"Who Hears a Prayer?" | Donovan Drake preaching | 05.17.26

"Who Hears a Prayer?" | Donovan Drake preaching | 05.17.26

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Past, present, future all blend into one. For example, Jesus is praying for us right now. So listen, John 17, verses 1 through 11. Hear the prayer of Jesus, hear the word of God. After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For the words that you gave to me, I have given to them, and they have received them, and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you have sent me. I am seeking on their behalf. I'm not seeking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you, holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. The word of the Lord. So much of the time, the prayers of Jesus, they're a secret. They're between Jesus and God. Scripture says that at his baptism Jesus was praying. What was he praying? We don't know. Scripture says that after Jesus chose the twelve disciples, he continued all night in prayer. What was he praying? We don't know. Scripture says that Jesus took James and John up unto the mountaintop to pray. What was he praying? We don't know. The disciples found Jesus praying alone. What was he praying? We don't know. I've got a list of scriptures that talk about Jesus praying, was seen praying, but wasn't heard praying. We don't know the words. But today we know. Some prayer. He prayed it so loudly that it traveled over 60 years before John wrote it down in his gospel. The prayer he prayed swept across the centuries, flown across the oceans, over the Piedmont, and through the Smokies until it arrived on our ears right now. The prayer doesn't age. Love never gets old. The prayer is his passion. It is God's deepest desire. He wants it to be heard by God. Of course, we all want our prayers to be heard by God, but he wants us to hear his prayer too. He wants us to hear, Father, protect them. Do you need any help in understanding what that's about? Father, protect them. Here's what he's not talking about. As an adult, any time that I would come and visit my parents before I would leave, before I would get in the car to get back to the airport, my mother would say, my father would say, call us when you get back home. There's something about love that worries about life and travel and going up in flying tin cans. Father, protect him. Call us when he gets back home. That's love. It knows that life is fragile and it needs all the help it can get. But as I said, I don't think that's what Jesus is praying about. Father, protect them. After all, he prays, he tells us that we're going to be persecuted for being his people. Persecution doesn't sound like protection. Holy Father, protect them. Protect them from being something they are not. I pray they stay in the fold. That they know who they are and whose they are. I remember the family that I was called into, the mom, the grandma, she had died after a long life. And so we gathered in a room to share stories about grandma, about mom, and the daughter said, I remember as a teenager on Saturday night we would all climb into dad's work van. And as we headed out the door on a Friday night, Saturday night, mom would yell out, remember, our name is on the van. Miller's dry cleaning. What she was saying, our name is on the van, don't embarrass the family. What she was saying, remember who you are. What she was saying was don't be tempted to be something you're not. We are sheep of his pasture. But we can stray. Jesus taught us to pray, lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil. Holy Father, protect them. Think for a moment. What are some things that lead you astray that keep you from being a Christian at times? I've I've got a list of things that keep me from being a Christian. When I start talking about politics, the fruit of the spirit just kind of rots on the shelf over there. What are some things that keep you from being a Christian? I've got a list. When I start getting concerned about my precious time, when I'm looking at my bank account, my money, my desires, I don't know if that's so Christian. When I have so little time for those, oh, what do you call them? Bless your little heart people, you know. When I think they made the mess, they need to clean it up. Have you got a list? Have you got some voices that pull you out of the out of the fold? If you don't have a list, um meet me in my office and uh I'll help you make out a list. Because let me tell you, you have a list, which doesn't sound very much like Christian love, and I should add that to my list. Better I think, better I think to put all that behind us and hear the prayer. Holy Father, protect them. If Jesus has a lift list for us, it is just one thing. Love one another just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. Just as he loved us, just as he loved us. Body broken, blood shed, just as he loved us. Love one another. Father, protect them in that effort. Don't let them get sidetracked. Don't get them sucked into the voices of hatred. Don't let them hear the sound of the devil. Bow down and worship me. Jesus is praying for us right now. Listen. Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. Did anyone hear that prayer? It is the deepest desire of God. I do want you to be one. One with me, one with one with one another. God has prayed that prayer ever since he took a handful of dirt and blew his spirit into it and created us in what? In the image of God. I want you to look like me, sound like me, be like me, protect them that they may be one as we are one. It's the deepest desire of God. Listen, hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and strength and soul, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Be one. Somehow we've gotten the kick in the so-called church that being one is being of the same mind, not the mind of Jesus, but the same mind with people with, you know, we can decide where to draw the line. Everyone is welcomed in this church, except for those conservative, narrow-minded baskets full of deplorable evangelicals. Other than that, we're fine. Or the prayer is, Lord, I'm grateful that you bathed us in purity and you have kept out those impure souls. It's so silly that we think we have to draw a line somewhere. When Jesus tells us, quit worrying about the speck in your neighbor's eye, you've got a log in your own eye. Can't you see that? Quit drawing a line. We're not that different from one another. Jesus told a story. Once upon a time, two men went up to the temple to pray. One said, Thank God I'm not like other people. Not like robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like that tax collector over there. I fast, I give a tenth of all I get. It's just you and me, God. And the other one, he wouldn't look up into heaven. He beat his breast and said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Did you hear those prayers? Two prayers. Where do you draw the line? Is one in and the other out? Or do you listen to the prayer? Really listen to the prayer. For surely one is saying, God have mercy on me. I am a mess. I am a mess. I'm trying to put food on my table, and because of that, I've got to lie and cheat and steal. I can't even stand looking at myself in the mirror. I don't even look at myself in the mirror. I am a mess. I don't even know who that person is. Heal me. I need to be loved. And if you really listen to the prayer of the other one, you say, look, Lord, I fast twice a week. Look, Lord, I give a tenth of my income. Look, Lord, I'm good, right? I mean, compared to most, I'm giving it at all. Have you noticed? Have you looked at my checking account? How much I I give, Lord, have you look? I'm loved, right? You love me, right? Am I doing enough to get your love? Do we really have to choose one over the other? Thank God I'm not a pious jerk. Thank God I'm not a cheater and a liar. Jesus died for all. All are welcome to the table. All. And what's killing the church, the so-called church, is that we dispense God's love with an eyedropper. A little for a few. When Cain killed his brother, he just didn't think he was loved. It's crazy. Stupid. He so wants us to hear his prayers. Our ears are open. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one who hears the prayer. God? Yes. Anyone else?