Today we finish our series on Profound Prayers; and, as I like to do, I’ll give you a quick review of the prayers we’ve covered over the past few weeks.

As you remember these sermons from the past few weeks, you may notice that this series was not about giving you a pattern to follow. The Bible doesn’t give us a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all pattern for every prayer. Yes, the Lord’s Prayer is a model but we still don’t pray it in a rote way. Instead, maybe you noticed that these prayers are all over the place. Some are long, others short. Some have structure; others have none.

What these prayers have in common is that they ask for God to give what only God can give: blessings, protection, unity, mercy, and salvation. They show the relational aspect of prayer – that prayer is simply conversation between humanity and the divine. No special formulas are needed.

This series wasn’t meant to be a “How-to” presentation. Instead, it was meant to show you the breadth of what God wants you to pray for. Your prayers need not be only for sick people to get better. My hope is that this series has helped to expand your prayer life as you pray for blessings on people, for unity, for mercy and forgiveness, for wisdom, and for daily provision.

Today we look at the final prayer found in the Bible: the prayer of the Apostle John in the second-to-last verse in the entire Bible. If you’d like to open your Bibles to the Book of Revelation, you can follow along as we step through that book to investigate what led John to pray this prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus.”

The first piece of information you need  in order to understand this prayer is the predicament John was in. Here’s how he describes it:

Patmos is a small island off the coast of Greece. The Romans sent important people there in order to limit their influence. These people were too popular for the Romans to have them killed on crosses, but by sending them to Patmos and cutting them off from the rest of society, they could keep them from spreading their ideas. This is exactly what John is telling us when he says, “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”

Patmos had shipping ports and many people. It was not like a prison, and John did not live all alone. But John, whose sole purpose was to tell people about Jesus, probably felt completely useless wasting his days doing nothing on this tropical island.

Another fact that’s important to today’s prayer isn’t spelled out explicitly in the text, but we need to discuss it. Most scholars believe that John wrote the book of Revelation, with these visions God gave him, when he was between 80 and 90 years old. He was no longer a young, spry guy. His back probably hurt when he woke up each morning. His eyes weren’t what they used to be. He no longer heard the birds chirping in the morning; and he felt sad because he knew he was forgetting some of the things Jesus taught him 60 years earlier.

So this tired old man, who feels completely lost and without purpose, receives a vision from God in which his old friend Jesus speaks to him. When you look through the entire book of Revelation, you realize John saw A LOT. He did his best to record and explain what he saw, but it’s hard to grasp fully until you get to the very end of his book. Then, in the final two chapters of the Bible, he describes what God shows him about heaven.

John sees God’s eternal home He has prepared for all the saints. It’s a beautiful new city, which John describes in detail: a wall made of colorful jasper and the city made of gold so pure it’s as clear as glass. There’s no need for the sun or the moon because the glory of the Lord lights the entire city, so there is no darkness ever again. No hiding your sin in the darkness of night. As was promised, everything is exposed and laid bare in the light.

Beyond the descriptions of what John saw in the vision, he reveals what sounds the best of all to me: “no more death or mourning or crying or pain.” This life is HARD! There are conflicts, accidents, and heartaches. Most young people launch adulthood with dreams of what their lives will be like, but they never imagine the number of disappointments and challenges they will face. Even a good, blessed life, has its share of death, mourning and pain; but all that goes away in this new heaven and earth! You will never again be stuck in a situation that makes your heart hurt.

Not only is John seeing what God is up to and is going to do, but Jesus keeps making a promise about everything John is seeing. Here’s the pattern that shows up all over the book of Revelation, especially in the final chapter.

Obviously John was left with the impression that Jesus would return soon and this new heaven and new earth were not far off. After that constant refrain of “I am coming soon,” how could John believe anything else?

To review: this old man with aches and pains, who has been set aside by the Romans to diminish his impact on the growing church, has just been shown a picture of what God is preparing for all those who love him and hold onto their faith. More than that, Jesus repeatedly tells him, “I’m coming . . . I’m coming soon. This incredible place of beauty, joy, and the glory of God’s presence is so close you can taste it!”

With ALL THAT as the background, John’s prayer makes total sense:

First, John agrees with Jesus’s statement, “I am coming soon.” He says “Amen” to that. Then he prays a three-word prayer that clearly aligns with God’s will: “Come, Lord Jesus.”

John, of course, after experiencing these visions, is more than ready to leave all the pain and disappointment of this world and exchange it for the next one, where he will be with Jesus forever. The apostle Paul felt exactly the same way when he said, “To live is Christ. To die is gain.”

What this prayer is NOT is fatalism. John isn’t asking to die and to turn off his life. Depression and hopelessness sometimes lead people to feelings of wanting it all to just “go away.” Understand, John’s prayer is for something far better – for all the wrongs to be made right, for all injustices to be judged, for all the tears to be wiped away, for all the weary bodies to be exchanged for new, perfect bodies. His prayer is to be made new.

We understand John’s prayer. We can see why HE prayed it. But I’m sure some of you might be wondering if this is actually a prayer for YOU to pray.

Those of you who have lived a little longer and experienced a little more daily pain can probably find it easy to agree with John’s prayer. You might be looking forward to your mansion in heaven and your new heavenly body with a healthy head and shoulders, knees and toes.

For others of you going through difficult times in life, this message of Jesus coming soon might be the only hope to get you from day to day. For me, I have found I usually pray this prayer on my darkest days. When everything seems to be falling apart, I join with John and make the invitation: Come, Lord Jesus.

I know that for others of you, the idea of praying for this life to be over soon feels unnatural and maybe even unfulfilling. So let’s talk about this.

If you feel like you don’t agree with this prayer – if you feel like you don’t want this world to end just yet – I understand. I remember feeling exactly the same way when I was younger. I was afraid Jesus would return before I was married or before I ever had sex. I didn’t want Him to come back before I had kids, or got to climb the ladder of success at work. I had plans for my life, and I really didn’t want Jesus to interrupt them.

I  see now that I was completely wrong. When I look at my reasoning for not wanting Jesus to come soon, it shows that I didn’t understand the difference between Heaven and Earth. I thought finding a wife, raising a family, buying a cute house, and taking a vacation to Florida were all preferable to whatever boring version of heaven I had in my mind. Honestly, think about that. That’s nuts! Yes, all those things are good things (except maybe a trip to Florida right now). They are, however, just a dim reflection of the glorious life God has prepared for us all: the heavenly houses, the supernatural beauty, the pure love that flows among all God’s people.

Also, thinking you’re not ready for Jesus to return puts you in the situation of thinking you have any control over how long your life will last or what your life will be like. At any moment, a sickness or a natural disaster could wipe out all your plans. Your dreams for a perfect family could turn into a nightmare at the hands of one drunk driver. That’s the reality of our broken world.

It’s time for everyone to come to this realization: This world is not your home. I say that at every funeral I do. People find it comforting when remembering someone who has died; but in the middle of life, lots of people cling much too tightly to the things of this world.

If that’s you, you need to let go. You need to realize this world is just a dim reflection of the new earth God has in store. Your car, your house, your family, your bank accounts, your successes – all are meaningless in God’s economy. Clinging to these things is like playing in mud puddles when majestic white sand beaches are just a short walk away. Don’t hang on so tightly! You don’t actually have much control over your life anyway.

You should be able to join this prayer without any sense of missing out. Heaven truly is better than anything on this earth.

Once you are ready to hold on to life a bit more loosely and invite Jesus to usher in His new heaven and earth, then how are you to live? Does that mean giving up on your life or giving up on your family? Of course not.

We are to live lives that honor God and say NO to ungodliness and YES to doing what is good. We love God fully, and we love our families well. We plan for the future, always knowing our plans are dependent on God’s plans. Even watching the news in Israel and around the world and trying to hold it up to how the Bible describes the end times should not drastically change how you live. For 2000 years, Christians have been called to live as though Jesus is coming soon. That should always be your posture regardless of news headlines. We are to hold onto life loosely, ready to be taken to our eternal home in the twinkling of an eye.

When you really think of it, this is the prayer to end all prayers. It’s a fitting conclusion to this whole series because when Jesus returns, we will no longer need to pray. We will live in a world without sickness or dementia or cancer, a world without hurricanes, earthquakes, war, or Christian persecution. A world free of worry, anxiety, depression, and sorrow.

No one will need to pray for physical healing or financial hardships. There will be no need to pray for peace or protection. It will be too late to pray for salvation of others. We won’t even need to pray for God’s mercy, as we finally will have our sinful natures dealt with once and for all.

When Jesus comes, all prayers will cease. When Jesus comes, perfection reigns.

I can’t wait for Jesus to return. I can’t wait to be done with this broken, imperfect, exhausting and stressful world. This doesn’t mean I’m going to just give up! As long as I have breath, I have purpose on this earth. So do you.

So live your life in a way that honors God in all you do. Love God and love others. Always be ready and willing to let go of even the best things on this earth because in comparison to what God has prepared for you on the other side, even this world’s best can’t come close.

Be watchful. Wait with one eye toward heaven. Jesus is coming soon!