DAY 4

#LightTheWorld Day 4 – Jesus Worshiped His Father

Today’s “Light the World” has led our family to focus on prayer and worship.

Perhaps the greatest illustration of the love that our Savior has for us can be seen in what is known as the “great intercessory prayer.” Offered just prior to the atonement, in this prayer the Savior interceded on our behalf, praying to His Father on behalf of the living and those who would yet live. He prayed that those who believed in Him would be protected, have joy, be sanctified, be filled with the Father’s love, and truly know His Father and have eternal life. He prayed that His followers might be “one” with the Father, the Son, and one another.

John 17

1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

 2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

 4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

 6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

 7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

 8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

 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.

 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of theworld, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 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.

 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

 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 madeperfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

 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.

 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.

Jesus offered a similar prayer when He visited the Americas after His resurrection.

3 Nephi 19:20-29

20 Father, I thank thee that thou hast given the Holy Ghost unto these whom I have chosen; and it is because of their belief in me that I have chosen them out of the world.

 21 Father, I pray thee that thou wilt give the Holy Ghost unto all them that shall believe in their words.

 22 Father, thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because they believe in me; and thou seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and they pray unto me because I am with them.

 23 And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one.

 24 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus prayed unto the Father, he came unto his disciples, and behold, they did still continue, without ceasing, to pray unto him; and they did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire.

 25 And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof.

 26 And Jesus said unto them: Pray on; nevertheless they did not cease to pray.

 27 And he turned from them again, and went a little way off and bowed himself to the earth; and he prayed again unto the Father, saying:

 28 Father, I thank thee that thou hast purified those whom I have chosen, because of their faith, and I pray for them, and also for them who shall believe on their words, that they may be purified in me, through faith on their words, even as they are purified in me.

 29 Father, I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me out of the world, because of their faith, that they may be purified in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one, that I may be glorified in them.

• Upon conclusion of my mission in Lisbon, Portugal, I immediately felt a sense of homesickness for my Father in Heaven. As a missionary, you are in constant contact with God. I must’ve prayed hundreds of times each day, and when my prayer habits returned to just praying in the morning and night and whenever I ate, I missed that connection I felt with Him. Today, I have focused on offering sincere, heartfelt prayers to my Father.
• Summer is also focusing on having more personal and meaningful prayers everyday. She also took notes during the First Presidency Christmas Devotional that we are going to use for our Family Home Evening lesson tomorrow night.
• Avery loves saying prayers. It doesn’t matter if it’s praying before we eat or our family prayers at night, she always begs to say the prayer. Today, she offered her prayers without any help from Summer and me. Avery has such a special spirit. When she first started putting sentences together, I remember her telling us that when she gets scared of monsters at night, she would, “pray to Heavenly Father and say ‘Jesus come help me, save me.'” Needless to say, there is much we have to learn about prayer from my beautiful toddler.
• As a family we took a trip up the hill to visit the under-construction Cedar City Temple, or as Avery calls it, “the building temple.” We are so excited to live so close to a temple again!