20160527 Friday, May 27 2016
John 17: The LORD's Prayers To The Father

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee"

The Messiah was a man of prayer. While the famous "Lord's Prayer" is the most familiar (see What Did Jesus Say About Praying? and the Fact Finder question below), there are in fact a number of prayers of the LORD (to understand the Biblical difference between "Lord" and LORD, see The Identity Of The LORD God and The LORD God Our Saviour) to God the Father recorded in the Scriptures.

The famous "transfiguration" prophecy of the coming Kingdom of God (see The Moses And Elijah Vision and What Gospel Did Jesus Preach?) was actually a prayer - that the Father not only answered, but answered so that James and John, the others present, could hear Him.

"9:28 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.

9:29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. 9:30 And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: 9:31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.

9:32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. 9:33 And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.

9:34 While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. 9:35 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him." (Luke 9:28-35 KJV)

Just before He was seized by the lynch mob (see The Night Of The Messiah And The Lynch Mob) on the night before He was Crucified (see Nisan 14: How Did The Messiah Observe His Last Passover? and Nisan 14: The Day That The Messiah Was Crucified), the LORD prayed to the father.

First, a prayer for the successful completion of the works that the Father had sent Him to accomplish: "5:36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me" (John 5:36 KJV; see Works Means Obedience and The John The Baptist Prophecies).

"17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,

Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." (John 17:1-5 KJV)

Then, a prayer for His followers of that time (see also The Shake The Dust From Your Feet Lessons).

"17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 17:7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 17:10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." (John 17:6-19 KJV)

Then further, a prayer for all of His true followers through time, including the present (see What's The Expiration Date Of The Church?).

"17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

17:25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 17:26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:20-26 KJV)

Fact Finder: What does the Word of God actually instruct about how to properly pray?
See How To Pray: 12 Biblical Principles Of Personal Prayer