Jesus’s hour has come and this is his high priestly prayer, in which he prays for himself, for his disciples, and for future believers. Our desire at GC is to be discipled not by the latest and greatest voice or book in prayer, but by Jesus himself, as we know that his earthly ministry was prayer and his time in heaven is spent in prayer. Allow Jesus to disciple you based on how he prayed. Mimic him. Read through this text and pray through it.
JOHN 17
Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. 3 This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent —Jesus Christ. 4 I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6 “I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from the world. They were yours, you gave them to me,and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, 8 because I have given them the words you gave me. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.9 “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they are yours.10 Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.12 While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled. 13 Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them. 14 I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.15 I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. 21 May they all be one,as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.22 I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. 25 Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me. 26 I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them.”Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. 3 This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent —Jesus Christ. 4 I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6 “I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from the world. They were yours, you gave them to me,and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, 8 because I have given them the words you gave me. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.9 “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they are yours.10 Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.12 While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled. 13 Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them. 14 I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.15 I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. 21 May they all be one,as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.22 I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. 25 Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me. 26 I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them.”
HEAR:
In the previous chapters, John 13-16, Jesus says he is getting ready to go out. His hour has come, and yet he doesn’t mention Pilate, the Pharisees and Sadducee’s, the people who are trying to kill him, not even the persecution. This is the hour, he is going away, and he is lifting his eyes to the Father. That is what we are going to do - lift our eyes.
Listen to the Holy Spirit and pray. Specifically think about:
Where is your gaze? In the hour of Jesus’s glorification, beginning with his death, Jesus lifts his eyes up to the Father in Heaven (v.1)
What does the way you live reveal to others? Notice how Jesus came to reveal the name of the Father (v.6).
What are you being formed and discipled by? Allow Jesus himself to disciple you in prayer.
RESPOND:
Jesus’s prayer illustrates the story of a God who gives good gifts – one who withholds no good thing. His prayer, from start to finish, shows that the Father gifts his son, to his disciples and to the church, so that they may have eternal life and the words of life.
Respond to God in prayer:
Pray that the person of Jesus would be glorified in Boston and that his name would be manifested in us (vv.1-6, 29).
Ask God for his grace to understand the hour that we are in so that we can steward the work he has for us (vv.1,4).
Intercede on behalf of unbelievers, asking God to show himself as the one true God and the one he has sent – Jesus Christ (vv.2-3).
Pray that the city of Boston may be sanctified by the truth of God (vv.16-19).
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