More than 2,000 years ago Jesus prayed for your earthy circumstances and your destiny. Imagine!
Jesus is not limited to time like you and I are. In fact Isaiah records a prophecy that when Jesus would hang on the cross, dying for your sins and my sins, He would see us.

Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

So what did Jesus pray for you? After they had eaten the Last Supper, before they went to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus would be arrested, Jesus prayed these words for you.
John 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Jesus prayed for you to be safe from the evil
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Jesus prayed for you to be set apart for His service
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Jesus prayed for those with whom you share His gospel
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

Jesus prayed for your unity with all Christians
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Jesus prayed for you to be where He is
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Jesus prayed for His love to be in you
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

The Beautiful Garden of Prayer- Eleanor Schroll, 1920
There’s a garden where Jesus is waiting, There’s a place that is wondrously fair,
For it glows with the light of His presence. ’Tis the beautiful garden of prayer.
Refrain
Oh, the beautiful garden, the garden of prayer!
Oh, the beautiful garden of prayer!
There my Savior awaits, and He opens the gates
To the beautiful garden of prayer.
There’s a garden where Jesus is waiting, And I go with my burden and care,
Just to learn from His lips words of comfort In the beautiful garden of prayer.
Refrain
There’s a garden where Jesus is waiting, And He bids you to come, meet Him there;
Just to bow and receive a new blessing In the beautiful garden of prayer.
Listen to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R72DbPb4Njw

Our focus – Hebrews 12:¹ Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

² Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God

Our challenge – Dearly Beloved,

Run with your eyes on Jesus alone!

Run in faith that Jesus loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love; has uniquely designed and created only one you; has a good plan for your life; runs with you; and will        accomplish His purposes for you and through you!

Run in His strength alone!

Run being yoked to Emmanuel!

Run with your eyes on the prize!

Run with your focus on His mission: to conform you to the image of Jesus Christ!

Run with the desire to finish strong!

Run with the desire to finish with your lamp burning!

Run to obtain an incorruptible crown!

Run with the expectation of being in His physical presence when together you cross your finish line!

Run to His glory alone!

Run and keep on running!

Coach Patti