EquippedMama

[Part Two: When]

This is the second part of a mini blog series that is geared to encourage you with practical tips of how to implement prayer into your life. Last time we looked at how we are to pray- 1. remembering who God is, 2. remembering who we are, 3. remembering our time is short. This week we will look at the prayer Jesus prayed for us shortly before his death and consider some implementations of when we ought to be praying mamas.

⁶ “I have revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word. ⁷ Now they understand that everything you have given me comes from you, ⁸ because I have given them the words you have given me. They accepted them and really understand that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I am praying on behalf of them. I am not praying on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you have given me, because they belong to you. ¹⁰ Everything I have belongs to you, and everything you have belongs to me, and I have been glorified by them. ¹¹ I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. ¹² When I was with them I kept them safe and watched over them in your name that you have given me. Not one of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, so that the scripture could be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience my joy completed in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵ I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one. ¹⁶ They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁷ Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And I set myself apart on their behalf, so that they too may be truly set apart.

John 17:6-19 NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Anyone who listens to a child tell a story knows that context is key. A three-year-old might tell her mother that her dad said she could skip the rest of her dinner, but she might have asked her dad while hiding her plate. Context provides us the necessary details to understand the big picture of what’s truly going on. So, to properly understand John 17 we need the bigger picture of in what context Jesus prayed these words.

Starting in John 13:31 we learn that Judas has already left the company of disciples to betray Jesus. The wheels were already in motion for Jesus’ soon impending death. In chapters 14-16 Jesus gives a final message to his disciples, encouraging them how to know the way to the Father (John 14:6), promising them the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16) encouraging them abide in him, (John 15:4), promising them pursecution (John 16:2) and assuring them of his absolute control despite what circumstances came (John 16:33). These men were his closest friends, so as he was preparing to die their well-being was high on his list of priorities. What Jesus considered their well-being, however, might differ from our concerns. As he was considering leaving the disciples, the above verses are what he asked the Father to do.

What did Jesus ask the Father on their behalf?

He asks the Father to keep them safe (17:11) so that they might “be one just as we are one” (v.11 b). He prays that the Father protects them from the evil one (v. 15) and asks that they might be set apart in truth, and then qualifies “your word is truth” (v. 17).

When did Jesus pray for his disciples? He prayed for them in his personal hour of need. His focus was on glorifying the Father (John 17:1-5) and preparing the believers for his departure. He was aware of the brevity of his time left on earth and so he prayed for those he would leave behind.

Do you worry about your children’s safety, future, or decisions? Take some time to consider this prayer- in his time of personal need, Jesus focuses his heart on bringing glory to the Father and demonstrates absolute confidence in the ability God has to protect and preserve his disciples. When you are in need, pray for your children. Jesus’ prayer also demonstrated absolute submission to the Father’s authority and plan. Although we learn in other gospels that Jesus’ physical desire was to not endure the horrors of the cross (Mark 14:36) he was completely yielded to the Father’s will. In this act of submission he also entrusted God with his friends, the ones God “gave me (Jesus) out of the world” (v. 6).

When do we pray?

When we need to orient our wills to the Father’s heart.

When we need reminded that He is in control.

When we need reminded that we are not in control.

Practically, when do we as mothers pray? It can be so hard to find those all-elusive pockets of silence- but they are there if we seek them out. It might be that simply need to follow the cue of Jesus, and seize those opportunities to be alone with the Lord.

That might look different for you than your other mom-friends, but the need is none the less real. If you regularly work out, consider sacrificing your pump-up music for prayer time. If you have a substantial commute to work or school perhaps turn off your radio and dedicate that time to being with the Lord. Perhaps meal prep can incorporate prayer time. Even if you are not a morning person, you might make the effort to get up an extra half hour early and dedicate that time to focused prayer and time to grow with the Lord.

No matter when you decide to pray, the important thing is that you do it.

Let your heart align to the Lord’s in an attitude of submission, recognizing that the Lord has given you those little ones in your care. Pray when you are tempted to worry.

When your heart becomes weary of the world.

When you realize you cannot always be your children’s shelter.

Pray to the One who is able to do “far beyond all that we ask or think, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20b-21).

When you recognize your inability to complete the task given you as a mother, stop and pray. He is able.