John 17:1-26
Introduction
When we want to learn how to pray, it is natural for us to look to Jesus. But this has both good and challenging elements. The good thing is that we are followers of Jesus. We want to do what Jesus did. The Lord’s Prayer was taught because the disciples saw Jesus praying and knew he was the one to teach them. Jesus was the greatest teacher of all time. We should look to him as our model of prayer. On the other hand, Jesus is God incarnate, he is the second person of the Trinity. How do we imitate that? How can we apply communication between two persons within the Godhead with our feeble attempts to call out to God? The prayer we are going to look at acknowledges Jesus’ pre-incarnate relationship with the Father. But at the same time, it is remarkably applicable to us. The Gospel of John is particularly interested in Jesus’ prayer life. While the others Gospels frequently tells us Jesus prayed, rarely do they give us the content of those prayers. John does give us some of this information. Some people have called this the real Lord’s Prayer, the more familiar Lord’s Prayer being more of a disciples‘ prayer. Others have called it Jesus‘ High Priestly Prayer. The title is not important. What is important is that Jesus teaches us here how to pray by his example. Whatever the differences between Jesus and ourselves, the principles are still applicable.
Timely
Jesus starts his prayer with “Father, the time has come.” The time has come for certain things to happen in Jesus‘ ministry as Jesus looks to the cross. But the time has also come to pray this prayer. Prayer is timely. What I mean by that is that prayer is not divorced from what is happening in our lives. Events take place that drive us to prayer, and even more so to specific kinds of prayer. This is a great prayer by Jesus. But it is not the kind of prayer that he would have prayed at his baptism or at the wedding at Cana. This prayer is closely tied with what was about to take place. This is the prayer that he prayed not long before being arrested. Prayer is timely. I have learned to rely on prayer but my prayers are different depending on the circumstances. The prayer I prayed the night we lost our first child in miscarriage is very different from the prayer I prayed the afternoon that Logan was born. The prayer I prayed the first time I preached a sermon was different than the prayer I prayed when I found out our children had autism. It is appropriate to pray, “Father, the time has come.” Then ask: what time has come? What are the pressing circumstances that require a specific kind of prayer. Do not just pray in generalities, pray according to the times.
The Plan
Jesus has some very specific things that he prays about. In fact, the content of this prayer is very different from the other prayers that we have looked at. Jesus speaks of the glory that he shared with the Father before the world began. He speaks of the way to receive eternal life. He speaks of the teachings that he has given and he speaks of returning to the Father. What is this all about? Jesus is checking in with the Father with regard to the plan. Yes prayer is adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. But it is also about checking with the plan. Jesus was doing some amazing things. But if those things did not fit with the Father’s plan, it would all be useless. As Jesus prays, he brings these things to the Father and makes sure that they align with the Father’s plan. This is vital as it gives Jesus the confidence to go through the most difficult part, that is the cross. Now, it is unlikely that you have been chosen to atone for the world’s sins. But that does not mean that there is no plan for you. You have not been dropped on this planet simply to survive as many days as you can. God has a plan for you. Psalm 139 says “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalms 139:13 NIV) You were created in specific way and that is because you are God’s handiwork. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV) That might seem intimidating. After all, I do not even know exactly what God wants for my life. That is why we pray. We follow God’s leading, discover the things that he has for us, and we pray through the whole thing. It is like continually checking the instructions as you are assembling something complex. I get very frustrated when I am working on something, confident in my own intelligence and then discover that if I had been checking the instructions, I would have noticed the mistake I made five steps back. Prayer is our way of checking the instructions and making sure we are aligning ourselves with God’s plan.
Others
We need to pray for ourselves. Jesus prayed for himself. We saw that in the Lord’s Prayer and we will see that in the prayer in Gethsemane. But in this prayer, we see a different focus. Jesus is praying for other people. This is why this prayer is sometimes called the High Priestly Prayer, because he is interceding for the people. Jesus prays for his disciples. He knows that they are about to enter a radically different stage of ministry. Until now, they have been able to watch Jesus do the work with occasional opportunities to join in. Now Jesus is returning to the Father and everything will be left on them. Even before that time, just the experience of seeing Jesus crucified will rock them to the core. Jesus knows that he will actually be glorified in the crucifixion, but he knows the disciples do not understand. He prays for protection for them as they will face a world hostile to their message. Then Jesus goes on to pray for future generations who will receive their message. That includes you and me. His primary prayer for us is that of unity. Jesus‘ desire is that we would experience unity, that we would be one as the Father and Son are one. Jesus prays that the world would see God’s love for us. It is amazing to think of Jesus praying specifically for us. Who do we pray for? We pray for our own needs and likely for our very close friends and family. But we need to pray for more than that. We need to pray for those that we currently partner with in ministry. That would be our local church, missionaries that we support, para-church ministries that we invest in. But we should also pray for future generations. Pray for the Christians who will be doing ministry twenty-five, fifty or more years down the road. The time we have to work for the kingdom is relatively short, we need to do our best now but pray that future generations will build on and improve what we have done.
Action
Jesus concludes with these words: “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” (John 17:26 NIV) Jesus concludes with what his intentions are immediately after the prayer is finished. Prayer should lead to action. We pray, not just so that God can do all the work but so that we will have strength and wisdom to do the work we have been called to do. For Jesus that will be going to the cross to pay for our sins. What action emerges from our prayer? If our prayer includes checking in with God’s plan and praying for other people, then it probably will not take too much work to figure out what you need to do. Consider prayer, not as a substitute for action, but as preparation for action.
Conclusion
Jesus prays. Yes, he prays as the only begotten Son of God, but he still prays. His prayer here, as much as it contains content foreign to our experience, is still an important model for our prayers. Like Jesus, our prayers are timely, they fit with what is happening in our life. Like Jesus, we need to check in with the Father regarding his plan for our life. Like Jesus, we need to pray for others, those we know and those of future generations. Like Jesus, our prayers should lead to action. The question is: how do we pray? The answer is: like Jesus.
