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(upbeat music) Just have two days left in our study of the Book of Hebrews. This
is day four of Hebrews chapter 13. Today we're going to look at verses 18 to 21.

These are verses where the writer of Hebrews asks those who are reading to pray
for him, and where also he prays for them. Listen to these verses. Pray for us.

We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in
every way. I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you
soon. May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant
brought back from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep,
equip you with everything good for doing his will.

And may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be
the glory forever and ever. Amen. In these verses, there's this relationship
that you and I should have as followers of Jesus.

Pray for us, we pray for you. This is the relationship of fellow believers. Pray
for us, we pray for you.

It's interesting, we don't know the name of the writer of the Book of Hebrews.
We don't know the specific name of the readers of the Book of Hebrews, but we do
know their relationship. We know they prayed for each other.

It's one of the most important things we can do for each other as followers of
Jesus. What other follower of Jesus are you praying for today? Today.

He reminds them, we need to pray for each other. He asks them, pray for me that
I can come and be with you. But then there's this prayer that he prays for them.

I love the prayers in scripture. When you come across these prayers, there are
prayers that you could pray for any believer. I'd be privileged for you to pray
this prayer for me.

Any believer would be privileged for you to pray this prayer in verses 20 and 21
for them. In fact, right now, I want to encourage you to get somebody in mind, a
fellow believer. Get them in mind as we walk through these verses today.

Pray for them right now. Well, let me tell you what we're going to pray. May the
God of peace, he says, equip you and may he energize you or work in you.

May he equip you and energize you. Two things to happen in your life. Now with
that in mind, and with the person that you have that you're praying for in mind,
let's just walk through this prayer carefully.

First, who are we praying to? He says we're praying to the God of peace. And
then he adds to that and he says, you know who I'm talking about.

This is the God who brought Jesus back from the dead. And then there's this
phrase that's a bit difficult to understand, through the blood of the eternal
covenant. How did he bring Jesus back from the dead through the blood of the
cross?

The cross was before the resurrection. How did the power of the blood result in
the resurrection of Christ? And the truth is, it's hard to know exactly what
this means, but it certainly is a deep reminder that the death and the
resurrection of Christ are tied together in powerful and mysterious ways beyond
what we understand.

Many people just see the death as the defeat and the resurrection as the victory
like it was some movie scene. But the scripture tells us that there was victory
in the death of Christ and there is victory in the resurrection of Christ.
They're both places of victory, both places.

So the God of peace, who is the God of power? He's the God of resurrection.
That's who we're talking to here.

The God of peace who brought Jesus back from the dead. And then he reminds us
Jesus who is the great shepherd of the sheep. I love that phrase because this
idea of the shepherd, Jesus being our shepherd, is repeated throughout the New
Testament.

It's interesting as you look at it, you look at John, Hebrews, 1 Peter, where
Jesus is said to be our shepherd. In the book of John, Jesus is the good
shepherd who died for the sheep, John 10, 11. In the book of Hebrews, Jesus is
the great shepherd who lives for the sheep.

And then in 1 Peter, Jesus is the chief shepherd who comes for the sheep, 1
Peter 5, 4. Again and again, there's this picture of Jesus being your shepherd.
This is who we're praying to.

The one who has the power of the resurrection. The one who desires to shepherd
your soul. That's who we're talking to.

So having set that up, now that we know that, what are we asking of this God of
the resurrection, of this shepherd of our souls? What are you asking for this
friend that you have? First pray, God, equip them.

Equip them. May he equip you with everything good for doing his will. So you
pray, Lord, would you equip them with everything good for doing your will?

Give them what they need for doing what you want them to do. Now, there's many
ways that God equips us. And you can pray about these in your mind right now for
your friend.

Equip them with the gifts that you've given them, the spiritual gifts that
you've given. Whether it's a gift of teaching or a gift of serving or a gift of
administering, equip them with that gift. Equip them with the resources that
they need, the financial resources that they need, the time resources that they
need.

Equip them, God, with the experiences that they need in life in order to do what
you want them to do. Now, the difficult part of that is, as we often talk about
at Saddleback, one of the ways that God equips us with experiences is with
painful experiences. The painful experiences of our lives equip us to serve
others who are going through similar painful experiences.

I'm not saying that God desires for the pain to come into our lives, but God in
his greatness uses even the pain. Satan's not going to get victory. He's going to get
victory in the end.

Equip them with the experiences that they need. Lord, equip them with the
training that they need to do what you have for them to do. Equip them with the
relationships that you need for them to have.

Help them to meet just the right person at just the right time in just the right
way that a connection is made. Lord, you know what you want my friend to do.
Equip them for what you want them to do.

You pray that for people in your life. Lord, equip them. But then you also pray,
Lord, work in them.

Work in them, energize them, empower them. Empower them for what? Work in them
what is pleasing to you.

So right now in your mind you pray for your friend and you say, Lord, would you
work in their life what you want in their life? What will please you? The
character qualities.

And certainly that is the fruit of the spirit. You can just pray these for your
friend in your mind right now. Lord give them love and joy and peace.

Give them patience, give them kindness, give them gentleness, give them self
control, give them the fruit of your spirit in their lives. Work in their lives
what's pleasing to you through the difficult circumstances of life. Work in
their lives what is pleasing to you through the good circumstances of your life.

Work in their lives what's pleasing to you through the scripture, as they hear
the scripture taught in sermons or as they read it. Work in their lives what is
pleasing to you As you talk to them in prayer and they talk to you in prayer,
work in their lives what's pleasing to you. It's your work.

You work it in, Lord. You work it in. Help them to see how to work it out.

Help them to see what they should be doing. Now we're focusing on prayer today.
So as we end this time together, I'd like to spend a few minutes praying for
you, praying for you.

And I hope you'll take a moment to listen to this prayer. I know some of you are
very content oriented. Got the content?

I can skip the prayer now. I hope you'll take the time to listen to this prayer
expressed for you in these verses that we've just read. Lord, I pray for this
person listening right now.

I pray that even though I've never met them, my friend, my brother, my sister in
Christ, that you, you who are the God of peace, you who have the power of the
resurrection, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought Jesus back
from the dead, Jesus who is the great shepherd of the sheep, Jesus who cares
about our souls in light of who you are, in light of who Jesus is. I pray God
for my friend right now, equip them, equip them for all they need for doing all
that you want them to do. The gifts of your spirit, the financial resources, the
heart that they need, the experiences that they need.

Lord, would you bring those to their lives? Would you equip them? Show them
where they need to go and where they need to be, but also bring blessed
surprises into their lives, where you equip them in ways that they never would
have imagined.

You get them ready for you, what you want to do in their lives. Lord, you know
what you want them to do, so you can equip them in advance. I'm praying you
would do that.

Equip them for doing your will, but then Lord, I also pray that you'd work in
them. Work in them what is pleasing to you. The character of Jesus, a love for
other people, a love for you.

Loving you, God, with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. Loving our
neighbor as ourself. Father, if that's to happen in our lives, we need you to
work that into our lives.

And I pray, this person listening right now, that you would work that into their
life right now, right now. And then tomorrow a little bit more, and then
tomorrow a little bit more, and then tomorrow a little bit more. And Lord, when
we get discouraged, when it feels like we're not as equipped as we need to be,
or we're not becoming all that we should be becoming because of who you are,
help us to realize this is a lifetime project and you're not giving up on us.

Encourage us right now in your spirit, we pray, that you're going to keep
equipping us and working in us the rest of our lives and all the way into
eternity. Thank you for who you are. Thank you for who you are.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, don't miss tomorrow. Join us as we end our
study together of the book of Hebrews.