Awaken The Dawn

The Eternal Intercession

Father for personal glorification. His request at first seems uncomfortable, but through prayerful meditation, we soon realize that without being “glorified” by the Father (being enabled to do the will of God so that God will receive all the glory) we are not really capable of glo- rifying God. As we pray to the heavenly Father, let us continually rejoice in the glorification of Jesus, for this is the theme which best pleases the Father. Pray as well for your own glorification, for it is in this process that Jesus is truly exalted and glory is given to God. Note that the remaining seven prayers are for the Church. Jesus seemed to feel that the Church is of uppermost importance to God. Many times we spend long periods of prayer concentrating on “sinners” and their problems and conversion. Jesus prayed for His followers, not for the world. 3 He prayed fervently for those “given” to Him. Jesus is concerned that the world may believe…” 2 but that seems to be the expected end result of the other prayers. A.B. Bruce provides an excellent insight:

The design of Jesus in making this statement is not, of course, to intimate the absolute exclusion of the world from His sympathies. Not exclusion, but con- centration in order to eventual inclusion is His pur- pose here. He would have His Father fix His special regards on this small band of men, with whom the fortunes of Christianity are bound up. He prays for them as a mother dying might pray exclusively for her children—not that she is indifferent to the inter- est of all beyond, but that her family, in her solemn situation, is for her the natural legitimate object of an

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