You can catch my quick word every Tuesday morning, just after six, on New Zealand's Rhema
As this year wraps up I’ve been looking back at the wonderful prayers God has answered. There have been many! Things which I couldn’t see a way out of which now I can hardly remember.
I’ve also reflected on the prayers I am still praying, the ones I’ve been praying all year. Many of these are prayers for my friends; my family. Each day I keep praying them, each day wishing I could stop.
I’ve had different emotions to go with these enduring prayers as the year has rolled on. In summer I was enthusiast, in autumn persistent. Winter brought boredom, a regret that I ever started. ‘What if I’m praying for this forever?’ I think. Or ‘I can’t think of one more original way to ask the same thing, again.’ But it is spring and I’ve found myself reading John 17 – Jesus’ great prayer for his disciples.
I’ve always taken the prayer to be for all of us – all Christians – but it is also a very personal prayer for the fate of his friends, his best buddies. Look at verses 12 and 13 for example –
“During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold. Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy.”
- John 17 v 12-13
Jesus, about to die, thinks of his friends and wants them to be safe, to know the truth and to be the best they can be. He wants them to have joy.
I need to learn from this! I want to have Jesus’ passion when I pray for those I love. I think summer is around the corner – and so is a return to enthusiastic prayer.
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