The sermon by Jason Dohm, titled 'Praying for Glory,' focuses on Jesus' prayer in John 17:1-5, where He prays for His own glorification and that of the Father. It highlights the mystery of the incarnation, emphasizing Jesus' unique ability to pray for His own glory as God. The sermon is the start of an eight-week study of John 17, which is characterized as a perfect prayer. It marvels at the fact that Jesus, being God, prayed and underscores the constraints of the incarnation that necessitated this prayerful fellowship with the Father. The sermon draws parallels between Jesus' prayer and the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6, illustrating how Jesus practiced what He preached. The sermon explains the moment of Jesus' glorification linked to His sacrificial death, which the Jews perceived as defeat but was, in fact, His exaltation. This event was designed to lead to Jesus' glorification, evidenced by His authority over all humanity and His victory through the cross. It presents eternal life as knowing God, both qualitatively and quantitatively, and urges believers to pursue this knowledge actively. The sermon concludes by encouraging adherence to the Great Commission with confidence, supported by Jesus' authority and the assurance of success in gathering His people.

Our sermon text today is John chapter 17 verses 1 through 5. Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify your son that your son also may glorify you as you have given him authority over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him and this is eternal life that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do.

And now, oh Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was." before the world was. Oh Father, the glory of seeing Your Son pray these things and to wade into the mystery of the incarnation. God praying to God. We don't have a line to fathom that depth. It goes as far as we go when we haven't hit the bottom.

I thank you that you have given us the Gospel of John to record the things that your people ought to know, ought to give attention to. Pray that you would use the preaching of your Word to move your people forward. Move me forward, move us forward. Our understanding of what it is to pray, the things that please you to pour out our heart in ways that are consistent with your desires for our prayers. Thank you for this text in Jesus' name.

Amen. The title of the sermon this morning is, Praying for Glory. That's what Jesus is doing in John 17 verses 1 through 5. He's praying for the glory of God. Part of that is praying that he would be glorified.

Jesus is God. So he can pray to be glorified and pray for the glory of God, all in the same breath. We are beginning this week an 8 week study on John 17, all 26 verses of the chapter are a prayer. And it is rich, rich, rich in truth, but it's not a sermon. It is a prayer.

So with that in mind, a couple of introductory remarks. Number one, we should marvel that Jesus prayed. What in the world is Jesus doing praying? If ever there were a man who lived who wouldn't need to pray, it would be the Lord Jesus. He is God.

In the gospels, to be Jesus is to pray. In Philippians chapter 2 verse 6, Paul says that Jesus did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. I like the translation better. Did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped. Jesus didn't grasp onto equality with God.

He could relinquish the glory that was rightfully His in heaven in order to take on the form of a bond servant. So when we see Jesus praying, we are seeing Him accept one of the mysterious constraints of the incarnation. I want that to sink in. I'm going to repeat that. When we see Jesus praying in John chapter 17 or anywhere else in the gospels, He is always praying in the gospels, we are seeing Him except one of the mysterious constraints of the Incarnation.

The Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. For Jesus, fellowship with his father was not optional. And fellowship with his father in the incarnation, Having taken on flesh, the form of a bond servant, having humbled himself, fellowship with his father, involved prayer. It never did in eternity past. John begins his Gospel with these words, John chapter 1 verse 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In the Greek, with God. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. In the Greek, that with God has the sense of face to face. From eternity past, God the Father and God the Son were not praying to one another, they were face to face. It is an accepted constraint of the incarnation that has Jesus praying to enjoy fellowship with his Father in the Gospels.

That's the first introductory remark. We should marvel that Jesus prayed. Secondly, number two, we should be informed by this prayer. We should learn from it. It is meant to teach us.

Matthew chapter 6 is called the Lord's Prayer. His disciples come to Jesus and say, Lord teach us to pray. And Jesus says pray in this manner. Our Father who art in heaven and so forth. He's teaching them to pray.

He gives them a model prayer. In John chapter 17, in an extended fashion, more extended than anywhere else in any of the other gospels, Jesus is Himself praying. This is possibly more rightly the Lord's Prayer. It is Him actually praying. So that He prayed should inform us, and What he prayed should inform us.

Jesus is our example in all things. In John 17, we have the perfect prayer. We've been seeing perfect works, miracles, healings. People raised from the dead. We've been observing perfect sermons, listening to perfect sermons vicariously through the Gospel accounts.

Now we are witness to a perfect prayer. Jesus prayed this out loud. He finished his sermon from the end of chapter 13, through all of 14, through all of 15, through all of 16 now. He prays out loud in front of his disciples and the Holy Spirit saw fit to give it to us in the Gospel of John. That is on purpose we are being taught.

So we should be informed by this prayer. Now to the text. Follow along as I re-read verses 1 and 2 and then we we'll focus on these two verses. Jesus spoke these words, that long sermon, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son that your Son may also glorify you, as you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him." In these two verses, Jesus prays for two-way glorification.

So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, two-way fills in the blanks. Jesus prays for two way glorification, that His Father should glorify Him in order to give Him the ability to glorify His Father in return. Jesus has ended this extended teaching, chapters 13 through 16. Now He lifts His eyes to heaven and He prays. And He prays this, Father the hour has come.

The hour is here. Glorify your son that your son also may glorify you. Now let's put this side by side with the Lord's prayer in Matthew chapter 6. We have verse 1, Father the hour has come, glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. How does the Lord's Prayer in Matthew chapter 6 begin?

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus begins this prayer in John 17 in the same manner in which He taught His disciples to pray. He is practicing in John 17 what He preaches in Matthew chapter 6 in giving His disciples a template for prayer. He lifts his eyes to heaven, our Father in heaven.

And he addresses his Father as a father and he hallows his name. He holds his name in awe. That's what it means to hallow the name of God, to hold it in reverence. Even Jesus holds His Father's name in reverence. Isn't that astounding?

Verse 11, when we come to it, again all part of the prayer, Jesus will say, Holy Father. Verse 26 again, same prayer, part of Jesus' prayer He'll say, Oh righteous Father. He hallows the name of his Father. He knows God not just as God but as his Father and he holds that name in awe and reverence. Even Jesus holds the name of his Father in awe and reverence.

In this prayer, Jesus is praying for God to be glorified, for the Kingdom to come, for the Father's will to be done on earth just as it is done in heaven in every respect. He prays the hour has come. We can trace the use of that language through the Gospel of John. In John chapter 7, Jesus goes to the feast of tabernacles. He's preaching there.

His preaching reaches a climax. He says, I am from above. And then we read this in John chapter 7 verse 30, Therefore they sought to take him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Their desire was to lay hands on the Son of God, to take Him for harm. Nope!

Not going to happen. Why not? Lack of desire? No! His hour had not yet come.

They have no authority to do anything before the hour has come. John chapter 8, just after the confrontation over the woman caught in adultery, Jesus says, If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. We read this in John 8 verse 20. These words Jesus spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple. And no one laid hands on him, for his hour had not yet come.

Again, the Jews are hopping mad. Again the Jews would desire to lay hands on him. Nope. Not going to happen. His hour has not yet come.

But we read this in John chapter 12. Turn to John chapter 12. On a timeline, John chapter 12 is right there with today's text. John chapter 12, I'll be reading from a portion of the chapter that comes after the triumphal entry. So, Jesus' prayer in John chapter 17 is less than a week from what I'm getting ready to quote from John chapter 12.

We're reading John chapter 12 starting in verse 23. But Jesus answered them saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. Now skipping to verse 27, just fast forward to verse 27.

Now my soul is troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it.

Again, you can see immediately how this ties into what Jesus is praying in John chapter 17. So clearly the hour is the time of His atoning sacrificial death. John chapter 7, the Jews want to lay hands on Him, His hour had not yet come. John chapter 8, the Jews want to lay hands on Him, His hour had not yet come. John chapter 12, Jesus says the hour has come.

Then he gives this picture of a grain of wheat alone until it dies and is buried. Then it produces an abundance of fruit. Jesus' atoning sacrificial death is the source of His glory. The Jews thought it was His crushing defeat. His humiliation.

No, it is His exaltation. It is the greatest victory for the people of God. It is the source of the glory of the Son of God. Jesus is acknowledging in his prayer that the time has come. And he's praying for the resulting glory.

The cross was always designed intended to lead to the exaltation of Jesus Christ in the world. Who are we? Where are we? We're Gentiles thousands and thousands of miles away from Jerusalem gathering because Jesus has died and it has led to His exaltation. The plan worked.

The plan was always going to work. So the Father lavishes glory on Jesus the Son through His death. How so? Verse 2. Jesus is given authority over all flesh.

He is now king of an everlasting, indomitable kingdom. This is exactly what Psalm 2 says. It describes a king that dashes in pieces, the enemies of this king with an iron scepter. But a king who shows mercy on those who kiss the son, those who set their affections and their trust on this Son find mercy but his enemies are dashed to pieces with an iron scepter. This is one like a son of man in Daniel 7 who comes before the Ancient of Days on the clouds to receive an everlasting kingdom, a kingdom that will never end but that will extend on through eternity.

The Father gives Jesus the Son of people and Jesus gives them eternal life through the shedding of His blood for them. In Revelation chapter 5, the Lamb is the only one found worthy to open and read the scroll. The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders take up this song, You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Then all the inhabitants of heaven, a great multitude, take up the refrain praising the Lamb who was slain. Glory!

Glory! Jesus in heaven is known as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is exalted through eternity by the objects of His grace. The Father has appointed His Son to this honor. Yes, the Father sent the Son, not as an errand boy.

He was appointed to an honor. Not just doing the dirty work for the Trinity. He's appointed a place of honor by the Father to go and do this work. It is the source of His glory. Don't think of Jesus Christ as an inferior member of the Trinity because he was sent on a mission.

You see that that is an appointment of honor. He was appointed to have glory lavished on him throughout eternity. We will sing this song, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, I think we'll sing it over and over and over again. Knowing what you are and knowing what you deserve, how could you ever grow tired of that song? Eternal glory.

And Jesus lavishes glory on the Father by doing this great atoning work. How so? In the work of the cross, Jesus the Son has revealed His Father to be both just and the justifier of everyone who entrusts themselves to the Lord Jesus. The Father's unchangeable attributes of perfect holiness on the one hand, and grace and mercy on the other are displayed without either being compromised by pardoning rebels. Who could conceive of such a plan when we would have imagined that our sinfulness would force him to choose?

God in heaven, defend your justice. Send these sinners to hell. Render to them what's coming to them for the stain of sin, for their rebellion against you. Or display your grace and mercy By passing over the stain of sin and the rebellion in the heart. But how could you act in a way that would preserve both, compromise neither?

How could you ever pardon rebels? He sent his son from heaven to live without defilement, to live without rebellion in the heart, to take the place of rebels, to take upon his own shoulders the anger of his father against sin, and his own anger against sin. When we would have imagined that sinfulness would force him to either defend his justice or display his grace and mercy. He sends his son from heaven and does both. He defends his justice.

At the cross, The righteous anger of God against the rebellion and stain of sin of mankind is satisfied. And His grace and mercy are displayed. He will not choose. He will be God. So I will say again something I said in chapter 16 when Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit would glorify Him.

It is the job of the Holy Spirit to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. I said at that time, the members of the Trinity are not jealous of each other's glory. They are jealous for each other's glory. The son is jealous that his father receives the glory that is due. The father is jealous that his son receives the glory that He is due.

Neither thinking that the other's glory diminishes their glory. I and My Father are one. It is shared glory. Never suspect that you are glorifying a member of the Trinity too much. You might be glorifying a member of the Trinity too little, but you are never glorifying a member of the Trinity too much.

If you think that you've unduly elevated a member of the Trinity, the solution to that is not to diminish your praise of that member of the Trinity. It is to elevate your praise of the others. Oh, well I just spend all day every day glorifying Christ. I'm doing it too much. Oh really?

You're that guy. Congratulations. Now how should this inform our prayers? I think it's somewhat obvious. We should approach God as our Father.

Jesus taught us to pray that way. Our Father in Heaven. This is exactly what Jesus is doing here. He lifts his eyes to heaven and he says, Father! And seek out his fellowship in prayer.

Jesus had been face to face with his Father from eternity past. Now he accepts the constraints of the incarnation. And so he's a praying man because fellowship with his Father is not negotiable. We should approach God as our Father and seek out his fellowship in prayer. We should ask God to glorify himself.

I was reading Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. He decries the fact that when you read the old writers they talk a lot about pleading the promises. He says, why don't we hear anymore about pleading the promises? We have a right to plead the promises.

God gives us the promises. We should claim them in prayer. We should plead the promises and tie it with the glorification of God. It looks like that. Here's how it looks in the psalm often.

God, who will praise You from the grave? Please save me. Please rescue me so that I can live and praise You." That's how it might look in prayer. Alright, let's move to verse 3. Follow along as I reread verse 3.

Jesus continues praying, and this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." In this verse, Jesus prays a truth about eternal life. If you're filling in blanks on the handout, Truth fills in the blank. Jesus prays a truth about eternal life. Jesus says, just prayed in verse 2 that his father has given him authority over all flesh and that with that authority he will give eternal life to this people which has been given to him, now he prays about this eternal life which he bestows." Read it again. "...And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

We are used to quantitative truth about eternal life. How many? What's the number? It's eternal. It's infinite.

There is no number. Here Jesus prays a qualitative truth about eternal life. What's it like? What characterizes it? What qualities does it have?

So not the eternal part, the life part. We know that eternal means infinite. That's the how many. But now, He's giving us a truth about the life part. What's it like?

Let's go to two passages which throw light on this. One in the Old Testament, one in the New. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 9. Jeremiah chapter 9. If you've been in the faith a long time, you probably memorized this at one point.

If you haven't, now would be a good time. Chapter 9, verses 23 and 24. Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24. Jeremiah 9, 23, 24. Thus says the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches.

But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord." Even before Christ, who was the ultimate revelation of God, knowing God was the glory of man. Wisdom? Nothing. Might?

Nothing. Riches? Nothing. Knowing God? Everything.

Jeremiah 9. Knowing God as he is, that he is a God who delights in exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness. Knowing God is everything. What is the quality of eternal life? It's knowing God.

Knowing God as He is. Now turn to Philippians 3. Philippians 3 could well be the Apostle Paul's commentary on Jeremiah 9. It certainly reads like it, especially when you put them together. Philippians 3 verses 7 through 9, follow along.

Philippians 3 starting in verse 7, But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. Paul is saying what Jeremiah said. Paul, what is most excellent?

The knowledge of Christ, my Lord. Everything else is rubbish. All the things that were gained to me, I count them as loss. I count everything as trash compared to knowing Him. Being saved by Him?

Being saved to know Him. I'm just content to be saved. Then you're too easily contented. He saves you to know Him. He cleanses you that you might approach Him and enjoy fellowship with Him.

To have union with Him is one thing, and it will save you, but to have communion with Him is the sweet pastime of eternity, and you don't have to wait. What else does Paul say? Now we Seeing in a mirror dimly, it all says, look to the future, then face to face. Then you get to know as you are known, fully. The triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is infinite.

We need the quantitative truth, eternity, infinity in time, for the qualitative truth, knowing God. You think you're going to know all about God in 24 hours in heaven? You think God's that small? You need the quantitative truth for the qualitative truth. You need eternity to know Him.

He is infinite. We will have eternity to get to know Him at our leisure. Knowing God is about the revelation of infinite glory. As we have been learning in the Gospel of John, here, there, and everywhere, eternal life is the present possession of the believer. Eternal life doesn't start at your death.

It is the present possession. It starts when you're born again. It starts when you're born again. It starts when you're born again. Eternal life.

What's the quantity? Eternal. What's the qualities of this life? To know Him. You don't have to wait.

Eternal life has started for those of you who are believers. The hour came, the appointed time of Jesus' atoning sacrifice came, that we might know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. Jesus doesn't say it that way to exclude Himself from the Godhead. The only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent, as if Jesus wasn't God, he doesn't say it that way to exclude himself from the Godhead. He's already made it so clear in the Gospel of John, I and my Father are one.

John 10 verse 30. He says it that way to exclude all the false gods and idols that are worshiped. They are the ones excluded. Listen to how John, now the letter writer, in 1 John 5 verse 20 explains it. 1 John 5 verse 20, just listen.

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true. The Son of God has come and given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." He's using almost exactly the same words as Jesus' prayer. Not a surprise.

John the letter writer would be using the words he heard Jesus pray and recorded in his Gospel. This is the true God in eternal life. We take the understanding from the Son of God to know Him who is true, to be in His Son Jesus Christ. This is a continuation of what Jesus has been teaching throughout John that you either know the Father through the Son or you know neither. You either know the Father through the Son, or you don't know the Father and you don't know the Son.

No one comes to the Father except through me. Now how should this inform our prayers? Oh God, let me have my present possession. I trust your Son. Eternal life is mine.

Let me know you. Jesus died that we may know God, the Father, the Son, The Spirit, be like Jacob wrestling with God, I will not let you go until you bless me. Bless me by revealing yourself. Bless me by letting me know you. You think God will answer that prayer?

I think He'll answer that prayer. Verses 4 and 5. Back to John 17. Verses 4 and 5. Jesus continues praying, I have glorified you on the earth.

I have finished the work which you have given me to do. And now, oh Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was." These verses, Jesus prays about the glory of his work and for his return to glory. So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, Work and return fill in the blanks. Jesus prays about the glory of His work and for His return to glory. Clearly Jesus glorified His father during his public ministry.

He revealed his father with his preaching. He is always preaching about his father. And with his blameless life and with his mighty works, they were signs that he was sent from heaven. But if I had to characterize Jesus' works with a single word, it wouldn't be any of those things. It wouldn't be in his preaching, or his blameless life, or even his mighty works.

It would be this word, obedience. Obedience. Started long before his public ministry. John 4.34, Jesus said to his disciples, My food is to do the will of my Father, and to finish his work. My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish his work.

Now Jesus is praying, I finish the work. Obeying his Father was like eating is to you and me. The 1689 Confession speaks of the active obedience and the passive obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. By active obedience it means obeying the law. The law tells us a multitude of things which we must do to love God and love our neighbor.

Jesus always did the things required by the law to do, always. The law gives us things that we must not do in order to love God and love our neighbor. Jesus never once in his thoughts or in his words or in his actions did any of the things that the law says we must not do. He always did what the law says we must do. He never did what the law says we must not do from his first breath until his last.

That's his active obedience. What is his passive obedience? Jesus allowed himself to be treated as a sinner. He subjected himself to the cross when he could have been active and called for a legion of angels to come and wipe off every trace of life from this earth so that not one hair of his head had been harmed, He stood back. No one took his life from him.

He allowed himself, he passively, when he could have been active and called for a legion of angels to defend him or Dunnett himself. He allowed himself to be made sin. He who knew no sin allowed himself to be made sin for us and be treated like the worst kind of criminal to save sinners. His work was active. His work was passive.

He finished the work that God gave him to do. Christian friends, this is life to us. Don't you see? Your hope is bound up in Jesus from first breath to last, actively obeying God and then at the end, passively subjecting himself to the cross. Jesus' work is life to us.

And now He's there saying, I've finished the work. Finally, Jesus prays on the eve of His death, which would be followed by His resurrection, which would be followed by His ascension. He prays to be restored to His rightful place of glory. Jesus did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped. But He laid aside His rightful glory, which He had enjoyed with His Father from eternity past and made himself of no reputation in order to take on the form of a bond servant.

He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the shameful, agonizing death of the cross to save sinners. Think of this Savior that God commands us to trust. If He was just a man, you should tremble. He is the God-man. Salvation in the hands of a man should make you tremble because a man can fail.

A man is likely to fail. A man will fail. The God-man could never fail. He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to Him by faith. Applications, I'll give you three.

Number one, use these eight weeks to study the Master. We have eight weeks to study a perfect prayer. We should come away informed by this prayer, and it should show up in our own prayers. First we should be shamed by our prayerlessness in thinking that Jesus God prayed to God. What does that mean for us?

If Jesus felt a need to pray, what in the world does that mean for us? We should pray. Learn how to pray. Learn how he is praying. The Bible teaches that Jesus is not done praying.

I think he's praying different things than he's praying in John 17. Well, maybe some. I think he's returning to these themes in his prayers. As he sits at the right hand of his father praying for me. I think he's praying these things.

Number one, use these eight weeks to study the Master. Learn how to pray. Learn how he is praying. Number two, pray for glory. Pray for glory.

There are a lot of things we wonder, should I be praying this? Am I too self-interested in praying for this? We never have to wonder about that, praying for God to glorify Himself through our lives, our circumstances. Pray for glory. Jesus here is praying for His own glory that He may glorify His Father.

We can pray just like that. That prayer never goes amiss. That prayer never goes amiss. Number three, engage in the Great Commission with great confidence. Here in this prayer, Jesus is acknowledging that his Father has given him a people and he is going to give them all eternal life because his hour has come.

The Great Commission is rooted in this. All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, go therefore and make disciples." We send the Templetons to Turkey with this prayer. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to the king. Go therefore and get Turks to heaven. He's purchased the people there.

We don't have to think about far away places. We live around God rejecting people here. We're not just sending the news of Jesus as the only hope for sinners to Turkey. More people in Youngsville need it than don't need it. More people in your family probably need it than don't need it.

More people in your neighborhood need it than don't need it. And we have such confidence here. Which one of the people given by the Father to the Son that Jesus died for won't come? Which one of them? No sign of that in this text, in this prayer.

There's no sign of that because there will be none of that. Jesus will have all the people that He purchased with His blood. Everyone given from the Father to the Son will come and Jesus will receive them all. Shouldn't be put off by the fact that we don't know their names. It's enough that God knows their names.

And having received His grace, He's pleased to make us a channel of His grace. We should go with such confidence. Engage in the Great Commission with such confidence. No one can hold back His hand. No one can hold back his hand.

No government can hold back his hand. No employer can hold back his hand. No family members can hold back his hand. No one can hold back his hand. He bled and died for those people.

He'll have those people. We preach with confidence, Christ crucified. Let's pray. Jesus, this is a glorious prayer. We thank you for giving it to us.

It is a gift to have insight into your prayers to your Father. Oh, teach us to pray. Teach us to pray. We have neglected prayer. Please forgive us.

If you needed to pray, how much more do we need to pray? If you craved fellowship with your Father, I pray that you would cause us to crave fellowship with your Father. Let us know not just union that saves us, but communion that will be our eternal occupation. Let us Seize hold of our present possession, eternal life, and know you. Please reveal yourself to us.

Please forgive us for how cold we've been towards knowing you. How little we've seized upon our privileges. Let us know you. Pray in Jesus' name, Amen.