Praying Like Jesus

As we have studied the Gospel of John, we have now come to one of the most beautiful, important, and sacred portions of scripture.

John Knox, great Scottish reformer of the sixteenth century, called John chapter 17 the “Holy of Holies in the Temple of Scripture.”

Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (p. 572). Thomas Nelson.

John 17 is commonly referred to as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. Of course, Jesus prayed this prayer on earth, not in heaven (where he ever lives to make intercession for us).

We often refer to Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4, where Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, as “The Lord’s Prayer.” Truly, however, that prayer would be better titled as “The Disciple’s Prayer”, as Jesus, the holy, sinless Son of God and Son of man, would never need to pray for sins to be forgiven.

Instead, this prayer that lies before us today is truly “The Lord’s Prayer.” In this prayer, Jesus makes some requests that we truly may not pray for ourselves. At the same time, Jesus’ prayer teaches us powerful lessons about how to pray and how to live a life that glorifies God.

Consider what some of the Christian greats of the past had to say about Jesus’ prayer:

Matthew Henry: “It is the most remarkable prayer following the most full and consoling discourse ever uttered on the earth.”

Martin Luther: “This is truly beyond measure a warm and hearty prayer. He opens the depths of His heart, both in reference to us and to His Father, and He pours them all out. It sounds so honest, so simple. It is so deep, so rich, so wide. No one can fathom it.”

Philip Melanchthon, another of the reformers: “There is no voice which has ever been heard, either in heaven or in earth, more exalted, more holy, more fruitful, more sublime than the prayer offered up by the Son to God Himself.”

This is the prayer which John Knox read over and over in his lifetime. When he was on his deathbed, his wife asked him. “Where do you want me to read?” He replied, “Read where I first put my anchor down, in the seventeenth chapter of John.” We have the record of many others who have read it over and over. Dr. Fisher, who was bishop of Rochester under Henry VIII, had this read as the last portion of Scripture just before his martyrdom.

McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (John 11-21) (electronic ed., Vol. 39, p. 119). Thomas Nelson.

The setting of our scripture is the conclusion of Jesus' teaching the disciples the night before his betrayal and crucifixion. As he finished teaching, Jesus stopped to pray - first for himself, then for the Eleven, and finally for all who will trust in him as Lord and Savior.

Our text today records Jesus’ prayer for himself. While Jesus' prayer to his Father may contain some elements that we cannot pray, Jesus apparently intended both the Eleven to learn from his prayer (as he prayed it in front of them), as well as us today (as it is recorded in God's Word).

Would you join me and the Eleven as they eavesdrop on Jesus’ prayer to his Father?

John 17:1–8 ESV

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

Big Idea: Proper prayer realigns our hearts to God’s will.

1. A Heart for God’s Glory (v. 1)

John 17:1 ESV

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,

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Isn’t Jesus’ prayer request to the Father audacious?

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And, do we not see right here at the beginning how Jesus’ prayer is different than how we might pray?

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Would we truly ask God to glorify us?!

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Yet, there are important lessons we can learn about prayer, even from this audacious request by the Son.

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Notice that Jesus addressed God as “Father”.

Someone has written:

In the Old Testament, God was the Almighty One, the Sovereign, but rarely the Father. But this new covenant truth appears frequently in the Gospel of John.

There was no question that God loved his people and cared for them through the ages, but approachability was another matter. The pattern was fixed—God appeared through the priest and the high priest, who were confined to a certain place and time. But now earth had become the visited planet, and God moved among people in the person of his Son. No longer would there be a veil, but a family relationship between God the Father and his children—a relationship exemplified by Jesus the Son.

Gangel, K. O. (2000). John (Vol. 4, p. 312). Broadman & Holman Publishers.

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As the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God, Jesus enjoys a relationship with the Father much more intimate than we could ever know.

At the same time, by virtue of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, we are invited into the family of God. We are children of God. And we can also address the almighty, holy, transcendent, immortal, invisible, all-wise God of the Universe as “Daddy, Father!”

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Notice, more importantly, how Jesus framed his prayer request to the Father: “glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.”

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While Jesus’ prayer seems so audacious we might shrink from ever imitating his example, we find the proper purpose and motivation behind all prayer that we ever offer to God.

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Our desire should always be to glorify God’s name. Our passion should be to fulfill God’s will.

Someone has written:

The essence of this sort of prayer is that Jesus is so utterly dependent on the Father, so oriented toward what the Father wills, so desiring that God be glorified through his living and working, that it has controlled every aspect of his life. To live in association with God is to be set apart and be sanctified (17:19), to be his alone, and by virtue of this life to live in and reflect God’s glory. Living within this glory describes the life of Jesus in heaven (17:5, 24). Likewise, when Jesus enters humanity his ambition is to let the world see the glory of God still radiant within him. He wants to honor God’s glory—to show it visibly in his signs, to speak of it in his discourses, to announce it from the cross. Jesus’ life is a participation in the glory of God.

Burge, G. M. (2000). John (p. 476). Zondervan Publishing House.

Someone else has explained:

Prayer is not the way to get God to do our will in heaven. Prayer is the way to get man to do God’s will on earth. Once this is understood, you will find yourself praying in an entirely different manner. And that’s what Jesus is doing here. “Glorify Me,” He prays, “so that You might be glorified—even if that means that I will be pinned to the Cross of Calvary.”

Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (p. 572). Thomas Nelson.

Even in the Disciple’s Prayer, we see the overiding concern for God’s will to be done.

Matthew 6:9–10 ESV

… “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

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But in Jesus’ passionate prayer to his Father on this final night, his overwhelming concern for the Father’s glory seems even more striking to us.

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Think about what it would mean if we rearranged every aspect of our prayer to seek God’s glory - first and foremost.

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Yes, I know we pray that God’s will be done and “in Jesus’ name” as we pray about various requests. But what if we prayed first for God’s glory, and then related our concerns and needs to him?

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“Heavenly Father, we desire to promote your glory in every aspect of our lives. You see our brother in Christ who has this urgent physical need. Lord, we want you to be glorified in his life. If it be your will to heal him, we ask that you would receive the glory for his healing. If it be your will that he continue with this limitation, help him to give you glory in his physical suffering. Help him to become more like you in his attitudes and his speech. Help him to find ways to give you glory despite the pain or limitations he may be experiencing.”

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Jesus began his prayer with an audacious request, but while he prayed for himself, he was truly praying for his Father to gain glory. So we should also pray for the Father to gain glory in our lives.

As we seek His glory, we remember how that glory comes to us — through His grace.

2. A Heart for God’s Grace (vv. 2–3)

John 17:2–3 ESV

since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Here we see the confidence of Jesus in his position as God the Son. God the Father had given him all authority over all flesh. Why? Jesus offers eternal life to everyone.

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Notice that that John 17:2 says, “to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.”

Some might be tempted see in this statement an argument for the election of some and the damnation of others - that happens without any input by humanity.

But Jesus continued in verse 3, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

In other words, those who are given to Jesus are those who believe in him as Lord and Savior. The offer of eternal life is extended to all, but only those who believe in Jesus receive it.

While this verse may speak of all those who have trusted in Jesus for salvation throughout history, the immediate, specific concern of Jesus appears to have been the Eleven and others who had believed in Jesus at that time.

In verse six, Jesus said…

John 17:6 ESV

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

But there is another key truth that we must not miss from these verses.

John 17:3 ESV

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Often, we speak of salvation as our “possession.” Indeed, even scripture speaks of eternal life as something we gain, something that we possess.

Ephesians 1:11–14 ESV

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

While this is true, Jesus defines eternal life NOT as something we possess or a mere belief that we hold. Rather, Jesus teaches us through his prayer that eternal life is knowing God the Father and God the Son in a saving relationship through faith in him.

This truth is a needed correction to the common theology of our day in which people often regard salvation as 1) a set of beliefs and practices that the “Christian” holds and does.

The truth is, it doesn’t matter how much knowledge you stuff in your brain about God, none of that can save you from sin.

Furthermore, it doesn’t matter how much lipstick you plaster on a pig. It’s still a hog and will go wallow in the mud when you allow it. A person can dress as the most conservative Christian and still be a heathen in their heart.

2) Salvation is much more than a ticket you gain to ride the heavenly train into the sky someday. Yes, we possess salvation - more than mere hope, the reality of eternal life - here on earth.

But eternal life is much more than a ticket we place in a safe place and then use some day. Eternal life is a vital relationship with God that we experience, nurture and enjoy throughout this life and into eternity!

Someone has explained regarding the nature of eternal life:

It is life knowing the Father and the Son (3). Eternal life is in essence quality of life rather than quantity of life. … ‘Eternal life is not so much everlasting life as knowledge of the Everlasting One.’ We were made to experience this and in the absence of it the human spirit is for ever unsatisfied. Augustine expressed it memorably: ‘You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless till they rest in you.’ …

This knowledge is of both Father and Son. … Jesus is not all there is to know about God. God is Father, Son and Spirit, and though each person is truly and fully God and therefore infinite, there is nonetheless a richness to the Godhead which we acknowledge by confessing the three persons. ‘Knowing God’ means knowing all of the Godhead. For this we were made, and it is life indeed!

Milne, B. (1993). The message of John: here is your king!: with study guide (pp. 240–241). InterVarsity Press.

As we continue to look at the Lord’s Prayer for lessons, we find that as we rest in Christ’s grace, our hearts align with His greater mission to make Himself known.

3. A Heart for God’s Mission (vv. 4–8)

John 17:4 ESV

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

What is this mission which Jesus had accomplished?

This mission that Jesus now states he had accomplished includes his mission of offering salvation, which would be culminated on the Cross the next day.

Looking ahead to his death, Jesus said in John 12:32

John 12:32 ESV

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

As Jesus hung on the cross, he bore the sin of all the world, of all time. Indeed, he became sin for us.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God and the High Priest of a better covenant…

Hebrews 10:12–14 ESV

But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

John 19:28–30 ESV

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Yes, Jesus prayed this prayer a few hours before his death, but his course had been set. Yes, he would struggle in prayer in the Garden, but his commitment to do the Father’s will was set in stone.

Yet, John 17:6-8 indicate that the mission Jesus had accomplished was not his death, resurrection and return to the Father, but also that he had manifested God’s name to those given to him in the world.

John 17:6–8 ESV

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

In these verses, we see that Jesus’ mission on earth was not merely to die on the Cross, be raised again and then return to the Father. Rather, his mission included sharing God’s name - the Good News - to those who would receive it by faith in him.

He would train these disciples. They would keep God’s Word. They would learn all that Jesus taught them about the Father. They would believe that Jesus came from the Father and that the Father had sent him.

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While it might seem to us that Jesus’ life and ministry was cut short, in actuality his mission on earth was accomplished, both of training disciples who would share the Good News with others, training them in all God’s Word who would then win others to Christ and train them - on and on - and his mission of offering himself as the perfect Sacrifice for our sin.

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Notice again what Jesus said in John 17:2. He prayed the Father would glorify him so he could glorify the Father…

John 17:2 ESV

since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

Now, recall what Jesus said to the disciples shortly before he ascended to the Father.

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus was given the authority by the Father to give eternal life to all who would trust in him. Then, Jesus, with that authority, commanded those who follow him to go and make disciples of all peoples.

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As we seek to pray, as much as we can, like Jesus prayed, we will pray that God’s mission of saving all those who will turn from their sins and trust in Jesus might be accomplished!

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Jesus has all authority and he has commanded us to accomplish this mission, thus sharing his authority with us. To pray for the will of God is to pray and to work to see a lost and dying world saved from sin!

Jesus shows that prayer leads to faithful action. He finished the work the Father gave Him — revealing God’s name and truth. In prayer, we are not passive; we are realigned to live on mission, making Him known in word and deed.

As we have joined the Eleven in eavesdropping Jesus’ prayer with his Father, we have learned a crucial lesson about prayer:

Big Idea: Proper prayer realigns our hearts to God’s will.

Jesus demonstrated for us a heart for God’s glory. Yes, he prayed the Father to glorify him… but that was only so that he might glorify the Father!

Jesus prayed with a heart for God’s grace. The Father had sent him into this world so that Jesus could give eternal life to all who would receive it - that we might know God as our Lord and Savior.

Jesus prayed with a heart for God’s mission. He had finished his work. He had trained the disciples so they could carry on the message of Good News to the world after he returned to the Father.

And just a few hours from this point, Jesus would complete his substitionary atonement for the sins of the world.

So often, our prayers focus on ourselves or what we think is important. Jesus' prayer shows a preoccupation with what concerns God. Even as Jesus prays for himself (and later for the disciples), he is truly praying for what the Father wants.

Is it no wonder that the Father granted his request?

We struggle in prayer often to know God's will. While we may continue to struggle at times to know specifics of God's will, this prayer shows us how to realign our hearts and minds to God's will.

Then, may our understanding of how God would specifically act in our circumstasnce be clearer to us?

the Father’s glory is the foundational purpose in praying.

Gangel, K. O. (2000). John (Vol. 4, p. 312). Broadman & Holman Publishers.

When we pray like Jesus, we don’t just talk at God — we are changed by Him. We are re-centered on His glory, resting in His grace, and ready for His mission in the world.

May God help us to learn to pray more like Jesus.