Jesus Prayed For You

The God Who Prays For You

When someone says they're praying for you, it means something. It means they care. It means you matter to them. It means they're bringing you before God because they want good things for you.

But what if God himself was the one praying for you?

In this talk, Sherlon Atkins - a secondary school RE teacher - takes us into John 17, where Jesus prays for his disciples. Not just the twelve who were with him. But everyone who would believe through their message. Including you.

Trust and the Eyes of Faith

Sherlon opened with a classroom question. He'd been teaching his students about Abraham - the father of faith - and asked them what trust meant to them.

"They came out with stuff like: you trust someone you can rely on. You trust someone who maybe you've known - family, friends. Someone who won't snitch on you. Someone who won't tell your secrets. Someone who'll speak and tell you the truth and be honest with you. Someone you can be open with."

Then Sherlon made the connection: "Jesus is a trustworthy person. What he says is important. And if we allow Jesus' words in the Bible to affect us, it will change us. And transform us."

Seeing Beyond Circumstances

The word that stuck out to Sherlon from John 16 was "see." Jesus tells his disciples: "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me." He was preparing them for his death, resurrection, and ascension.

But Sherlon drew out a principle: "Christians believe that we see not just with our natural eyes, but with the eyes of faith."

He explained: "God sees beyond circumstances. He sees with faith. The Bible says that the righteous shall live by faith. We live by faith and not just by natural sight.

Peace in the Midst of Trouble

Sherlon landed on John 16:33 - one of his favourite passages in the whole Bible.

"Jesus is speaking, and in my Bible his words are always in red - they always stand out because you know they're important. He says this: 'I've told you these things that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I've overcome the world.'"

Then he unpacked it: "Jesus is saying here that peace is not the absence of war or conflict. Peace is knowing that God is in control. Peace is knowing that no matter what happens in our lives, God is a certainty. He's a solid rock."

He acknowledged the reality of our times: "We look around at society - everything's changing. Whether it be inflation rates, prime ministers, cost of living, food prices, gas prices - constant uncertainty. But in the midst of that, when Jesus speaks, he brings certainty. He brings peace. Because ultimately he is in control."

And then this: "Trouble is inevitable. Suffering, hardship - it's inevitable. It's part of life. But the good news is that in the midst of all that, Jesus is standing with us. He's in that boat."

"If we stand on Jesus, if we stand on what he says in the Bible, if we believe what he says about us, then the circumstances of life don't have to ruin us. They can strengthen us rather than making us weak and despair. We can have hope in the midst of all that is going on."

Prayer is a Conversation

John 17 is all about prayer. And Sherlon loves it.

"I love prayer. I love praying for people - it's called intercession. I love praying to God. I love when God talks back to me. Because prayer at heart is a conversation."

He shared a quote from a book he read when he was eighteen: "This book is a unique resource for people who believe that God can use their prayers to change the world."

"When you're 18 and you read that, you think: wow, I'm gonna grab hold of that. I'm gonna allow God to use my prayers to change the world. It's a pretty amazing thing."

He connected it to his own life: "I have two wonderful daughters and I pray for them every day. And I pray for them because I love them both. I pray for them because I want them to grow up, be strong, resilient, successful women. I want them to achieve something in life. I want them to have a happy and a healthy life. So I pray. That's part of my job as being their father. Because I love them."

The God Who Thinks You're Special Enough

Then Sherlon made the leap to what this means for us.

"When John 17 talks about Jesus praying for his disciples, he's praying for his followers. He's praying for you. He's praying for me. That speaks to me about how much God loves us, how special, how important we are."

And then this stunning statement: "The God who flung the stars into the sky, the God who spoke the very universe into being, thinks that you and me are special enough to pray for us."

The obvious question: "I want to know - what is he praying? What is he praying for you? What is he praying for me?"

What Jesus Prays For You

Sherlon identified three or four things Jesus prays for in John 17.

Protection. "He prays that even though we're in the world and there will be trouble in the world, he prays that we will be protected from all that's going on. In the midst of suffering, we'll know his protection. In the midst of suffering, we'll know his peace. In the midst of suffering and hardship and difficulty, we will know that we are not alone, that we are not forgotten."

Crucially: "He doesn't ask that we be taken out of the world. But he asks that we will be protected from the evil one in it."

Glory. "He prays that our lives would bring glory to him. He prays that we would reflect his glory. That when people see us, they see Christians, they see Jesus, and they think: they've got something - I want that."

Power. "Christianity is not a self-help religion. Jesus promises us power. He prays that we would have his power at work in us."

Sherlon explained: "When Jesus left the world and he ascended - 40 days after he rose from the dead on Easter Sunday - he left us his Holy Spirit. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit - the Trinity, the three-in-one God. He left us his Holy Spirit. That Holy Spirit is the power that we need to live our lives. Because we can't do it in ourselves. We need God's power to live this life in the way that God wants us to."

Unity. Jesus prays in John 17:20-21: "I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in me because of their message. I pray that they may all be one. Father, may they be in us as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one. So the world will believe that you sent me."

Sherlon interpreted this: "He's praying that we would know who we are. My children know that I am their father and they have a mother, and that they come from us, that they belong to us, that we are family. God wants us to know that we are family. We belong to God, he belongs to us. And if we live and act as family, we will be successful in this life, irrespective of what circumstances may throw at us."

Words That Speak Life

Sherlon summarised: "When I read today's word in the Bible, and I read that Jesus is speaking about you and me - when he prays, he speaks life over us. His prayers speak life. They speak hope. They speak peace. They speak certainty."

His challenge: "I want to encourage you to read the Bible, read John 17, and see what Jesus is saying about you. See what Jesus is speaking over you. And realise that Jesus is praying for you because you matter and you are special."

And then the invitation: "But here's the good thing. We get to talk back to God too. We get to pray to him. So why don't you start a conversation. Start a new conversation with God today, and let's see where that will take you and take me."

Conversation Street

What does unity actually mean?

Matt and Sadaf dug into Jesus' prayer for unity - that believers "may be one, just as you are in me and I am in you."

Sadaf saw it as unity in the church: "I think that's big for him - that we're not fractured, that the church is not divided, but that we are all one."

But what does that look like practically? Sadaf clarified: "We're all different, so I don't think we're all supposed to be the same. That's not what I mean by unity. I mean that the message that we believe in - the gospel message - if we can all hang our hats on that, then we are unified in what we believe about Jesus. It's not about different denominations, like how different churches do different things. That's quite peripheral. But the essence of what we believe needs to be the same."

Matt pushed further: Jesus prays that we would be one "just as you and I, Father, are one." If there's unity in the Godhead - no competition, no ego, a clear plan and purpose - then unity means stripping out ego, stripping out the desire to be right all the time, and submitting to one another.

Dionne in the comments added: "We can disagree without making it a war and understand and accept that we all have slightly different perspectives - much like our very different Trinity, working together for the same purpose."

Through, not out

Sherlon's point that Jesus doesn't pray for us to be taken out of the world but protected in it sparked discussion.

Dionne commented: "I stopped praying 'I'm a believer, get me out of here' because my prayers weren't answered in that way. The journey is always through."

Matt referenced TD Jakes: "God doesn't deliver us out of a situation. He delivers us through a situation."

Sadaf reflected on her own experience: "I've been in a time in my life where that's happened. And so many people were encouraged by the circumstances - not because we felt like everything was amazing and 'isn't this journey great' - but the way the Lord was carrying us through it. They were looking in and saying, 'We are so encouraged by your faith.' And that wasn't us. That was all the Lord. But it's those simple, small steps of obedience in every area of our lives. And the Lord gets the glory for it."

Unusual prayers

Matt noticed something: "The prayers that Jesus prays are not what you would expect them to be. When I think about what I pray for my kids, maybe I should start praying the prayers that Jesus prayed for my kids."

He challenged viewers: "Read through the prayers that Jesus prays for you. And just think about the words that Jesus is saying and go: is this coming to pass in my life? Because if it isn't, something's wrong somewhere. And I'm fairly sure the problem is not going to be with Jesus."

Your Next Step This Week

1. Read John 17 slowly - See what Jesus is actually praying for you. Let his words speak life over you.

2. Pray Jesus' prayers for yourself - Protection. Glory. Power. Unity. Ask God to make these real in your life.

3. Pray Jesus' prayers for others - Your children, your friends, your church community. Pray the prayers Jesus prayed.

4. Start a conversation with God - As Sherlon said: "Prayer at heart is a conversation. We get to talk back to God too."

5. Stay connected when times are hard - Don't get disconnected from the body of Christ. Stay unified. Go through it together.

You Matter

The God who flung the stars into the sky thinks you're special enough to pray for.

That's worth sitting with for a moment.

Jesus prayed for your protection - not that you'd be removed from difficulty, but that you'd be kept in it. He prayed for glory - that your life would reflect him. He prayed for power - because you can't do this in your own strength. He prayed for unity - that you'd know you belong to a family.

His prayers speak life. They speak hope. They speak peace. They speak certainty.

And here's the good thing: you get to talk back to God too. So why not start a conversation?