John 17 - Jesus Prays to Father and for the Disciples and for Us!

Click Here to Listen to Or Read John 17

Jesus Prays to Be Glorified

On the earth as is in his upcoming death on the cross, Jesus' singular goal was to glorify his Father in heaven. What a great goal in life to glorify our heavenly Father. Jesus glorified His Father by being obedient unto death on the cross. Jesus glorified the Father by giving people eternal life. Then, he describes eternal life as knowing the Father. This is not just an intellectual knowledge, but an experiential knowledge that finds its completion when we are face to face with the Father and the Son in heaven.  

As we continue to grow as Jesus' disciples, we can learn a lot by learning from the way he prayed to the Father. 

Most of us know what it is to hear a true man or woman of God deep in prayer; there is something holy and awesome about it. Far beyond all that was this prayer Jesus prayed unto His God and Father, which is the only long, continuous prayer of Jesus recorded in the Gospels. The sentences are simple, but the ideas are deep, moving, and meaningful. - Guzik

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

After Jesus prayed to the Father, he prayed for his disciples. Again we can learn from Jesus' model of praying to the Father and then praying for those he loved. Jesus revealed the Father to those God gave to him. We don't come to God unless Jesus reveals God to us through the Holy Spirit. Though we choose God in some sense, He chose us first. Jesus knew that they knew the Father, because they believed He had come from the Father and was going to back to Him. The same is true today. When we believe that Jesus is from God and is God's Son, we come to faith. 

Before Jesus left, his prayer for them was that by hearing his words now, they would remember them when he returned to the Father after His resurrection. The result would be that his joy would be in them, and their joy would be complete. You might say Jesus came to give us "complete joy". Again this is a different kind of joy than the world gives, which might be better described as happiness. Happiness can be fleeting and is often based on circumstances. Whereas Jesus' joy is with us no matter what happens to us. We often learn during difficult trials, "The joy of the Lord is our strength".  Nehemiah 8:10

If Jesus was so concerned for joy among His disciples that He prayed for it, we can know that He is also concerned that we have joy. God’s purpose is to multiply joy in our lives, not to subtract it. The world, the flesh, and the devil would tell us something different, but God wants joy fulfilled in our lives. -Guzik

Jesus Prays for All Believers 

Jesus continues modeling prayer by now praying for us. Imagine that Jesus prayed for us 2,000 years ago. Jesus prayed for those the disciples would reach after his death and resurrection. Specifically, they would believe in him through their message. The same is true today. People come to faith as we preach the gospel. What is that gospel?

It is the gospel that Jesus came from heaven to earth to show us the way back to the Father. Jesus made this way possible by dying for us on the cross so that our sins might be forgiven. Jesus taught us everything we need to know, because everything he taught came straight from the Father. Just as when Jesus died he went back to be with His Father, so too when we believe in Jesus, we will be with the Father some day. Jesus said,

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me with live even though they die!" Then he adds "Do you believe this?" And he asks us the same question today, "Do you believe this?" This has been the message of the church for 2,000 years. As we preach this message in the power of the Holy Spirit, people will continue to have the Holy Spirit convict them of their sin and come to the Father by His grace through Jesus Christ! 

So we see Jesus' model for prayer. He prayed:

1. To glorify his Father in heaven. 

2. For his disciples here on earth that they would believe in everything he said and follow Him.

3. For future believers, who would come to know the Father through the Son. All this is done through the power of the Holy Spirit who makes God known to us

Praise God for Jesus, who has given us so many good things! 


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