Lessons from Christ prayer
John 17 and Christmas issues.

God willing we will finish our study of John 17 this Sunday. Also, this Sunday we are having our Christmas dinner after our service. YUMMY! During the worship service we will have some special Christmas music. However, the message will be from John 17.

While John 17 is not about the birth of Christ, it is clearly about Christ. Arguably we might say John 17 is more about Christ than some 'Christmas' messages might be, for in this prayer we get to see deeply into Christ heart.

Here are a couple of points which we will be developing.

In this prayer, less than 1/3 of the words are directly petitions and requests. Our own prayers are sometimes more like wish lists that kids might present to Santa. Christ prayer is not just a list. He inserts other words which show an understanding of who the Father is, in what and in whom the Father has an interested and of Christ's role in furthering God's interest amongst the people of God.

These words are connected to the people given to Christ by the Father. The given ones, their knowledge of God, their sanctification, their unity and their ultimate abode with the son are items of great interest to Christ, and of great interest to the Father.

Christ prayer is not worldly in the sense of offering petition for every man and woman and child that will ever live on the earth. He clearly prayers for the give-to-Christ-ones. He does so pray because his interest is in what and whom God has an interest. His confidence that the Father will answering him is in his ability to bring his own desires, words and actions into conformity with that of the Father, so he prays for those who belong to the Father. He seen no need, therefore, to pray that the ones-not-given-to-him might be with him in glory for the Father has no interest in these people, at least not in regards to Christ's work of salvation.

What do we see in Christ's heart? The Father! The more the Father, as revealed through Scripture, becomes our delight the greater will be our hope and confidence before him in prayer. One day when God fills all of the given-to-Christ-ones with himself we will find our joy is filled for we shall want nothing other than the Father and what he desires as well.