38-39.

???????????C.? Second Request:? Be with Him in Heaven.? John 17:24.

>>>> Have someone read John 17:24.

???????????Q What is Jesus asking for here?

????????????? An = That His special ones, given to Him by His Father, may be where He is, heaven, and see His glory.

Note:? Jesus wants them to see His glory and therefore see the heart of God because Jesus’ glory manifests the Father’s love.? We see who a father or mother is when we see how much they love their children.? We will see the heart of God, the heart of the origin of all existence, when we see what He does for His Son.

???????????D.? His Mission:? Make Known God’s Name and Bring Them Into His Love.? John 17:25-26.

>>>> Have someone read John 17:25

???????????Q? What is the threefold situation?

????????????? An = ???????????1) the world does not know the Righteous Father.

???????????????????????????????????2) Jesus knows the Father.

???????????????????????????????????3) the disciples know the Father has sent the Son.

Note:? The world know the Father in His righteousness.? It is blind to Him, His person, His character and His will.

???????????Q? What two things are we privileged to know?

????????????? An = That in Jesus we can know the Father and that He sent Jesus.

>>>> Have someone read John 17:26.

???????????Q What does Jesus want for us?

????????????? An = that the love God has for Him may be in them, that He be in them.

>>>> Have someone read John 3:16-18.

>>>> Have someone read John 17:18.