John 17:6-10 English Standard Version

6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

In the beginning of this series on prayer I said that it was a blessing to pray for others. Here in the continuing prayers of our High Priest in John chapter 17 we find that our Lord and Savior has prayed over us specifically. Verse 9 states it plainly, not a prayer for the lost but a prayer for those of us who belong to Christ.

If we take nothing else away from this blessed prayer, let it be this. Jesus is glorified in us.

One of the most important blessings of prayer is to be reminded of who we are and what it means to be His. So much of what happens in the world wants to tear us down, demean us, humiliate us, and hinder our calling in Christ Jesus. It is prayers like this that remind us who we are and what it means to be chosen.

I think of it like this, I am weak but He is strong. How I feel about myself does not stop Him from being glorified. I am not more powerful than God and He is the One who has overcome the world. That means He has overcome the worldly parts of me, the flesh and its weakness.

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

When He left He sent the best help. He does not leave us and it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that our Savior is glorified, overcoming our weakness.

We are not alone in this battle and the war rages on.

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

That battle has been raging for nearly 2000 years. This prayer should be a reminder that we are on the winning side.

John 17 English Standard Version

The High Priestly Prayer

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

As I said yesterday the bible has many examples of prayers and what better place to begin than that of our High Priest.

First note that He addresses the Father.

Secondly; note His directed prayer. “Glorify Me”. This prayer is directly connected to His mission. Jesus speaks to things that have already come into being, a foundation of truth is established.

His mission is restated, His focus is clear, His purpose is ever before Him in this prayer.

This prayer is given to John to record in order that all that are His might hear it throughout time from the 1st century church until today. We are included in “all whom you have given” and these words are to encourage all of us, and are stated for our benefit.

Next He defines what it means to have eternal life. If we did not know already, we know now.

Clarity is often found in prayer.

Hidden in verse 4 is a repeat of things said in other scripture. “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Verse 5 reveals a truth that was hidden from His disciples in those days. He appeared to them in His own glory and He prays that the Father’s Glory, a glory He had before He came to earth in the form of man would soon be seen as they are about to become One again in a glory man as yet had not seen.

The Son was about to become High and Lifted Up. His ascension was about to happen.

Directed prayer has a purpose that aligns itself with God’s will and does not deviate.