John 17:1-11a After Jesus had spoken these things, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you. 2For you gave him authority over all flesh, so that he may give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. 4I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5Now, Father, glorify me at your own side with the glory I had at your side before the world existed.
6“I revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me, and they have held on to your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8For I gave them the words you gave me, and they received them. They learned the truth that I came from you. They believed that you sent me.
9“I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, because they are yours. 10All that is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine. And I am glorified in them. 11I am no longer going to be in the world, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.
If you are insulted in connection with the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (1 Peter 4:14). Amen.
“Fight the Good Fight.” “Jesus Christ, My Sure Defense.” “Rise! To Arms! With Prayer Employ You.” “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.” Those are four of the hymns we are singing today. Do you notice the common theme with these hymns?
They all share the imagery of going into battle. One of the key weapons Jesus gives us when we enter the battlefield is the weapon of prayer.
What is prayer? Prayer is conversing with your Creator. It is pouring out your heart to your Best Friend, Jesus. It is asking for comfort from the Comforter of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer can be giving God the adoration he deserves. It can be confessing your sins and baring your soul. It will then be followed by going into the Scripture to hear your Savior’s words of absolution. It will include thanksgiving for all the physical and spiritual gifts the Triune God has given you. It will include petitions for your church, school, high school, synod, pastor, teachers, family, health, income, nation, and more.
But, honestly, how often do you take up the weapon of prayer? How often do you avail yourself of God’s almighty power that is yours for the asking in prayer? Do you kneel beside your bed in the morning to ask for God’s blessing on your day? Do you pray with and for your children that God would send his angels to protect them and keep temptations away from them? Do you ask that your words will match God’s will and words throughout the day? Do you say a quick prayer of thanksgiving for narrowly missing an accident on the freeway and a brief prayer of safety for those injured in the accident?
German theologian Johann Gerhardt had these wise words about prayer: “The benefit of prayer is so great that it cannot be expressed! Prayer is the dove which, when sent out, returns again, bringing with it the olive leave, namely peace of heart. Prayer is the golden chain which God holds fast and lets not go until he blesses. Prayer is Moses’ rod, which brings forth the water of consolation out of the rock of salvation. Prayer is Samson’s jawbone, which smites down our enemies. Prayer is David’s harp, before which the evil spirit flies. Prayer is the key to heaven’s treasures.”
Prayer is a powerful weapon in our battle against Satan. There is protection provided by prayer.
But why do we need this protection? Jesus Christ waged war against Satan with his sacrificial death and glorious resurrection. Jesus Christ defeated the evil angel of the Devil. Christ has now established his dominion over all things.
Yet, though the war is over, the battle rages on. The Great Dragon of Satan has been hurled down from heaven. He has turned his rage against the earth. And in particular, you!
Why you? Because you have been set free. You are a baptized child of God. Once you were in darkness, but now you are in the Light of Christ. Once you were not a people, but now you are a people who are holy and blameless in God’s sight. Once you belonged to Satan. But now you belong to the Lord.
You are different. You are weird. You are in the world, but not of the world. You now have a Christian, spiritual worldview instead of an anti-Christian, purely political worldview. You are intent on actively influencing the culture instead of passively allowing the culture to influence you. You hear all the news, but you only believe God’s Truth. You are strangers here and citizens of heaven.
And Satan hates you for all of it!
Satan is going to come at you! He’s going to come at you hard! So, prepare yourself with prayer.
One of the ways Native Americans prepared their young braves for battle was on the night of a boy’s thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, he was put to one final test. He was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then, he had never been away from the security of the family and the tribe. But on this night, he was blindfolded and taken several miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of a thick woods … and he was terrified! Every time a twig snapped, he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. After what seemed like an eternity, dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was his father. He had been there all night long.
You may not be able to see your heavenly Father protecting you, but he is with you. Yes, as a Christian, you are a foreigner living in enemy territory. Satan will do everything he can to bring you down. But God guarantees that he will protect you from all the attacks of Satan.
Jesus teaches you to pray for God’s providence and protection in prayer. On Thursday night of Holy Week, in the Upper Room with his disciples, Jesus is also praying for your protection.
Jesus prayed “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you. For you gave him authority over all flesh, so that he may give eternal life to all those you have given him. This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me at your own side with the glory I had at your side before the world existed.” Jesus revealed his greatest glory through his greatest humility – his death on the cross. There, Jesus also finished the work his Father had given him to do.
What was that work? The battle for your eternal freedom was not fought against flesh and blood with swords and bullets, but “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12).
When Jesus was conceived, the Prince of Darkness coiled for attack. When Jesus was baptized, legions of demons assembled and were sent out. When temptation failed to snare the Son of God, the devil desired to attack the disciples, to sift them like wheat. Whenever Jesus came into town, the demons fell at his feet. Wherever Jesus preached, the demons fled in terror, their ears pierced by the power of the One who brought all things into being, the One who undoes the work of Satan and makes all things new.
Before Jesus goes into battle against the forces of darkness, he prays. He doesn’t pray for himself. He prays for Peter, Thomas, and Andrew. He prays for all his followers. He prays for you.
Jesus prays for you because he has left you – left you in this world but not as part of this world. “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, because they are yours. All that is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine. And I am glorified in them. I am no longer going to be in the world, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.”
Jesus is leaving. He is leaving his followers behind. We are in this world, but Jesus prays for us to be different from the world. Basically, Jesus is praying that the Father makes us “weird.”
We are seen as “weird” in our world. Weird for wanting to go to church to worship. Weird for giving money to support ministry work. Weird for waiting to have sex until marriage. Weird for not watching certain shows or talking certain ways. Weird for spending so much time in prayer.
Since we are so weird, people will notice. We are Christ’s soldiers living in Enemy territory. We live and eat and drink and speak and act differently from those who belong to the Enemy. We are trying to win them over to our side, to Christ’s side. Why has Jesus left us in this spiritually hostile world? He doesn’t pray to the heavenly Father that he take us out of the world. “I am not asking that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the Evil One” (John 17:15).
Jesus has left you here for a distinct mission. Not a super-secret mission. But a well-publicized and visible mission. “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you. For you gave him authority over all flesh, so that he may give eternal life to all those you have given him. This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me at your own side with the glory I had at your side before the world existed.”
Your mission is to receive and believe in the eternal life Jesus has won for you. Your mission is to believe in God’s words and then share those words. Jesus prayed, “I revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me, and they have held on to 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 received them. They learned the truth that I came from you. They believed that you sent me.”
When we baptize our children, we place the sign of the cross on their foreheads, marking them as redeemed and reclaimed children of God. Martin Luther teaches us to begin and end each day in prayer – saying Luther’s Morning and Evening Prayers, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Apostles’ Creed, and also making the sign of the cross over our head and heart.
Some parents make the sign of the cross over their children as the last thing they do at night. It is a prayer for safety, a prayer marking that child belongs to Jesus, so the devil can just go away.
One family has the custom of making the sign of the cross on the forehead of their children when they leave the house. One day, their teenage son was in a rush to leave for school, ran up to his dad and said, “Do me quick and then I can go!”
The son came to expect prayer and wanted it for his busy day.
If we are serious about protecting ourselves and our children, let us begin and end each day with prayer. Let us pray continually throughout the day. Always praying with confidence that Jesus also prayed and continues to pray for us, too. This the protection provided in prayer. Amen.
If you suffer for being a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God in connection with this name. (1 Peter 4:16). Amen.