A Prayer For Unity Part 1

This is Hans Schile from the Finishing Well Podcast.

On Finishing Well, we help you make godly choices about Medicare, long-term care, and your money. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Here's our host, Will Hardy, and Roy Jones Jr., a black guy and a white guy. Welcome to ManTalk Podcast, and you know, it's been a while since we have been talking to you. This is that chocolate guy, Pastor Will, and I'm back in the seat. Roy is, he's out for today, but I want to ask you listeners a question, and this is the question to you. What happens when you pray and you don't see anything happening?

What do you do? Typically, when we pray, we pray, we're praying for something for ourselves, and sometimes I think we get that a little bit out of priority because we don't think about when we pray, who we're praying to, and who is it that should be getting the praise based on how we have experienced our prayer, meaning that if God granted you your request, you're going to thank him. But we have a tendency to pray when everything is going good, God is blessing, hallelujah, glory to God, or when things are not going good, and it's the time I think when things are not going good is when we look to God rather than when things are going good.

All of us have been there. Prayer should be a priority when it comes to us communicating with God. We need to pray at least, and this is the bare minimum, at least twice a day, in the morning and when we lay down. And the reason why I say that is because many of us, we are so involved with other things that we have to get done that we simply say, I don't have time to pray. But we have time to eat, we have time to pick up the kids from practice, we have time to do other things that we know are a necessity, but it seems like prayer takes that back seat.

Now, when prayer takes the back seat, then that's exactly where it's going to be until you need to pray because you're going through something. We are in a very traumatic state right now in the world where so many things are happening that we really can't get our hands around it, our hearts around it, our head around it. We just can't understand a lot of what's happening, but I shared with the group, our Christian Fellowship group we have at The Work Environment, and I shared with them in reference to what's happening worldwide, of course, with the pandemic. And I shared with them, you know, nothing can't happen unless God permits it to happen.

And there is a reason that we as his followers and believers, we don't understand a lot behind why God does what he does. But what we can do is simply come in line and let the time that we have that God has given us together to be very productive in our worship, in our reading, and in our fellowship with family, friends, and associates. So we talked about this last year that God has given us all of this time, and I want to believe that part of why we are in what we're in so that we can come together more. Because, see, the way the world looks at it, they say, okay, what's happening out here, you know, you can't assemble in the church environment, you got too many people in there, you have to social distance, and you have to do all these things. But, see, I'm looking at this thing this way. I'm looking at it as saying God is bringing us together, whether it be our immediate family, whether it be our neighbor who we don't see unless we're coming home or we're going to work.

We don't hardly see them, we hardly talk to them, hey, Joe, what do you know, hey, Mary, hey, Sue, and that's the extent of it. But now that he's given us this time, that we should take advantage of it. So when we pray, we always talk about, I think sometimes, Matthew chapter six, verses nine through 13, when Jesus, the disciples came to Jesus and they said to him, Jesus, teach us to pray. And then, of course, Jesus gave them the prayer in which they should model all of their other prayers by, you know, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So we're living out down here on the earth things that have already happened in the heavenly realm. We're just living them out.

We don't know what they are, we don't know what's going to happen on tomorrow, but we're simply living it out. And see, I think that's the beauty behind when we pray to the God of all creation, the God of all flesh. So we're going to look at Saint John chapter 17.

And in Saint John chapter 17, Jesus prays to his Father because this is, he's in the garden, he's getting ready to go to the cross, and so he's praying to the Father. And of course, he told the disciples, he said, look, just sit and just watch with me one hour. And all of those disciples took a nap. We tired.

He's not coming back. And see, I think that's a picture of what's going to happen when the Lord comes back, that there are going to be people who are sleeping, and they're not looking for the Lord's return. And all of a sudden, the Lord is going to come, and they're going to be caught sleeping. They're not going to be in a position during the will of the Father, meditating on the Word, and attempting to fulfill the Great Commission.

They're not going to be at a point of doing that for the ones who are asleep. But for the ones who are actively looking for the Son of God to come, there's going to be jubilation and blessing after blessing after blessing, and God is going to do what he said he's going to do. We're going to be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air.

Those who are asleep, they're going to rise first, and then if Jesus come in our lifetime, we're going to be caught up. But I want to look at this prayer, because this prayer in St. John 17, it's broken down into basically three parts. Jesus, he prays for himself, he prays for his disciples, and then he prays for all coming New Testament believers. So when you look at the prayer, this really should be the Lord's Prayer, so we shouldn't look at Matthew chapter 6 and say, oh, you know, when the disciples came and said, Jesus, teach us to pray, and Jesus gave them the model on how to pray. This should be considered the Lord's Prayer, because this was the Lord's Prayer, and when he prayed, he prayed earnestly, and he never always gave himself, and his father gave them that position of unity, because they were one. And so when he started praying, he said in verse 1, Jesus spoke these words when he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come, glorify your son that your son may glorify you, as you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. So we're chosen before the foundation of the world, and salvation, when it comes to salvation, salvation is not free will.

There's no you making that decision. God has to draw you, and this is what Jesus says. He said, no man can come to the Father except the Father draws him. So when you get that drawing, that drawing to the Father gives you the ability to say, yes, Lord, I want to be a follower. I want to be your son.

I want to be that man, woman, boy or girl that you have called me to be. Now, when Jesus started praying here, he always prayed, and he said, I have glorified you on earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do, and now, Father, glorify me together with yourself.

See, that's a unity prayer. Jesus is going to be glorified by what he is about to do on the cross, and God is going to be glorified because Jesus was obedient in giving his life so that we can be in right standing before God when we leave this life because we don't have the ability on our own to save ourselves. So Jesus had to give it, and no one took Jesus' life. Jesus gave his life.

He gave his life openly. He gave his life earnestly, and so through that giving, he went through what we should have gone through, but we couldn't go through it because we are not good enough. And in Isaiah, it talks about that we have nothing good that we can present to God that he will accept.

So you and I are not good. We are by nature enemies of God. So when we come to the Father, we have to understand who it is that is drawing us. We're coming up on a break, but we'll be right back to continue with the unity prayer. We'll be right back to continue the unity prayer. We'll be right back to continue the unity prayer. We'll be right back to continue the unity prayer. We're talking about unity and prayer, Jesus and the Father communing together in the garden. And when we left last time, we were talking about that unity, that Jesus is glorifying God through his act of obedience. Now, when you when you pray, when you get down on your knees or whatever position you're in, bow your head, clasp your hands, whatever position it is, because it's not the position of the body.

It's the position of the heart. That's the key to communing with God. So but if you look at what Jesus did, I think that this should be the model prayer for us. Because when when Jesus didn't give himself any glory, he said, Father, glorify me as I'm about to glorify you because of my obedience and what I'm about to do. Now, in your life, God can get the glory through your life, through your obedience to him. So that when you be when you are obedient to him, now what happens? What happens is God sees your obedience. He gives glory. As a result of your obedience, others see that. And then you can share with them how God have blessed you. They, in turn, when they're hearing this, they're they they might be interested in saying, hey, I want more of this. I want some of this.

What you have. Because you're at peace. And I've heard people say this so many times. You know, they say things like, you know, I can see a glow about you. Now, typically you hear that when maybe a woman is carrying a child and they say, oh, I see this glow about you and things like this. But, you know, there is a Holy Spirit glow. And people can see that in you when you're glorifying God. And I believe that's the glory that God gives to each and every one of us who who's walking in truth and walking in righteousness. So when you start to pray. What do you do? Do you thank God first?

Do you? Openly say, Father, if there's any unconfessed sin in my life, I want to confess my sin before you. Even before I thank you, I want to confess my unconfessed sins. All of us have them. You have them.

I have them. So when we bow down to pray to the God of all creation, this is what we should be thinking about. I'm not going to come to a holy, just and merciful God with any sin in my life. I'm not coming.

So what am I going to do? I'm going to confess that sin openly to God. God, if there's anything that I have done that that causes me to break fellowship with you, or if there's anything that you have to show me so that I can get back in line with you, Father. I pray in Jesus name.

Show me. And God will do it. He'll do it because in St. John 14 and 13, he said, if you ask anything in my name that I'll do it.

But see that when we look at that, we can't be looking carte blanche. We have to make sure that our prayers are staying in line with the scripture. And when you don't know what to pray for, then you pray the scripture, because the scripture is the element that each and every one of us need in order to stand and in order to go through our daily lives. Interaction with people, telling people about the goodness of God. All of these things are tantamount to you and I being successful when it comes to our prayers and our prayers being effective. So so we just can't come any old kind of way. When we come to God, we have to ensure that when we come, we're coming in the right way and with the right mindset.

That's so important, because if we if we don't do that, then we will allow ourselves to be totally lost. Jesus next prays for his disciples. And he says, I've manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world. See, all of us, you and I, that's where we were. And because God drawn us to him and we were able to hear that still small voice saying.

My child, come home, come to me. But see, we had to hear the word first because we got to remember now faith is the substance of things, hope for the evidence of things not seen. And Hebrews 11 six. But without faith, it is impossible to please God. So we have to hear the word first.

And once we hear the word, then God, through that word, gives us the ability to say yes to his will. Yes, Lord, I want to be your child. Yes, Lord. I want to let your will be done in and through my life. Yes, Lord. I am weak, but you are strong.

Yes, Lord. I want to be the man, woman, boy or girl that you have called me to be. I want to be that beacon. I want to be the light, as he stated. And that's who we are.

But if your light is dim, no one can see it. So we have to make sure when we're shining the light that we're not shining the light on ourselves, but we're shining the light on the one who has given us the light to begin with. And that's Jesus Christ. So we have to shine his light. We got to make sure he shines through us. All of us were in the world.

So he said, I've manifested your name. All of us had to hear. We had to hear the word of God. We were out there in the world. We heard the word. God drew us to him. We said yes to his will. And now we're a member of that family. And it's it's not difficult.

You can do the same thing. Listener, if you're listening right now, the sound of my voice and you're going through and you you don't believe that you can be saved, that you've done so many terrible things in your life. Oh, I've done so many things. God can never love a wretch like me.

Yes, he can. He can love a wretch like you because he loved a wretch like me. And anyone else who is a born again believer, they, too, were wretches before God drew them to him. So he says he goes on to say, now, they have known that all things which you have given me are from you.

See, that manifestation. Of what Jesus did through miracles and signs and things like this was the verification. To the disciples that Jesus Christ came from the father. And so they were going to take up that torch, so to speak, and carry that torch forward on the day of Pentecost. And you hear you have a handful of men who literally changed the world.

You and I are one of those individuals. Who we we're going to get to this next week, who Jesus prayed for. And came to him. And now we're that person, like the disciples were to Jesus, we're that person in our day and time who are out here doing the work of the ministry, proclaiming the gospel, getting the word of God out to a lost and dying world. Then he says, for I have given to them the words which you have given to me and they receive them. See, with you and I, everybody are not going to receive the words that we give them. They're not going to receive them because they're still of the world.

They're still holding on to the things of the world. But God wants to free them. So when we come together and pray. We want to come together and pray being unified, because all through this prayer, we can see unity just being spread out through the words of Jesus. He says they received him and have known surely that I came forth from you again, verifying through the things that he taught, through the things that he did.

And because Jesus chose each and every one of them, he saw in them what they could not see in themselves. And see, God wants to see in you what you cannot see in yourself, because if you're that man, woman, boy and girl who out there who are listening at the sound of my voice right now. And you're saying, you know, I have literally taken my last step.

I've gone over the edge. Pastor, I don't know what to do. Well, when you don't know what to do, go to the word of God. Read the word of God. Let the word of God speak to you through the Holy Spirit. Get around some born again believers. Get into that small group.

You know, I love small groups and I know that you can benefit from small groups because within the small group, there are people in there at various skill levels. So, Saints, I love you. When we come back next week and start talking about this, we want to talk about when we're going to finish a little bit with John 17. And we're going to talk about what happens when you don't think you have heard from God through prayer.

That's what we're going to talk about next week. So God bless each and every one of you. We love you.

God loves you and so do I. As we wrap up today's show, be assured that TAWCMM, Talking and Walking Christian Men's Ministry, is building a community of men that are Christ followers with the desire to be servant leaders in their homes, communities, churches, and work environments. Check out our website for upcoming events and regularly scheduled meetings. Drop us a note for topics that you would like to have us visit in the future. Thank you for joining us on Man Talk today. Visit us at www.tawcmm.com. Men walking the talk.