Children's Message 5/24/20

"Our Prayer Partner"

May 24, 2020

John 17:1-11

17 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. Jesus Prays for His Disciples 6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 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

Does someone pray for you? I know that my mom and dad pray for me. I bet your parents pray for you. You may have other relatives praying for you. I want you to know that Pastor Bohm prays for you. Sometimes someone may pray for you without you knowing about it.

I am glad to know someone is praying for me. Jesus' followers had a prayer partner in today's Bible lesson. Let's listen to the One who prayed, and hear what He asked of God. Jesus prayed two specific requests for His followers. The first was that the disciples would be protected by God. He prayed that none would fall away from faith in Him. Jesus also prayed that His followers would experience God's gift of being united with other Christians.

Jesus prayed this not only for those disciples, but for us as well. John 17:20 says, "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message." That's us! Jesus wanted those first disciples to tell others the Good News. New believers have kept on sharing that message throughout history. That is why we are believers today.

Right now, in heaven, Jesus continues to pray for us. Romans 8:34 says, "Christ has died, and more importantly, He was brought back to life. Christ has the highest position in heaven. Christ also intercedes (prays) for us." While it is good that others pray for us, it is even better to know that Jesus Himself prays. I wonder what He is praying for you and me today. Whatever we need, Jesus knows it. He prays for us when we sin. He prays for us when we face temptations. He prays for us when we are sad or lonely.

We know that whatever Jesus prays will be the very best for us. He knows everything about us, the ways in which we need to grow spiritually, the sins we struggle with, the difficulties that will arise, and the decisions we will face. Jesus is praying for all these things. We are never on our own. He is always helping us.

Not only did Jesus suffer and die to take away our sins. He continues to do things for us. Jesus even prays for us. How good to know how much He cares!