Throughout the Gospels, we always hear Jesus praying. He prayed at His baptism. He prayed before His miracles. He prayed when He withdrew from the crowd for a moment of rest. Christ is always praying. And when you think about it, it’s kind of an odd thing for Jesus to pray; because He’s the Son of God. In the mystery of the Trinity, He and the Father are One, and yet, the Son prays to the Father. But then again, Jesus’ prayers really aren’t that odd, because when He prays, He doesn’t pray for Himself, but for you.
You’re the subject of Christ’s prayers, even the prayer He prayed right before His betrayal and arrest. We heard a portion of that prayer today, Christ’s High Priestly Prayer. That night, just a few short hours before He was nailed to the cross, Jesus prayed for you. He prayed for your unity. He prayed for your joy. He prayed for your protection. And He prayed for your sanctification. Jesus prayed for your unity. That’s something that’s in short supply these days. It’s a sad thing to say, but the very name of our country, the United States of America, condemns the fierce division that exists between our citizens. But this division shouldn’t be such a surprise to us, because there’s divisions in all of our relationships. If there can’t be unity with the person sitting next to us, then how can we expect there to be unity across the country. It’s easy for us to point our finger at all that division, but we need to see the division in our lives; caused by our sin.
This division is even seen in God’s Church. There’s splintering in every denomination. Scripture says that there’ll always be division so that true faith will be recognized, but that doesn’t mean division is a happy thing.
Jesus prays for your joy. All of us want to feel joy. All of us want to be happy. We want to feel that way all the time, and we think that’s what Jesus wants for us as well. But Jesus’ prayer for your joy isn’t about feelings. It’s about true joy. It’s about His joy for your salvation. It was with this joy that Christ went to the cross, for the joy that was set before Him, [He] endured the cross, despising its shame (Heb 12:1). Jesus didn’t skip to Calvary. When those nails were hammered into His hands He didn’t sing “Happy.” But He was filled with joy because of the salvation that’s yours because of His sacrifice. It’s this everlasting joy of salvation that He prays for you.
Jesus prays for your protection. We live in a dangerous place. There are threats to our lives: natural disasters, disease, automobile accidents, violence, war, swimming, choking while eating. Life is fragile. And Christ prays for Godly preservation. But the danger to life is more than just physical threat. There’s also the threat of persecution of faith.
We think persecution is a thing of the past. It’s something that only the martyrs of history had to deal with. And if it is still happening today, it’s happening in undeveloped countries. But that’s not true. Christians are being persecuted everywhere. Within just the last few months, two Canadian pastors have been arrested and their church buildings have been barricaded for violating COVID-19 policies, policies that applied only to churches. Just a few weeks ago, one of the leaders in our partner church in Finland was charged with hate speech over a document written in 2004 in which he reiterated the Biblical teaching of male and female and human sexuality. The devil is behind this persecution and the world’s hate of Christ and those who follow Him. And because of that, Christ prays for your protection.
And Jesus prays for your sanctification, He prays for your holy living. To be sanctified means to be made holy. You are God’s holy people. You are baptized in His Triune name and are clothed in Christ’s righteousness. You’re set apart from the world, to be a light to the world, a light that’s seen in what you say and do. The sanctification that Christ prays for is your godly life as you live the faith in the midst of the world that hates the faith. The sanctification that Christ prays for is your witness of life that points the world to their Savior, that they may know Him and be saved.
When we think about prayer, we often associate it with uncertainty. We all know the famous football play the Hail Mary. The quarterback simply throws the football as far down the field as possible and prays that one of his receivers catches it. But when he throws it, he has no certainty. The coach has no certainty. The crowd has no certainty. But this isn’t how Jesus prayed, and it’s not how we’re called to pray.
Jesus prays for you; for your unity, joy, protection, and sanctification; not because He’s unsure God will answer; but because He’s sure God will answer; because that’s God’s promise. God promises to hear the prayers of His people. Jesus told His disciples, “If you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you” (Jn 16:23). This is why Christ prayed, because He had confidence in the Father. And this is why we pray.
We pray because we have confidence in the Father. When we pray “Our Father who art in Heaven,” this isn’t just a part of the Lord’s Prayer. We pray this way all the time, because God is our Father. We’re His baptized children. And as His children we know we can come to Him with all boldness and confidence. He promises to hear us, and He promises to give us all good things...so we pray for those good things.
When we pray we don’t just pray for the things we want. Prayer isn’t a Christmas wish list, hoping to get just one thing that we want. No, faithful prayer is recognizing that our Father gives us all good things, so we come asking for those things, the things which He has already promised to give.
We pray for unity. We pray for joy. We pray for protection. And we pray for sanctification. We pray for these things knowing that our Father in heaven has already given us these in Christ.
God answers your prayer for unity, uniting you in Christ, bringing you into the one catholic faith. He unites you with brothers and sisters worshiping together, praying together, living together. God answers your prayer for joy, giving you the joy of salvation that’s always there. No matter how you feel, your salvation in Christ is certain. Nothing can take that away. God answers your prayer for protection. He protects you from the evil one. Does this mean you’ll never suffer, you’ll never get sick, you’ll never have to endure persecution? No. What this means is that He protects your everlasting life in Christ. He protects your faith through the Means of Grace. And God answers your prayer for sanctification, making you holy in Christ. Christ’s blood redeems you. Because of Christ's sacrifice, you are forgiven. And He sanctifies your whole life.
Jesus didn’t pray because He was unsure. He prayed because He was sure. And this is why we pray too. We pray because we’re sure in Christ. So pray with confidence. Pray knowing your Father hears. Pray knowing He promises to give you all good things, for He has given all things, He’s given you salvation in His Son. In Jesus’ name...Amen.
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