John 17

Prayer is as essential to our spiritual lives as breathing is to our physical lives.  Jesus, the Son of God, felt the need to spend time with the Heavenly Father in prayer.  If Jesus Christ felt the need for prayer in His life here on earth, we certainly need prayer in our lives.  In John chapter seventeen Jesus was about to suffer the horrors of hell on the cross, and so Jesus prayed.

In verses one through five Jesus prayed for Himself.  Jesus recognized that the time for His crucifixion had come.  Jesus asked the Father to glorify the Son of God through this process. Jesus said in John 17:1, "Father, the time has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You." Jesus' humiliating death on the cross would bring glory to Himself.  This was because Christ's death on the cross was the Father's will and would bring glory to the Father. Because God the Father and God the Son are one, it would also bring glory to God the Son.

Furthermore, it would bring about the glorious redemption of God's chosen people.  Jesus recognized that the glorious redemption of His people could only come about by His atoning sacrifice.  We too can be fully confident in the sufficiency of Christ's atonement for our sins, because we were given to Jesus Christ by the Father.  Further we can be confident in our salvation, because Jesus completed the work on the cross that God gave Him to do.

Jesus also prayed for His disciples.  Jesus said that they were given to Him by the Father. Jesus' disciples had shown that they belonged to the Lord by their obedience and acceptance of God's Word. They had shown that they belonged to the Lord by their acceptance of Jesus as the Son of God.  They had shown they belonged to the Lord, because glory had come to the Lord through them.  So our lives as disciples today must show these same fruit of being disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Our passion and desire should be to bring glory to His name by our lives. Jesus went on in His prayer to ask the Father to protect His disciples, because they were still in the world.  He also prayed that they would be united in Him.  The Lord of the universe continues to protect His disciples today!  He also desires our unity as believers.

Jesus further went on to pray for the disciples' joy.  This is a joy which we can also have. It is a joy that we can experience in the Lord and is not based on outward circumstances.  It is a joy which comes from abiding in Christ Jesus and in His promises in His Word.  Finally, Jesus prayed for the sanctification of His disciples.  He prayed that His disciples would grow in their faith.  He prayed that through the truth of God's Word they would grow in practical holiness and righteousness in their lives.  That is His desire for us today as well.

Jesus Christ's prayer was not just for the disciples of that day.  It was for us as well, His disciples today! Jesus said in John 17:20, "My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message."  It is also His desire for us His disciples today that we become more like Him.  It is His desire that our lives more and more reflect His holiness. Jesus further prayed that we may be one in unity as believers in Him.  This is so the world will take note our lives and believe in Jesus Christ .  Christ's prayer was that He will live in us, as He lives in the Father. Jesus Christ's prayer was that we would be with Him eternally to be able to see Him in all His glory. Jesus Christ's prayer was that He and His love will be in us.  Are we living our lives according to Christ's desires and prayers for us?  Is living for the Lord our consuming passion?  May we be increasingly reflecting Him in our lives!