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Holy Eavesdropping! - Part B

Connect with Skip Heitzig / Skip Heitzig
The Truth Network Radio
January 5, 2025 5:00 am

Holy Eavesdropping! - Part B

Connect with Skip Heitzig / Skip Heitzig

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January 5, 2025 5:00 am

Imagine if you could sit and listen to Jesus talking to His Father—what would Jesus say to Him? In this prayer (which comprises all of John 17) we step onto holy ground. His instruction to His followers is now over. His preparation of them is done. He now turns His attention heavenward to talk directly to His Father about Himself, about His disciples, and about His future church. This prayer is unique for four reasons:

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Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. We're glad you've joined us for today's program. Connect with Skip Heitzig is all about connecting you to the never-changing truth of God's Word through verse-by-verse teaching.

That's why we make messages like this one today available to you and others. Before we get started with the program, we want to invite you to check out connectwithskip.com. There, you'll find resources like full message series, weekly devotionals, and more. While you're at it, be sure to sign up for Skip's weekly devotional emails and receive teaching from God's Word right in your inbox each day. Sign up today at connectwithskip.com.

That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. That none of these 11 would fall away. One already has named Judas, right? He jumped ship.

He was a defector, a detractor. So he prays now for his 11 that none of them would be lost, that they would all be kept. Did God answer his prayer? Yes, he did. Every single one of those men lived out a faithful testimony for the Lord's glory.

We have that by history. Number two, he prays for their safety in verse 15. He's praying against satanic attack, help them overcome temptation. Third, he prays for their sanctity, verse 17. He prays by that. Fourth, he prays for their unity, verse 21. That they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. So he prays for a harmonious love relationship between all members of the body of Christ. So now he's praying that the apostles and everybody else, including you and I, all those through history who will believe, will one day stand together beholding the glory of the Father and the Son in eternity. Now in going through this little list, something came to my mind. I want to share it with you.

Here's a suggestion. If you want your prayers answered, and if I want my prayers answered, I would suggest that you pray along these lines of some of these specifics. Because this forms for us the will of God according to Christ for us who follow him in these five areas. You want to see prayers answered, pray along these lines.

You've heard it before. The purpose of prayer is not to get your will done in heaven. But to get God's will done on earth. Here's God's will. Pray for that. Francis of Assisi was the one who said, I always want what God wants. That's why I'm so happy.

Great model to live by. So Jesus was a man of prayer. Oh, by the way, did you know that Jesus still is a man of prayer? The Bible says in Romans eight and in Hebrews chapter seven that he is at the right hand of the throne of God making, you know it, making intercession for us. In fact, one of the writers says he always lives to make intercession for us.

Jesus is praying for us. This is his mediatorial work. This is part of the unfinished work of Christ. The finished work is his death, the atonement.

But he's still working. He's still praying. This is the beginning of John. We would know when it says he's making intercession for a saints.

We go, huh, what does that mean? So now we have a little peek into what that means by looking at John chapter 17 as he makes intercession for us. By the way, how does that make you feel when you hear that Jesus is praying for you? Couple years back, people from this fellowship gave me one of the greatest gifts I ever received. A Christmas card. Inside the Christmas card was a piece of paper with 52 lines representing 52 weeks of the upcoming year. And on each line were several names of people signed. And they were saying, these are the people that are committed to pray for you that week during the next year. So you are covered pastor in prayer for the next 52 weeks. Okay, wow, I thought I can't go wrong. That made me feel so good. How does that make you feel? I mean, people, that's cool. Jesus, wow.

Maybe here's a better example. A few years back, I was asked to go, didn't have to pull my leg on this one. Franklin Graham invited me to his parents' home, Dr. Billy and Ruth Graham's house, for lunch. That night I was to speak at the Billy Graham Training Center. He said, come over to daddy's house, he said, for lunch.

His mother had Chinese food. We had a nice time of fellowship. And before the meal, Dr. Billy Graham prayed, and he prayed for the meal, and then he prayed for me. And he was praying that God would give me wisdom. I'll pray for Skip. You give him wisdom and insight, and prayed for this session. And as it's happening, I'm pinching myself, going, Billy Graham is praying for moi?

I thought, I can't wait to hear what I'm going to say tonight. I mean, God's going to answer that prayer, right? It's Billy praying. He's got like a close, intimate connection.

Okay, now take that example and hear this again. Jesus Christ ever lives to make intercession for you. Now, if you're thinking, why does Jesus need to pray for me?

Really? You have to ask that. We need all the help we can get, right? Besides that, the Bible says we have an accuser of the brethren who day and night is accusing us before God. Satan has a lot of dirt on us. Jesus is our defense attorney. He prays for us. Let's third look at the posture that accompanied it.

I think you're going to enjoy this. Verse one, Jesus spoke these words, comma, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Now again, whenever you read the Bible, you have to put yourself in the sandals of those who were there. And put yourself in the disciples' shoes for a moment. The disciples have had Jesus for four chapters give them a long message. Chapter 13, 14, 15, 16 were words Jesus spoke to them. Two of those chapters were in the upper room at Passover.

Two of the chapters were walking en route toward the Kidron Valley. They had eye contact with them, spoke to them. Then suddenly, his last thing that he said was, Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. And then he did this. Father, the hour has come.

Glorify your son that your son may glorify you. It says Jesus lifted his eyes. That was his posture. When he prayed, he lifted his eyes. Didn't say he folded his hands and closed his eyes.

He lifted his eyes. That's a Jewish posture. It's not a posture of prayer. It's acknowledging God's throne is in heaven. Psalm 123, I lift my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven.

But it brings up an issue I wanted to touch on. What is the right posture for prayer? Is there a correct posture for prayer? Well, I was taught, the church I was raised in, the correct posture for prayer was kneeling. And we had in our church these hardwood kneelers of medieval torture artists. So I thought, yeah, God, when we pray, he wants us to hurt. So you gotta be on your knees.

Ouch, oh, ouch. Well, that's the right posture for prayer. Reminds me of the three pastors that were talking about the right posture for prayer. And one of them said, the secret is in the hands. It's all in the fingers. You want them pointed upward like this.

Together, in front of you, fingers pointed upward. Because that's where God is. The second pastor said, no, that's too easy. God wants you on your knees. That's the sign of humility. The third pastor, not to be outdone by the other two, said, no, the correct posture for prayer is flat on your face before the Lord.

That's true humility. Well, in the background, while they were having a conversation, was a telephone repairman who couldn't hold any longer in. He said, gentlemen, I'm mingling 40 feet off the ground upside down by my heels off a telephone pole. So I suppose the best posture for prayer is whatever gets you to pray. So what do we find in the Bible when it comes to posture?

Well, listen to this. We find Abraham in Genesis 18, who stood before the Lord in prayer. In 2 Chronicles 20, we find King Jehoshaphat, who bowed with his face toward the ground. In 2 Chronicles 20.

In Daniel 6, we find Daniel who knelt on his knees toward Jerusalem with his windows open toward that city. In the book, Journey Through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, gaining a deep panoramic understanding of God's word that helps you understand the big picture of scripture with greater clarity. These resources are our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.

Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copies when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. We find in 1 Kings 8, Solomon standing with his arms, it says hands spread outward toward the Lord when he dedicated the temple. In Ezra 9, we find Ezra who knelt on his knees with his hands spreading toward the Lord. Here's what's interesting. Never once do we find in the Bible a description of someone praying where it says, and they closed their eyes and folded their hands.

Isn't that interesting? I'm not saying it's not okay to do it. I'm just saying it didn't make God's top five. So the Bible never says they did that, so what do we do? Fold our hands and close our eyes.

It's like we're really good at what the Bible doesn't say to do. Now I know, I know, we teach our kids that because we don't want them to poke each other and fidget and look around and get distracted and say, Johnny, close your eyes, fold your hands. But can I just advocate, can I just maybe plead that we incorporate some biblical postures, that we raise our horizons a little bit and incorporate some biblical postures when we pray? Jesus lifted his eyes toward heaven and spoke to the Father.

Not only did he lift his eyes, he lifted his voice. He prayed out loud. He prayed out loud.

Skip, how do you know that? Because it's written down, that's why. Somebody had to hear it. John recorded what was said. It was prayed out loud. He lifted his eyes, he lifted his voice, and he prayed out loud. I think it's good to pray out loud.

Now you might be thinking, well, that's just here. Jesus was giving an example to his disciples, but surely when he was alone with his Father, he never prayed out loud. How do you know? How do you know that? In fact, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus will leave his disciples, walk away from them, he'll pray to his Father, and the disciples will overhear it even though he's not talking to them or for them.

He's alone with his Father. If it's possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.

They heard that because they wrote that down. I do think when you pray, it's best to pray out loud. Of course, you can pray inwardly in your heart.

You can always do that. But here's why I like to pray out loud. I get distracted so easily. When I just start thinking my prayers, and I'm telling you, it happens every time. To stay on focus is hard.

I'm like, how did I get there? I'm not even praying. I'm thinking about something or doing something or planning something. So just like when I talk to you and I use my voice, I don't just think my communication to you.

I wouldn't go. I will use my words. I would advocate to pray out loud. Use your words to the Lord. Lift up your eyes.

Lift up your voice. Let's close this out and look at the last, the final characteristic of this prayer, and that is the purpose that directed it. Okay, here we are eavesdropping on Jesus praying. We're listening to his words.

We're watching what he does. As we are eavesdropping, something amazing strikes us, that in his prayer, he prays for himself the least of all. Twenty-six verses, only five of them, he's talking about himself. He's praying about himself, and it's all in relationship to his Father.

The rest of the prayer is about other people. Now, he's facing death. He's facing torture. He knows it.

He predicted it. He's praying for others. But the underlying, undergirding theme of the entire prayer is what I want to drive at and close with. He's praying for the glory of God. His goal is the glory of God. He's aiming at the glory of God. Eight times in this prayer, glory or glorify is mentioned.

Doksa is the Greek word. It means to have a good opinion of something or someone else. It means to make someone renowned. Make someone renowned.

Make others have a good opinion of somebody else. So look at verse four. I have glorified you.

That's his goal on the earth. I have glorified you. Look at verse six. I have manifested your name to these men that were chosen out of the world. In other words, Father, my whole life, my whole existence has been to point to and focus on you.

I've made you and pleasing you my aim, and I pass that on as a goal for them to please you. So look what he says. Look what he begins with. Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that your son may glorify you. What hour? The hour. The hour planned and thought about from eternity past. We finally arrived, Father, at this hour. Have you noticed how in the Gospel of John, he always talks about the hour, right? Remember in chapter two, the wedding feast at Cana, when his mom said, hey, you know, it's an opportunity right here to do something.

He said, woman, my hour has not yet come. When he was in Jerusalem, they tried to arrest him, and it said they could not because his hour had not yet come. When he finally arrives in Jerusalem publicly in John chapter 12, he announces the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Now he stands there, lifts up his eyes. He goes, Father, here we are. That hour is now.

He's speaking about the cross. He's speaking about the culmination, the pinnacle of all history, when Satan's power could be destroyed, when salvation could be dispersed to all who would believe. The glory hour. The hour has come. I've glorified you on the earth. I've manifested your name on the earth.

Now the hour has come. I want to glorify you. We'll look more at that next time, but what we've discovered today is that if you want to get a good idea of how to talk to God, just eavesdrop on Jesus talking to God. And you'll discover that Jesus has an aim, a goal that he wants us to have, and that is to please God, to please and glorify the Father. I would say, this is my opinion, that many, if not most, Christians live their whole lives without that being their aim, their goal. I don't know if it's just who we are, if it's just the sinful nature of our flesh, but it's almost as if we're saved now. You owe me something, God.

I'm your child now. I want health and prosperity and blessing all the time, rather than the other way around. I exist to please God. I live and breathe and move for his glory. Do you know what the anthem of heaven will be?

It's recorded for you. In Revelation 4-11, heaven says, For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created. That's why I'm here, to please God. Well, Jesus prayed that your life would be secure and that you would be in heaven with him. Is your life secure this morning? If you died today, this week, would you be in heaven?

Are you in Christ? If God were to ask you, why should I let you into my heaven? I wonder what you'd say. I wonder if you'd say, well, you should let me in heaven because I tried to be a really good guy. I worked hard. I was sincere. I went to church every now and then.

I wonder if you'd point to your own works, your own goodness, your own righteousness. Or, I wonder if you'd be like the college student. Let me tell you his story. He was in a class in college, a logic course. I don't know if you've ever taken a logic class in college, but it can be daunting. This professor was known for having extremely difficult tests. The day before the test, the professor said, class, tomorrow is our big test, and that you are allowed to bring as much information into the classroom as can fit on a single sheet of notebook paper. Most of the students, you can guess what they did.

They tore out an eight and a half by 11. At home, they wrote tiny little sentences of facts on both sides of the page so they'd have that cheat sheet because that was the instruction. As much information as you can put on a single sheet of paper. Except for one student. One student walked in the next day for the test, sat down at his desk, placed an eight and a half by 11 sheet of paper in front of his desk, gave a signal. He had hired an advanced logic student to come in and stand on that sheet of paper in front of his desk because he said, as much information as you can put on a single sheet of paper. So he put an advanced logic student on the single sheet of paper and he told them all the answers. He's the only student who got a straight A in the class. That's logic.

That's brilliant. So I hope your answer wouldn't be, that's because I was a good person. I tried really hard and I worked hard and I was religious as much as because someone stood in my place and took the test for me and his name was Jesus. And by letting him take my sin and me believing in him, it brings you glory.

I hope you are letting God be glorified in your life by entering into a relationship with his Son. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program.

Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you gain a deeper understanding of the sweeping story of Scripture. Pastor Skip's book, The Bible from 30,000 Feet, and The Companion Workbook are our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copies when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.

That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast your burdens on His Word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-05 06:47:44 / 2025-01-05 06:55:54 / 8

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