FOCUS Day Thirty-Five | John 17:9-26
DAY THIRTY-FIVE | John 17:9-26
“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
Ridiculous Prayers
When did you learn how to pray? If you are like me, it probably was not all at once. But there are certain moments and seasons where we become aware that God is teaching us how to go deeper in prayer.
For me, there have been seasons of learning how to pray with a few friends. There have also been invaluable lessons alone with God in the secret place. Each time He decides to lead me into the school of prayer, it is different, and what He is teaching me is distinct.
When I was in my early twenties, I remember I had the sense that God was calling me to grow up and go deeper with Him. I was blessed to have four friends that were in a similar place, so we would meet every Friday night at ten o’clock to pray. At the time, giving up our Friday nights felt like a radical sacrifice.
We would meet up and spend time hearing about each other’s week. We would often confess sin to each other and pray for one another. There was a hunger in our hearts for personal revival. As time went on, we began to pray for friends that didn’t know Jesus. It wasn’t long before we were seeing God show up and answer our prayers.
Anticipation began to grow, waiting to see what would happen next. Each week, it seemed like we couldn’t wait to get to Friday nights. When something happens to remind me of those special times together, I realize that God used them to mark something in my life. Those moments in prayer became a part of my spiritual DNA.
Other seasons of learning prayer have been really different. I remember one season, when I felt so alone while studying abroad during college. I would walk miles and miles each day, feeling sad and misunderstood by the missionaries that I was staying with. But in the midst of that difficult season, I really learned to talk to God. It was during those long walks across the Welsh countryside that I began to recognize the voice of God. As hard as that season was, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I remember the times that my dad would take me to the men’s prayer meetings at our church on Saturday mornings. I learned to weep for people that didn’t know Jesus by watching my dad, our pastor and other men weep as they prayed. I also remember how surprised I was that Adriane taught me how to lose my religious language and get real with God during the first six months of our marriage.
There have been so many different seasons, so much learning – but still, I have more to learn. That is one of the reasons that I love this passage from John 17. It is one of the longest prayers recorded in the New Testament, and it comes directly from Jesus.
In these final moments before Jesus leads His disciples into the garden to pray, we find Him communing in prayer with the Father. We shouldn’t be surprised. Spending time with the Father was a part of His DNA – a central part of His pattern of life.
The other gospels give us more details about what Jesus prayed in the garden, as He cried out to the Father for the cup of death to pass from Him, but John focuses more on the prayers from before He gets to the garden. There is so much we can learn from this passage that can help us in our own prayer relationship with the Father today.
The first thing that stands out to me is the posture of the prayers of Jesus. Over and over again, Jesus relates to God as Father. This was not just a title, this was the essence of the way that the Son related to God. Jesus models the confident humility that only comes from understanding that our identities are defined by His identity. When we truly are able to see Him in His greatness, an understanding of being His child and belonging to Him changes everything.
Jesus prayed some pretty big prayers that night, but not from a place of presumption or pride. He knew that His Father loved Him perfectly, so He was confident to ask Him for the things that were in His heart, even if some of those things sound hard to believe.
Jesus said that the glory that the Father had given to Him, would be given to us.
He prayed that the world would know that the Father sent Him, AND that the Father loved us the same way that He loved Jesus.
He prayed that we would walk in the same level of unity with each other that He shared with the Father.
These are big, ridiculous sounding prayers. In fact, I have often thought that if it had been anyone other than Jesus who said these things, they would all sound like heresy. But He did say these things. He did pray these prayers.
He is the best teacher in the school of prayer. He invites us to follow Him into the place of regularly communing with the Father, knowing His heart, and praying prayers that seem too good to be true.
I pray that you would be able to fix your eyes on Jesus and follow Him into the school of prayer. I pray for fresh times and seasons of deep communion in prayer with the Father. And finally, I pray that your heart would be grounded in truth, and liberated to pray bold, fervent prayers that overflow from your humble, confident heart as one of God’s favorite children.
