John 17:1-3 – “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify 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.”
Question for your dinner discussion tonight, if you only had one week to live, what would you pray for? Who would you pray for?
We read of the longest prayer Jesus ever prayed in John 17. This is the final week of His life; he’s headed to the cross to pay the penalty for the sin of the world. It’s no shocker that, in his prayer, he prays for Himself, however, it is interesting that he spends most of his prayer in selfless intercession for his disciples and for believers who will come from their faithful ministry.
Our days matter, but we also understand that some days matter more than others. There are those certain days that bring significant opportunity and if we don’t capture those moments, they will be gone forever. Jesus knows He is quickly approaching the most significant day of His life on earth and to glorify the Father by saving the sinners which was the goal of His mission.
As busy men, I don’t have to sell you on the notion that we can get distracted and miss big moments in everyday life. The key, as Jesus models, is to pause and pray in order to capture the big moments and prepare ourselves, trusting that God is either going to get us around it, or get us through it. These are the moments that can bring big opportunities, big obstacles, or big decisions.
We’re called to be preppers…somewhere a guy in a gas mask, making his own ammo in his underground bunker just cheered!.!.!. I’m not referring to that kind of prepping. I’m talking about our responsibility to prepare in prayer. Guys, priority one must be prayer, to connect with God and align with His will for our life. When those big moments are on the horizon, it’s more important than ever to push all other planning, conversations, & prepping down our priority list and pray first.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are there any big moments in your life or on your horizon that you need to prep for by being diligent in prayer?
Upcoming Events:
Recommended Book
Links in this section are Amazon Affiliate links to books we find helpful
The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions
Edited by Arthur Bennett
The strength of Puritan character and life lay in prayer and meditation. In this practice the spirit of prayer was regarded as of first importance and the best form of prayer, for living prayer is the characteristic of genuine spirituality. Yet prayer is also vocal and may therefore on occasions be written. This book has been prepared not to ‘supply’ prayers but to prompt and encourage the Christian as he treads the path on which others have gone before.
Prayer Focus (Qassab in India):
The Muslim Qassabs (also called Kasai) claim that their ancestors came from Arabia. They are found in many different states of India, especially in the big towns and cities. Their community name Qassab in Arabic means “to cut”. They are a professional Muslim caste of butchers who slaughter livestock and sell meat. Many of them are now engaged in business or work as daily-wage laborers. They speak Urdu among themselves but are equally conversant with Hindi.
Most of the Qassab people live in the northern states of India where very few have embraced the Savior. They are also Muslim. Islamic teachings tend to exclude the most important teachings of Jesus, and they don’t leave room for a savior.
Like almost all Muslim people groups in South Asia, there are probably no followers of Christ among the Qassabs. Pray for workers and for spiritual hunger among this group of Muslims.
* Pray for the salvation of the Qassab people and that God may send several workers to show them the way to Jesus, so He can meet their spiritual and physical needs.
* Pray that they would have a strong spiritual need to find truth and righteousness that will lead them to Jesus.
* Pray that soon there will be Qassab believers who will disciple others who will make even more disciples.
Bible Study Tip:
Eight main genres exist throughout the Bible—Narrative, Law (sometimes these two are combined as Historical Narrative/Law), Poetry, Prophecy, Wisdom (sometimes combined with Poetry), Gospel, Letter, and Apocalyptic. I know English classes aren’t everyone’s thing, but the Bible is a piece of literature, and understanding literary genres, themes, and devices is important in better understanding God’s word. Many resources exist that can teach us more about these literary characteristics. See the links below to learn more!
- Capitol Hill Baptist Church, The Bible’s Genres from the Series “How to Study the Bible”
Today's Quote:
The impulse to prayer, within our hearts, is evidence that Christ is urging our claims in Heaven.
-Augustus H. Strong
Dad Joke:
I searched for a lighter on Amazon, all I could find was 401 matches…
