His Heart, My Home

Glory to God! We’ve just entered a shiny, brand New Year! Hopefully, now, we’re all revived, refreshed, and renewed… with God’s passionate fire rekindled and blazing intensely in the fireplace of our hearts.

Late last year Holy Spirit began to lead me to study the prayers of Jesus. As I studied, I wrote a series entitled “Let’s Pray Like Jesus Prayed” You can find the first three teachings in this series, archived, as follows:

Part 1 (11/3/25) – We take a fresh look at the prayer usually referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer”, although it was probably never actually prayed by Jesus Himself.

Part 2 (12/1/25) – We see how we, as Jesus’ disciples, can build on the framework of “The Lord’s Prayer” to help us in praying passionately and productively.

Part 3 (12/8/25) – We examine the first five verses of the powerful prayer Jesus prayed in the upper room with His disciples, just hours before His crucifixion and death.

Let’s begin this teaching by revisiting Jesus’ prayer in John 17, This prayer is often called His “High Priestly Prayer”. Its context is unlike anything else in scripture. It is incredibly intense,

Jesus knew that His suffering, crucifixion, and death were imminent. But His prayer looked beyond the cross, beyond the grave, and even beyond the resurrection, to His ascension to heaven.

Jesus was leaving. He had promised that Holy Spirit was coming to take His place, but the promised Helper’s arrival was not to be until after Jesus’ ascension back to heaven, an event that was still several weeks away.

So Jesus’ prayer that evening reveals His innermost thoughts, and the uppermost priorities of His heart, just hours before His sacrifice.

In this powerful prayer, Jesus prays for:

● The Father’s glory

● The disciples who had journeyed with Him during His earthly ministry, and

● All of us, who now believe on Him.

Let’s lean in to listen to Jesus’ heart as He prays:

¹ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you, ² as you have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as you have given Him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. ⁵ And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. ⁶ I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your Word.  (John 17:1-6)

Carefully notice verse 6:

Jesus said: “I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world…”

What did Jesus mean when He said He
had manifested the Father’s name? To fully understand the meaning of the word manifest, we will need to compare it to a word found in another scripture which describes Jesus’ earthly mission. That word we want for comparison is declare.

John 1:18 says, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.“

The word translated as “declare” means, “to explain; to unfold by teaching; to preach; to proclaim; to declare”.

But the word translated as “manifest” means “to shine; to reveal by illumination; to openly display something that had been previously hidden or unknown”.

The Apostle Peter said that Jesus “was a man on a divine mission whose authority was clearly proven. For you know how God performed many powerful miracles, signs, and wonders through Him.” (Acts 2:22, The Passion Translation)

Jesus “declared” the Father’s name (His ways, His personality, His character, and His nature). But He also “manifested” the Father’s glorious name.

Though they are both necessary, there is a huge difference between declaring and manifesting!

Let me use this example from American history. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to declare independence from Great Britain. But the “Declaration of Independence” by itself, didn’t give the colonists their independence.

It was their willingness and determination to manifest their desire for freedom through their actions…  to fight, to sacrifice, and to suffer through a long and brutal war, that ultimately won the victory, and produced the free nation for which they longed.

Today, Jesus is being “declared” from every possible media platform around the world: from pulpits and podcasts, through books and blogs, television and TikTok, seminars and satellite streaming. And we thank God for the declaration of His character and His covenant.

But there is a critical shortage of believers who passionately follow the example of the first Christians. The Bible says they “went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.” (Mark 16:20)

It’s going to take more than just a declaration of the truth to launch the gospel into the uttermost parts of the earth.

It’s going to take the glorious manifested power of the Living God. It will require His unmistakable, unassailable, indisputable, irrefutable, undeniable incontestable, power to penetrate nations that have been satanic strongholds for centuries, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan to God. (see Acts 26:18)

I’ll close this post with Acts 1:8 as it was paraphrased by the great evangelist, T.L. Osborn:

“You shall receive virtue, miracle ability, supernatural energy, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, for a specific purpose: to enable you to give absolute evidence, and miraculous proof of my resurrection.”

“It is this power  working in you, that will actually demonstrate and exhibit the proof of your testimony, so as to verify your claims as with documented credentials.”

“And you are to exhibit this supernatural evidence of my resurrection in your own cities and country, and unto the inner and hidden parts of the world – yes, even to the remote and last frontier of civilization.”

Let’s go forth, declaring God’s Word to our neighbors and the nations, knowing that the Holy Spirit will confirm our declarations with mighty demonstrations of God’s power.

Then we can declare the same words that Jesus prayed, “Father, we have manifested your name…”

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New Year… Same Need… Plant Your Seed!

Once again, Grace and I would like to ask all of you to please pray and give generously to
Student Life Organization, Inc to help them reach the precious people of the Philippines with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

SLOI provides educational opportunities to the many physically disabled and financially disadvantaged children of Cebu City, both declaring and demonstrating God’s to them and their families.

Would you please give today? If so, please use this link: paypal.me/anaferuiz

Thank you! We pray that you will experience God’s richest blessings throughout the new year, as you give generously in Jesus’ name!