Prayer

John 16:23-33

After Jesus shares with the disciples about His departure He again teaches them about prayer. Notice He says in v. 23 “if you shall ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.” This phrase is not a magical formula for us to use in order to have our requests granted. In My name may be rephrased “in My will” or in order to carry out My will for you. In v. 24 He explains that our joy will be made full as we live our lives carrying out His will. Answered prayer brings complete joy in our lives.

The next time Jesus uses the phrase (v. 26) He says “I do not say to you that I will request the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me.” Because of what Jesus has done for us, we have a personal relationship with the Father. Paul says in I Tim. 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” and the writer of Hebrews explains “He is also the mediator of a better covenant…”

What a tremendous privilege it is for the Christian to be able to communicate with our heavenly Father, knowing He loves us and desires the very best for us. Prayer is not simply asking for our needs but it also provides a way for us to personally express our love and adoration for the Father. We can thank Him and praise Him for what He does in our lives. Often we are like the nine lepers (Luke 17:11-19) who failed to thank Jesus for healing them. The Father loves our adoration and praise and we should honor Him with it. Prayer is also a time of confession; a time when we can ask the Lord to convict us of our sins and then specifically ask Him for forgiveness (I John 1:9).

Paul tells us in I Thes. 5:18 that we should “pray without ceasing”. Our relationship with our Father ideally should be that as we go through each day we should consistently seek His counsel and offer Him praise for His direction in our lives. I also think we should engage in a consistent time of prayer each day. My personal habit is to keep an excel spreadsheet of prayer needs with a column for each day of the week. That helps me to be consistent in my prayer life.

I pray that you would have a vibrant prayer life.

The Helper

John 16:5-15

Jesus, once again returns to the subject of the Holy Spirit and His ministry in the world and to us as Christians. Notice in v. 6 that Jesus sends the Holy Spirit. This statement helps us in our understanding of the Trinity. Remember that the Father sent the Son; now the Son sends the Spirit. There is order in the Trinity. We observe that the Son takes direction from and accomplishes the will of the Father. The Holy Spirit also glorifies the Father and the Son and carries out their will. We never see that order reversed.

Beginning in v. 8 Jesus begins to explain the purpose of the Holy Spirit; convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. The Spirit works efficaciously in the heart of the unbeliever making him acutely aware of his sin and separation from God. He also helps the unbeliever understand that righteousness is achieved through a trusting belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, He helps the unbeliever understand he will face a day of judgment.

Next Jesus shares with the disciples why they do not understand what He is telling them. He explains that the Holy Spirit will guide them into all truth. The Spirit doesn’t do this through His own initiative, but as He is led by the Father. There are several aspects of this statement for us to consider. First He helped the disciples understand the eternal aspects of Jesus death and resurrection and how it applied to them. Then He guided them as they carried out their life mission. That included recording the Scriptures and preserving them for us. The Spirit was the Father’s agent in directing those who wrote the Bible for us. Now He is the one who helps us understand God’s Word, just as He helped the disciples understand.

Finally, the Spirit glorifies the Father and the Son. His purpose in all He does is toward that end. As He discloses God’s will for each of us personally, and leads us in understanding God’s will for our life and directs our daily activities He is doing that to glorify the Father and the Son.

I pray that you will recognize and be sensitive to the activity of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Our Relationship With The World

John 15:18-27

This passage is sturated by a number of “if/but” statements in which Jesus characterizes the disciples (and our) relationship to unbelievers. First He reminds them that because He chose them out of the world, the world hates them. We know each of the disciples was persecuted and that is true of many Christians today. We Americans are fortunate, because our nation was founded on Christian principles, but sadly it is rapidly becoming a post-Christian nation. The news reveals almost every day persecution of the Christians around the world.

In the second “if/but” statement He explains the persecution. They persecuted Him, the disciples and us because they do not know the Father (“the One who sent Me”). They either worship other gods or are atheists and do not believe in a supreme being.

Next He explains that the reason they hate Him is that He exposed their sin. We’ve seen that specifically in His conversations with the Pharisees. Since He exposed their sin they are without excuse. They know they need a Savior. He also shares that those who hate Him also hate the Father.

Finally, He explains the purpose. They observed His miraculous works and still refused to accept Him as their Savior. In v. 25 we read “but they have done this in order that the word may be fulfilled that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’”

Jesus closes this passage by reminding the disciples that the Holy Spirit will bear witness of Him in the lives of unbelievers. He also shares with the disciples and with us that we will also bear witness of Him. We do that with our lives and we should also do it vocally. It is a tremendous thrill to see someone trust the Lord Jesus as their Savior as we share our testimony and the Holy Spirit convicts them of their need to personally place their faith in Him. I pray that you will be effective in sharing your faith with others.

Love One Another

John 15:12

“This is My commandment, that you love one another,
just as I have loved you.”

Rather than comment on this verse let’s just let God’s Word speak to us as I quote below passages that contain the phrase “one another”. These passages describe wonderfully how we love one another.

Mark 9:50 “be at peace with one another”
John 13:4 “wash one another’s feet”
John 13:34 ”love one another, even as I have loved you”
John 13:35 “all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another”
John 15:2 “love one another, just as I have loved you”
John 15:17 “love one another”
Romans 12:10 “be devoted to one another in brotherly love; Give preference to one another in honor”
Romans 12:16 “be of the same mind toward one another”
Romans 13:8 “owe nothing to anyone except to love one another”
Romans 14:13 “…let us not judge one another, but rather determine this--not to put an
obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.”
Romans 14:19 “so then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another”
Romans 15:7 “accept one another”
I Corinthians 12:25 “…there should be no division in the body, but that the members should  have the same care for one another”
Galatians 5:13 “…through love serve one another”
Galatians 5:26 “Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another”
Galatians 6:2 “bear one another’s burdens”
Ephesians 4:2 “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love”
Ephesians 4:32 “be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other”
Ephesians 5:19 “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”
Ephesians 5:21 “be subject to one another in the fear of Christ”
Philippians 2:3 “…regard one another as more important than himself”
Colossians 3:9 “do not lie to one another”
Colossians 3:13 “bearing with one another, and forgiving each other”
Colossians 3:16 “…admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”
I Thessalonians 3:12 “increase and abound in love for one another”
I Thessalonians 4:9 “….love one another”
I Thessalonians 4:18 “comfort one another with these words”
I Thessalonians 5:11 “encourage one another, and build up one another”
I Thessalonians 5:13 “live in peace with one another”
I Thessalonians 5:15 “always seek after that which is good for one another”
Hebrews 3:13 “encourage one another day after day”
Hebrews 10:24-25 “let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another”
James 4:11 “do not speak against one another”
James 5:9 “do not complain, brothers, against one another”
James 5:16 “confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another”
I Peter 1:22 “fervently love one another from the heart”
I Peter 4:8 “keep fervent in your love for one another”
I Peter 4:9 “be hospitable to one another without complaint”
I Peter 4:10 “as each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another”
I Peter 5:5 “clothe yourselves with humility toward one another”
I John 3:11 “love one another”
I John 3:23 “love one another”
I John 4:7 “love one another”
I John 4:11-12 “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love  is perfected in us.”