Yeah, a couple of years ago, my wife and I had the joy and the stress of trying to buy a car and especially you, you understand what I'm talking about if you've gone to a car dealer and it just seems like they're always asking for more or asking for different things, trying to work it with you, but at the same time you're trying to work it with them to get what you want in the car. And so when it comes time to sign the paperwork, that's when the negotiating begins about this price or the other thing is that you start to negotiate maybe potential accessories on the car that you want. So maybe some side rails or some floor mats or this or that or things that you can add within the car. Now, one thing that I've never experienced in the process of car shopping is that I've never had the salesperson include in their accessory list. Um, the engine, like I've never been in, in, in talks with him. Like, so now are you gonna want an engine for this car or No. Yes. On the engine. Okay. Yes. On the engine. Okay. Mark that down. Um, the reason they don't negotiate that is because the engine is essential and the engine is necessary for the car to work it. There is a difference between what's seen as an accessory. Okay, that's nice to have versus what's necessary and what's essential for that vehicle to work in the same way for us. There are parts of the christian life that might be seen as accessories or add ons or things that are nice to have. But then there are practices, there are disciplines that are more like the engine, that it's not an accessory, but it's really uh, it's necessary for you to have a personal relationship with jesus to have not just a religion but a relationship with God and so we want to speak into that tension this morning, but before we do, let's just kind of quickly review, how do we get to where we are today? See we are wrapping up a series entitled Upper Room And what we decided to do as a church family is that we wanted to spend five weeks on these five chapters of the gospel of John, John 13 through 17 and the reason we're spending time specifically in, in these chapters is that the writer of that gospel, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the disciple whose name is john, he decided he could have written about any points of the life of Jesus, Jesus lived about 33 years, okay, He spent 3.5 years with the disciples each and every day, john even wrote in his letter in his Gospel at the end, I could have filled up page after page after page, but I wrote these specific things so that you would believe And so he decided that 20-25%, almost a quarter of the Gospel would be spent on one conversation that happened on one evening and so he took the life of jesus and he spent a large portion of his writing on a couple hours the night before he was crucified And so we've been walking through each chapter each week, so in week one, we talked about John 13 where Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and how crazy that was that Jesus didn't seek a title, but instead he grabbed a towel and he showed us through service and humility, what it means to love one another. And then in John 14, Jesus started to share with the disciples that he was going away, but that he was the way the truth and the life and that no one could come to the father except through him, but to fear not because the disciples, we're going to, we're going to be able to do even greater things than him and have a great expanse and launching of ministry, but that would only come through the sending of the helper or the advocate known as the holy spirit. And we talked about the fact that it is impossible for the christian life or the christian to live a spiritual life apart from the power of the holy spirit. And then in week three and John 15, Jesus where they started to walk, they left the physical upper room, started walking through the streets of Jerusalem heading to the garden of Gethsemane, he gave this imagery that he is the vine and we are the branches and we shared how being close is not the same thing as being connected and that the goal is not simply to be close to jesus. The goal is actually being connected to jesus because if you're not connected to jesus, you can't do anything, but if you are connected to jesus, you can do everything. And then last week, week four, we were walking through John 16 and Jesus had this interesting tension between sorrow and joy and he said, I'm going away, the world hates me, the world's gonna hate you, you're gonna experience persecution and you're gonna even die for this sake, but fear not because I'm gonna turn your sorrow into joy. And when the Lord gives you joy, when God gives you joy, he gives a joy that no one can take away. And he says, even though you will face trials and tribulations take heart for I have overcome the world As we talked about, what does it mean to have joy? And so now we land in John chapter 17 and we are in this garden and we're in this picture where jesus gets to pray now before we jump into these words of this prayer of jesus, I want to highlight one opening verse where he actually says this in john 17 3 and he says, and this is eternal life, he's so direct here and I love this, he goes, this is eternal life that they know you the only true god and jesus christ whom you have sent now. What's interesting, what struck me about this verse that I can't seem to let go of is that when I think about or when I have thought about the idea of eternal life, I always equated it with a destination. Like when you think about eternal life, I think about heaven one day or heaven tomorrow or heaven in sometime in the future. But if you look at this definition of eternal life, it is not a destination, but it's actually the person and it's a relationship and he says the best part about eternity is not even the destination, but who's gonna be there. In other words, eternal life is not about quantity of life, it's about quality of life because those who reject God, those who end up in hell actually have the same number of days. If you think about it, the difference is not the quantity of days, but the person and their experience of those days. And so jesus is speaking here in these final hours, he says this is eternal life to know God and to know me. And what's really encouraging about that is that if the key concept of eternal life is to know jesus, you can actually know him right now, maybe not perfectly, you might still make mistakes and struggle, but you can experience him on some level. Now, that means that the fullness of life, the abundance of life. Eternal life begins, not the moment you die, but the moment you trust jesus and so you can experience this eternal life the more you know him and this is key as we talked about his prayer Because this prayer John 17 truly is the Lord's Prayer we often describe in Matthew six when jesus is teaching his disciples, we call that the Lord's prayer, our father who art in heaven hallowed, be thy name and they recite that the reality is, is that's not technically the Lord's prayer, that is the disciples prayer because the disciples asked jesus teach us to pray and he says sure here's how you do it And so while we have that moment in Matthew six, the Lord's prayer that we often recite what we have in John 17 is the single longest recorded prayer in the Ministry of Jesus in his final hours we get a up close, intimate vulnerable look at the prayer life of jesus between jesus christ and God the father, The word father is actually used 53 times in John 13 to 1700 and 22 times in the gospel of John and so this relationship is very important and so we live in a day and age where celebrity and and people are famous some or even just being, are famous for being famous, that seems weird to me, but it's true, you know, I'm talking about like someone is famous like oh they're famous why? Because they are like it doesn't make sense, but now we want to know like what they eat and what they do and who they're talking to and apparently if you are famous, that gives you the right to give commentary on world politics and that makes you an expert apparently right? Like oh well if you acted in this movie clearly, you know what's happening in global warfare right? And we want to know like why is it that people think we're gonna be so interested in what we eat for food, like there is, I'm not 100% positive, but I think the true statistic is that 27.4% of all social media is just people posting random facts about their day, right? Like oh look at this meal, click and here's the thing, if we follow someone, if we are interested like oh that's interesting because it's a look into their life and we feel like maybe we get to see them personally, We're here, What is so cool! In John 17, we have an actual look into the relationship, jesus has, jesus, the son of God has with God the father and in those last moments he is open, he is authentic, he is vulnerable and he is sharing his heart and we have the literal Lord's prayer, him praying to God the father and we can learn from it and in just a moment we're going to share how jesus prays for four things in the garden of Gethsemane and those same four things we should continue praying for today, but for right now I want you to write this down if you're taking notes because here's the essence of what we're going to talk about today and it's this prayer is necessary for your life, not an accessory for your lifestyle. Prayer is necessary for your life, not an accessory for your lifestyle. In the same way when we are, when we are negotiating with what add ons we want for our particular vehicle before we sign the dotted line, none of those add ons were the engine because the engine is essential. How many of us treat prayer as an add on to our lifestyle. Maybe we pray before a meal, Maybe we pray when someone is sick or we have a question or we worry, but we only pray and it's not bad to to do those things, but if we only pray at those times, then we've really made prayer and accessory not essential part of who we are in our relationship. And so jesus is praying and he really praised to give it a sense of back background of this passage, the first five verses, he praised for himself And it's like concentric circles, so it's not just linear and so he prays for himself, you're gonna see that then he prays for his disciples and then actually the last couple of verses verse 20-26, he actually prays for all believers, which means that we are actually included in this prayer. And the echoes of the prayer of John 17 are still ringing today. And so he prays through this and it's and it's really this thematic prayer. And so we're gonna do things a little bit differently this morning. And so I want to break down the structure of this prayer and I want to share with you the themes and then we're gonna at the end, we're gonna read this passage and it's a longer passage, but I want you to see the themes throughout because he doesn't just mention them once all throughout the upper room. These four themes keep showing up, keep showing up, keep showing up in the same way if you're teaching a child to do something, you typically don't just tell them once you share it something you move on, you share it again and you share it again and it becomes a rhythm and a cycle that through the multiple sharing it comes down and hopefully the people get it. And so I want to share with you that structure and then we're gonna read that passage together. And then lastly we're gonna actually pray together and try to experience the passage together that's kind of the flow for this morning. But before we jump into it, I want us to remember the fact that prayer at its core is personal, that the purpose of prayer is the very presence of God, that prayer is not a button to push but a relationship to pursue. It's about having a conversation. It is necessary, it is essential. It is not an add on that. It is the very core of communication with God. And so we see these words, we see these pictures and it is not only important, it's actually imperative, jesus and other passages where he's praying in the garden is it feels this weight so much that actually tears of blood and there's a medical condition of where that can actually happen to someone from extreme stress and and he says that God, if there's any other way, take this cup from me, if there's any other way, let's do that way. But at the end of the day, it is your will, not my will and he humbles himself. And so here is this raw, open authentic moment of God and he is communicating with God. And we get this inside personal look and jesus prays for these four things. What are those four things? Number one, Jesus Prays a prayer that glorifies, Jesus prays a prayer that glorifies. You're gonna see this word Glory and glorify all over this chapter in just a moment now, the word Glory literally means a celebration and recognition of who God is and what God has done when you take the words from the hebrew in the old testament and the greek in the new testament, it's really this picture of heaviness or a heavy opinion or reputation, or wait, if somebody has weight in your life, if somebody has worth or value in your life. So there's there's glory behind that. So to glorify someone is to lift up the value of someone to make something obvious, to make something known. And so you have this picture of what is celebrated in your life. Think about it this way, that if what happens in your life is like a newspaper, that you might not necessarily determine all the stories and words that go into that newspaper, a lot of things might happen with you and to you. But while you can't control all the words, all the stories entering your newspaper of your life, you do get to decide what gets the headline. And so you have to ask yourself in the story or in your story or in your given week or given day, at the end of it, does your headline focus on you, or does your headline focus on God? Because you get to write the headline and you get to decide what is glorified and what is lifted up. This idea of glory is also found throughout the gospels and the beginning of this Gospel gospel, john 1 14, jesus just enters the scene, it says here, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory again, to make obvious to make known. It says here in Glory as of the only son from the Father full of grace and truth. So the fact that jesus came down, word became flesh means that God was showing us his glory, He was showing us his value. He was showing us his worth because no one had ever seen God. But it's his very purity and holiness and value that should be lifted up and celebrated and jesus himself is the glory of God. And so that glory is powerful. We find that in Romans 323 it says for all have sinned and fall short. But what did they fall short of? They did not fall short of our own personal standards. They did not fall short of our feelings. That would be nicer, right for all have sinned and fall short of our feelings. And so the solution is just to feel better and all this self help stuff. No, we fall short of the very glory of God. In other words that the glory of God cannot coexist with the sin of man. And so the fact that we sin, we exchanged one for the other. And so it's the glory that actually leads to separation and that's why we need a savior. But then in Romans 64, it says in here that we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by notice this by the glory of the father. In other words, this power of God. This glory of God is the power that raised him from the dead. That's how powerful this glorious. So our sin separates us from our glory. But glory comes down in the form of jesus and dies on the cross and rises again on the third day and through that very power and says that we too might walk in newness of life. This verse is a picture of baptism, that's why we say that buried with christ in baptism, raised to walk in newness of life through the power of God. And we have a special treat this morning that at the end of this service we are actually going to celebrate with four baptisms of Kiddos within our church ministry. So that's awesome. We'll open up to if others are wanting to take that step of baptism, but we're gonna celebrate that. And so that's gonna happen at the very end of service, they're outside. And so what is baptism? Baptism is a picture of what Jesus did for us buried with christ in baptism, raised to walk in the newness of life by the very power of glory. So the first thing Jesus prays for is for the glory of God. The second thing Jesus prays for is a prayer that unifies, it is a prayer that unifies Jesus could have prayed for anything and what he prayed for was unity. He knew that our world was going to be filled with division, Man, I'm so glad. It's not that anymore. Right, right. We've come a long way in 2000 years. No, because to be human honestly is to be divided. And so to be spirit filled is to be united. And so what's gonna separate Christianity? It's not just our church, but the church and the recognition that our differences don't divide us, but our differences ultimately are celebrated and that we are unified in the spirit and unified in the gospel message of jesus. And he says this, this is the key. And so he prays a prayer for unification. And you're gonna see that throughout one more example, later in the new testament, paul is writing from prison and he's writing to the church in philippi and Philippians two verse one and two, he says, So if there's any encouragement in christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind that if you have the spirit of God in you, that makes unity possible. Unity again, is not an accessory, but it's necessary for true life in the kingdom. So jesus prays a prayer that glorifies, then he prays a prayer that unifies. And then third he prays a prayer that sanctifies now sanctify is a great word because it's fun to say sanctify, right? Like it's fun to say and it's very churchy, right? Like you don't tend to hear that word outside of the walls of the church, right? Like you don't tend to hear the word sanctified, so what does it actually mean? Well the word sanctification, another definition could be to be consecrated, Okay, that sounds even, it sounds almost like stomach problems, but but that's just even weird. What does that mean? Well, to be consecrated means actually to be set apart or to be holy because something is so pure, something is so right that it's going to be set apart, so to be sanctified is to be made right? Or to become so in in theology, there's this concept that when you believe jesus as Lord and savior, you are justified, meaning you are declared free, that you are set free. The problem though is that we both have like we all have sinful nature still within us and so we have the spirit of God in us, but we still sin and we still struggle and we still worry and we still doubt and we're not perfect yet because we're still in this world and so what do you do from the time that you are saved and you're justified and then ultimately your restored and renewed in heaven with christ, Well there's this middle and that middle is called sanctification and what happens there is that you are are becoming who christ made you to be, you are becoming more like jesus and so the difference is it's not about changing your behavior, it's not about behaving, it's about becoming and that becoming ultimately is based in truth because sanctification is not really subjective in that you're not just relatively becoming whatever you want to be, but rather you're becoming more like jesus. And so here are three ways that we can experience truth or in other words, we can be sanctified in truth. And this is how this works together. First we learned God's truth through studying the bible or studying the word so you can actually no truth, that you can know the truth that has stood the test of time. That truth has an objective application. That as soon as you make truth, subjective and relative, that throws everything out the window. What's interesting is that we live in a world where we say all truth is relative when ironically that statement is an absolute statement. And so if someone says, well, how do you know that what you believe is true? Because um isn't everything relative? And I'm like, well isn't your statement then just as relative as my statement and now neither one we can know is true. And so the question is what is the foundation, what is your standard? Everyone has a standard. The question is what is your standard? And for christians are standard as an eternal one based on the word of God and it gives us something that we can stand on and it gives us production that we can humble ourselves under and it's one and it gives us a guide that now we can live through life and so we learn God's truth through the word. Then second then we love God's truth through knowing Jesus christ, he says, I am the way the truth and the life and so you can know truth because truth is also a person. And then third, you can then live God's truth through the power of the spirit because if you know the word and then you love jesus and then you live his example. Now you're becoming sanctified or being made right or becoming more like jesus. And so this is to pray a prayer of sanctification, is to pray a prayer of truth and to declare truth. And in a world where everything is relative, the truth of the gospel actually stands out and shines through and it gives us a firm foundation to live on. So we see that jesus prays a prayer that glorifies, jesus then prays a prayer that unifies. He prays a prayer, then that sanctifies and lastly jesus prays a prayer that testifies, testifies another great word. You know, it's another great word to say testify right, like it's it's very churchy, but at the end of the day, what you're saying is you are you are a given a testimony or you're an eyewitness account of what happened and so you have truth and then you share that truth. We see this here in Acts 18, the beginning of the church, jesus says, but you will receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and judea and samaria and to the ends of the earth. And so this truth is not meant to be kept in word, but to be shared with the world. And you're going to see this in this passage. And so what I wanna do right now is, um, I want to read through John 17, so it's a little bit longer, but these are the very words of jesus before he's arrested and before he's gonna go to the cross and you're gonna see these themes to glorify, to unify, to sanctify, and then ultimately to testify about the goodness of God. And you're gonna see these themes play out. But at its core, I want you to remember this fact that prayer is necessary for your life, not simply an accessory and it's a little bit longer, but I want you to tune in because like, we, this is really only as long as even in an acceptance speech at the Oscars and and no one's gonna slap you in the process. So it's gonna be good too, too soon for that. Okay, sorry. Um, but no, like, we watched acceptance speeches, we watch motivational speeches and we watch people talk before the game and we see these movements and and so here's what I want you to picture that before. The biggest moments in the ministry of Earthly ministry of jesus. We get in the locker room, look we get behind the scenes, look at the words of jesus praying to his heavenly father and this prayer that you see his heart and this is how we're called the prey as well and so Andrew's gonna be playing in the background and I want you just to lean in and focus on these words and and to really ask yourself do I pray like this, do I pray like this because a lot of us it's as we pray before a meal, we pray for this checklist, I want to go here, do that, do this thing and we make it about us instead of just humbling ourselves before him notice the tone with which Jesus speaks, let's let's read this prayer. When jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and he said Father, the hour has come glorify the your son that the son may glorify you since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him and this is eternal life that they know you the only true god and jesus christ whom you have sent, he says, I have glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do and now father glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world even existed. So he prayed for himself and now we're gonna see him praying for his disciples. And he says I have manifested manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of this world, yours. They were and you gave them to me and they have kept your word now. They know that everything you have given me is from you and for I have given them the words that you gave me and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you and I have believed that you sent me that I am praying for them. I am praying for the world. But for those you have given me for they are yours, all mine are yours and yours are mine. And I glorify glorified and I am glorified in them that I am no longer in this world. But they are in the world and I'm coming to you, Holy father keep them in your name which you have given me. That they may be one even as we are one that while I was with them. Mhm I kept them in your name which you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction referring to judas that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word. And the world has hated them because they are not of the world. Just as I am, not of the world. That I do not ask, that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one, that they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. And as you sent me into the world, So I have sent them into the world, and for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in truth. And now he goes on and pray for all of us. And he says, I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one just as you father are in me and I in you, that they may be in us. So that the world may believe that you have sent me the glory that you have given me. I have given to them, that they may be one as we are one, that I and them and you and me, that they may become perfectly one. So that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them, even as you have loved me, father. I desire that they also whom you have given me maybe with me, where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the very foundation of the world o righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you and these know that I have that you have sent me and I have made known to them your name and I will continue to make it known that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I am them. Prayer is necessary for our lives, not an accessory for our lifestyles. And so what I wanna do right now for our application is that I actually want to pray this prayer but for you and for me and I want you to pray it along with me. And so I want us to experience this prayer moment together and it might feel a little bit awkward for you, but I want you to know that's okay because I what I'm going to do is that I'm gonna make a statement or two about each category here and then we're gonna pause, Pause for 15 2030 seconds. And that is an opportunity for you to pray what God has laid on your heart. And maybe for some of you, this prayer thing feels awkward and weird. I want you just to take that deep breath, just take that moment and just to rest the checklist can wait. That produce can wait and just have a moment with God and just see what it does and be okay in the silence. It will be okay in that pause and just ask for God to be present here with us. Can we do that? Let's pray together. Mm hmm. Dear father. We come before you humbly in prayer and first it's our prayer that our lives have been glory to you that you get the headline. Mm hmm That we would put you first that we will lift you up and then we would make you obvious. Yeah. May your opinion have heavyweight in our life. And so right now we pause and we give what we're holding onto right now to you. Mhm. Mhm, mm hmm. Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah. Mhm, mm hmm, mm hmm, mm hmm. The next God we pray for unity. Mhm Unity starts with you God. And but but also involves us that right now if there is somebody that comes to our minds that we need to forgive or something that we need to confess of which we need to be forgiven God. I pray that we would put those actions that we would put that person that comes to our mind before you. Now gotten. Mm hmm, mm hmm, mm hmm, mm hmm. Mhm. All right. Yeah. The next father, we just pray to be sanctified in your truth. God. I pray that we can focus on what is right and what is whole and whether there's a lie that we've been told about ourselves or we're telling ourselves or something else that we are holding on to. I pray that we can let go of that lie and grab hold of that truth. And so whatever it is that doubt that thought that might be wrestling with this morning. I pray that right now in this moment we can give that to you. Mm hmm, mm hmm. Yeah. Mm hmm, mm hmm. Mhm. And finally God I pray the prayer of testimony to you that got me. We just be willing to share and be bold and be courageous. Have a conversation when you give us that nudge God, if there is somebody that you've placed on our hearts right now, somebody that comes to mind, we want to humbly submit that name and that person to you right now God and I pray that we can come before you that we could be a testimony to you this week. You take that name and lift that person up to God right now, wow! Yeah, mm hmm, mm hmm God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for showing us what authentic prayer looks like. Mhm Help us to remember that prayer is necessary for our lives, not just merely an accessory for our lifestyle, let us come regularly and openly to you. We thank you, it's in your son's name. We pray amen