Prayer is an awesome gift and experience. It is a gift and an experience that fills us with awe. We are so blessed as believers in Jesus Christ to have the opportunity to enter into God’s presence and seek him in prayer at any moment of the day or night. That being said, we all know that prayer is hard. It is hard to know what to pray, and it is hard to keep engaged in prayer. We need God’s help. He has given us two gifts to help us: the Holy Spirit and the word of God, especially the prayers found in the Bible. This is the first article of many on the prayers found in the Bible.
The Bible often calls us to prayer by commanding us to pray and by encouraging us to pray. There is another way the Bible calls us to pray, and that is by the many actual prayers we find in the Bible. It is amazing how many prayers we have in Scripture. We often see the greatest prayer warriors of old pouring out their hearts to God in prayer. These prayers not only show us the needs these saints had in their lives that we too often have, but they show us what to pray for and how to pray. Think about that for a second. These are two dimensions of prayer we all desperately need: what to pray for and how to pray. In these ways, the prayers of the Bible are a rich treasure trove of heart enflaming biblical truth.
We will begin our journey into the rich reservoir of biblical prayers with the prayer of Jesus in John 17. This prayer is often called the high priestly prayer of Jesus. We can locate this prayer as part of the story of the holy week. Holy Week is the final week in the life of Jesus. It is also part of the significant events that happened on the last night of Jesus’ life. He was crucified the next day. In John chapters thirteen through seventeen, we find Jesus in an upper room celebrating the Passover meal with his disciples. Especially in chapters fourteen through sixteen, we see Jesus revealing to his disciples what was about to happen that night and the next day. Then, in chapter seventeen, Jesus pours out his heart to the Father in prayer. In reading this prayer, we notice three parts: first, Jesus prays for himself (John 17:1-5); second, Jesus prays for his disciples (John 17:6-19); and lastly, Jesus prays for all future believers (John 17:20-26).
Jesus’ Prayer for Himself
The prayer begins with Jesus praying for himself. This is significant because we perhaps think that beginning our prayers by praying for ourselves is selfish. It may be, but not necessarily. Jesus began his prayer seeking the Father in a moment of intense spiritual struggle, as he would later that night engage in a prayer of intense spiritual struggle in the garden of Gethsemane. Knowing that the moment (hour) had come for the central purpose of his mission, namely the cross, Jesus prayed that the Father would glorify him so that he would glorify the Father. “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (John 17:1). Then, Jesus reveals why he wants and needs the Father to glorify him. It is not only for the glory of the Father (the most important reason) but also for the deepest need of his people, “since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him” ( John 17:2). Next, Jesus gives the greatest explanation of what eternal life actually is in the Bible. “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Eternal life is not what you get in heaven when you die, but it is something you begin in this life when you are saved. Eternal is an eternal relationship one has with the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
The last two verses of Jesus’ prayer for himself are very rich and powerful. “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had you before the world existed” (John 17:4-5). Jesus accomplished the work of redemption, and so glorified the Father. Mission accomplished! The work of redemption covers everything from his birth to his resurrection. Yet Jesus is praying this the night before his crucifixion. He views the work as completed., but he has the hardest part yet to finish. That is why Jesus prays in the second sentence for the Father to glorify him in his (the Father’s) presence. He’s asking the Father to finish the work and bring him home. But the last part of this sentence is the most amazing. He wants to experience the glory he had with the Father before creation. The glory Jesus had with the Father before creation was as the divine Son of God, but now as the God-man. Jesus will eternally be with the Father as the God-man. He longs and prays for that reality.
This first part of the prayer, Jesus’ prayer for himself, tells us much about the Father, Jesus, and the relationship of the Father and Jesus. This part of the prayer also provides us with abundant insight into our relationship with the Father and with Jesus. Because of the Father’s plan of salvation and Jesus accomplishing the plan, we have an eternal relationship with Jesus and the Father through Jesus. Our prayer from these verses is that of praise and glory for God’s steadfast love to us in salvation.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
After praying for himself Jesus turns his attention to praying for his disciples (John 17:6-19). The first part of Jesus’ prayer for his disciples (John 17:6-10) describes who the disciples are. He reveals and dissects the relationship he has with those who have come to him. He made known the Father’s name to them by his ministry of teaching, healing and casting out demons. They are a gift from the Father to Jesus. They belonged to the Father, and the Father gave them to Jesus, these average, ordinary, everyday people. But also, Jesus and the salvation he brings is a gift from the Father to them. This gift shows the love of the Father for the Son and also the love of the Father and the Son for those who put their faith in Jesus.
Jesus’ disciples have received and obeyed the word Jesus brought from the Father. They have faith that Jesus came from God, that he is the Christ, the Son of God. Their faith is often weak and shallow, but they do have real faith in Jesus. In this way, we see a reflection of ourselves in the mirror of Jesus’ prayer. These followers of Jesus have glorified Jesus but will bring much more glory to him after he returns to the Father and the Spirit comes. There is an intimacy and closeness Jesus feels for his disciples. He cares for them and has sacrificed everything for them.
In the second part of Jesus’ prayer for his disciples (John 17:11-16), Jesus begins actually to pray for them, and he prays for their protection. Jesus knows that he is leaving soon to return to heaven, so he prays for his disciples’ unity as a means of their protection. Disunity would be their downfall. The name of the Father will be their unity, which is the person and power that Jesus revealed to them. As the Father and Jesus are one, so must the disciples be one in love and purpose, and holiness and truth.
Jesus also prays that the Father will protect them from the evil one, Satan. The joy of Jesus that is in his disciples will protect them. The evil one wants to discourage them with suffering, but they know what Jesus has taught them, and the Spirit will continue to reveal to them. They are in the world but not of the world. They are in a place of suffering, but Jesu has overcome the world. The Father loves them and will protect them.
The third and final thing Jesus prays for his disciples is for their sanctification (John 17:17-19). Sanctification means to make holy, which means to set apart for God and his purposes. Sanctification is both a moment in time when a person is saved and a lifetime process of being made holy. Jesus prays that the Father would make his disciples holy, that is set them apart to him for his purposes. How does Jesus want the Father to sanctify his disciples? The means of sanctification Jesus calls for is the truth, which is the word of God. “Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth” (John 17:17). The word of God, the truth, makes believers holy so that they are in tune with the purposes of God and are equipped to live according to the purposes of God. We cannot overstate the necessity of the word of God for disciples to live the way Jesus calls us to live.
While the means of sanctification is truth, the purpose of sanctification is mission. “As you sent me into the world, so have I sent them into the world” (John 17:18); Jesus prays to the Father. The Father sanctifies his people so that they can be on a mission, just as Jesus was on a mission with the Father. Jesus was sent on a mission into the world by the Father. Jesus’ disciples are sent on a mission into the world by Jesus.
The sanctification of Jesus’ disciples depends on Jesus sanctifying himself, “And for their sake I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth” (John 17:19). How does Jesus sanctify himself? Jesus sets himself apart and dedicates himself to the work of salvation for the sake of his disciples. The possibility of sanctification for any believer is only a reality because of the cross of Jesus. Sanctification is a work of grace.
Jesus’ Prayer for all Believers
The third part of Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is for all believers throughout the history of the Church (John 17:20-26). This prayer is for all those who would believe in Jesus through the message of his first disciples. These disciples were faithful in their generation to the call of Jesus to make disciples of all nations. Each succeeding generation must be faithful in their time to the message of the gospel. The heart of this prayer is that all the disciples of Jesus may be one. They are in Jesus, and Jesus is in them.
In what way is Jesus in his disciples and they in him? There are two sides to the oneness Jesus shares with his disciples of all ages. First of all, there is a unity of purpose and love. Just as all believers have a unity of purpose and love with Jesus and the Father, they have such a unity with one another. The believers’ purpose is God’s purpose, and the believers’ love is the love of God. The purpose of God is the plan of salvation, and the love of God is the love of the truth. Also, believers share a unity of purpose and love with all believers and must strive to maintain that unity at all costs except the cost of truth. It is the truth of the gospel and the word of God that makes their unity possible.
The second way Jesus is in his disciples and they in him is a spiritual union between Jesus and his bride, the Church. We often find the phrase in the writings of Paul, “in Christ” or “in him” or something similar. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3). Paul also speaks of Christ being in believers, “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:L27). “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me . . .” Galatians 2:20).
What is the nature of this union? We find metaphors in the New Testament of this union with Christ, like the vine and the branches (John 15), the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12), and the husband and the wife (Ephesians 5). But the union with Jesus can best be described in three ways. First, the union is judicial. At the judgment, God will not condemn believers for their sins because they are in Christ, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Second, the union is spiritual. It is spiritual first of all because it happens by the Holy Spirit, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). And it is spiritual because it is the union of spirits. This is not a union of persons as in the Trinity or a union of natures as in Christ, but a union of spirits that does not destroy their separate identities. We are all baptized into one body, the body of Christ, which is a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 12:13). And finally, it is a vital union. What is meant by a vital union is a life-giving union. The life of Jesus flows to believers, “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Being in union with Jesus, we have fellowship with him and share in the love he has with the Father. This is Jesus’ prayer for all believers.
Conclusion
The prayer of Jesus the night before he was crucified is a prayer filled with deep and powerful truth. It displays the relationship between Jesus and the Father, as well as the relationship between Jesus and the believer. It gives insight into who we are and how we must live in this world. But the beautiful thing about the prayer is its capacity to draw out prayer from our hearts. As one reads and meditates on the prayer, one is drawn to praise and wonder as well as confession and intercession. Jesus attracts us to his heart for the glory of the Father and the blessings of the saints. It humbles us before the throne of grace. The greatest thing about this amazing prayer of Jesus is that it is, at the same time, the word of God to be obeyed and a master class on the life of prayer. I encourage you to spend time in this prayer. Let it sink deep into your heart and transform your life.