JOHN 17:1-5

SUNDAY & MONDAY, AUGUST 12 & 13, 2007

THE PRAYER OF JESUS - PART 1 - HE PRAYS FOR HIMSELF

1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. St. John 17:1-5 (NKJV)

The Prayer of Jesus, sometimes called The High Priestly Prayer, precedes the account of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is well aware of what is about to happen, so he says “Father, the hour has come.”

At this point Jesus teaches that it is okay to pray for yourself when He asks God, His Father, to Glorify Him. I understand this as Jesus asking His Father in Heaven to give Him the strength and lead Him to victory over Satan and death. We no longer have to pray for that Victory as Jesus has already defeated Satan and death for us. St. Paul’s famous words, O Death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” We still have many needs, many struggles, many temptations and we should take them to God the Father with the same confidence that Jesus did.

We need to note that when Jesus said, “Father, Glorify You Son” that is only half of the sentence. The sentence continues with ”that Your Son also may Glorify You.” When Jesus prays for Himself it is not so He will be praised but that God who glorifies is praised. Jesus continues to speak about how God the Father is then Glorified through Him. Remember verse 5, for here it very plainly speaks of Jesus being Eternal. This is an affirmation of the words in the first chapter of St. John, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God....”

In like manner, when we pray seeking something from God, let us seek it so when our requested is granted, we make sure that the results glorify God and not ourselves.

WE PRAY: HEAVENLY FATHER, When I come to you in prayer and you provide me with what I seek, help me, O Lord, to live in such a way that people will not say how great I am, but they will say, “How Great God is.” AMEN

A SUGGESTION FOR LIVING THE DEVOTION

When someone thanks you for doing something, consider responding by saying, “Thank you, but please thank God because He has given me the ability and the desire to do it.”