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The God to Whom We Pray
I suspect that most of us would not have to work too hard to think of times when those who are being spoken to, we not really hearing what was being said. I am not talking here about the kind of hearing deficits that are due to inadequate volume, or even the many ways that we are distracted, but rather the kind of hearing loss that occurs when we fail to be fully present to each other, and as a result miss a great deal of what is actually being said. This often happens when we forget that communication is as much about who we are, as it is about what we say.
No where is more true, then when it comes to prayer.
That is what Pastor Ken focuses on this week, as he invites us to reflect on Jesus' prayer in John 17, Paul's description of what the experience of prayer should be like in Romans 8:14-27 , and the character of the God to Whom we pray - and how those insights are celebrated in the communion service which we are also entering into this week.
If you would like to listen to the sermon once again, or perhaps for the first time, you can access our sermon library here. If you would prefer to watch the entire church service, you can access or livestream recording here. (Please note that the livestream recording is broken into two segments - so to see the entire service, you will need to watch both segments)
John 17
NIV
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
6 “I have revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. . . 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. . .
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one,Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
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