Jesus establishes your relationship with God
First of a 5-part teaching series
by Barbara Lukow
There is good reason to wonder what Jesus had to say about prayer in the New Testament. He is, after all, the Son of God…the resurrected Lord, through whose name Christians pray. Look into His Word. Did Jesus pray during His ministry? If He did, why? And how did He explain this communication with God?
The June Prayer 101 series discusses five important concepts Jesus’ actions and teachings reveal concerning prayer and the Christian’s relationship with God: 1) Jesus establishes your relationship with God; 2) the Holy Spirit guides and comforts Christians; 3) why pray and how to pray; 4) the power of confession and forgiveness; and 5) the Lord’s Prayer.
Jesus establishes your relationship with God
Much of John’s gospel is dedicated to Christ’s revelations about himself and God the Father, as well as an explanation of the relationship between God and man. To enhance your understanding of this glorious relationship God has planned for His own, you can review exactly who Jesus is and how you came to be a part of this great mystery.
Jesus is God, come to dwell among His people. Consider the apostle John’s words in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” …and in John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Jesus came to be the perfect sacrifice for your sins. Old Testament believers depended on sacrificial offerings for forgiveness of sins. However, as the letter to the Hebrews (apostle Paul is the assumed author) states, the Lord Jesus Christ offered once and for all His body as a perfect sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 10:5-14).
Jesus is God’s gift to His people. God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. In Jesus’ words: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Jesus is the only way to the Father. Jesus reminds His disciples in John 14:6-7 that no one comes to the Father except through the Son. Clearly, then, one must know Christ to come to the Father.
Jesus is in the Father. Christ, in response to Philip’s request to “show us the Father,” says: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me’?” (John 14:9-10)
If you love Jesus, you have access to the Father. “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)
In John 15:1-17, Jesus provides the vivid picture of a vine (Jesus), its branches (God’s children), and the gardener (the Father). You are a branch in that picture, not able to bear fruit without Christ. Yet if you remain in His love, you may ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you, to the Father’s glory, “that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)
So how does one walk with God without this “fruit-bearing” becoming a burden? Read the fifteenth chapter of John and consider the branch and vine relationship. With the Father as gardener and Jesus as the vine, the only burden on the believer is the “remaining in Christ.” Note the promise: “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) The fruit-bearing is a natural result of abiding in Christ, Jesus providing sustenance, and the Father providing His love and care over you.
Pray, beloved in Christ, asking God to work His will in your life – that you bear much fruit.
For further study:
- Read Matthew 7:7-12. What does this passage tell you about the Father’s love for you?
- Read Matthew 11:28-30. Should the burden of abiding be heavy?
Barbara Lukow is a new writer to the Presidential Prayer Team. She is a retired educator, mother, grandmother, and farm wife. She writes short stories, poetry, articles, devotions and novels. Barbara lives with her husband, James, on a small farm in northwest New Mexico.