Tuesday, January 12

“I’m praying for you.” When I hear those words I feel a quiet peace come over my soul. I know that the person who utters those words care for me. I am touched for those are tender and kind words, akin to the words “I love you.”

What if Jesus said, “I’m praying for you”? How would that make you feel? You know he did say those words and he did (and continues) to pray for you and me. Jesus said, “I pray for them” (v. 9). Jesus uttered those words in what is commonly known as “The High Priestly Prayer.” This prayer was prayed just before Jesus was betrayed and arrested. Knowing that his death was imminent, you and I were on his mind. How’s that for love? With the world shouting that he was a failure, and death knocking on his door, he intercedes before God for you and me. How’s that for compassion? His thoughts during the final moments on earth are not on himself, but on others.

This prayer is the greatest prayer every prayed and the greatest prayer every recorded. John 17 is one of the highest mountain peaks of scripture, one of the loftiest passages in the entire Bible. The words are, indeed, sacred. They reveal the heart of Jesus in a unique way.

This is unquestionably the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer that we often refer to as the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13) would better be called The Disciple’s Prayer because it reveals the depth of human helplessness. In the prayer of Jesus in John 17, recorded by John, it reveals the height of divine sufficiency. Before Jesus faced the cross, he prayed for his disciples, then and now.

Why did Jesus pray this prayer? Obviously he was preparing himself for what lay before him and the suffering that we would endure. But he also had you and me on his mind. He was praying for us. He knew that believers are in a war. We would face opposition as we entered hostile territory. We need his life, his words, his protection, his care, his joy, his word, his glory, his love. As a people we need to be unified and sanctified for the world to know Jesus.

With Jesus’ prayer as a model, our prayers are to reflect the will of God, not our will. Jesus had a much higher purpose in mind than merely taking care of our needs and wants. Through his praying he shows that prayer’s highest aim is not to get our will done in heaven, but to get God’s will done on earth.

Pastor Jeff Frazier