Saturday’s Reading – John 17:1-26
“Jesus Prayed” by Michele Horn
Jesus prayed… no surprised here. At least, that’s what I thought when I began reading John 17. In all reality, Jesus grew up in the Jewish faith and culture. Prayer was a part of his daily routine as a boy. Throughout the New Testament we see Jesus going off to pray by himself. On other occasions he would invite one or two disciples as “witnesses” or to instill in the group the power of prayer that was witnessed in the Old Testament. Jesus even taught his disciples to pray. More often than not, Jesus went off by himself to pray; whether it was to follow the law or custom, to pray only in the presence of God and not others, to get away from the distractions of his life, or to get a few moments of peace and quiet. No matter what the reason, Jesus went off by himself to pray. He knew God desired this time, not only with His Son, but all of us.
John 17 is all about prayer. It is about Jesus opening up and revealing to God and himself what is on his heart. Just like when we pray, God already knows our thoughts. God already knew what was on Jesus’ heart and understood it. It was about the Son telling his Father what his thoughts were about leaving this world and how he prepared the disciples and the believers to continue on giving glory to God and bringing others back to Him. Jesus was going through his checklist as he was preparing himself to leave this world. Jesus already knew his time left on this earth was short. It’s similar to the check list I made at work as I looked at the months leading up to my retirement. Did I leave instructions on how to continue doing my tasks- Jesus wants us to continue bringing believers into the church and to continue loving others; have I given my supervisor enough resources to troubleshoot possible problems- Jesus prayed for God to continue protecting the disciples; did I reach out to my contacts so they could be a support to my replacement- Jesus prayed for ALL believers to be one with himself and God. And Jesus prayed for the world. Jesus knew the world was a hard, dark place that was against God.
Yes. Jesus prayed. He opened his heart to God and himself, and he asks us to do the same. God already knows. He wants us to own our unspoken prayers to Him. To acknowledge and accept what our hearts yearn for God to hear. Pray openly and honestly. Pray for yourself, each other, and the world.
John 17: 25-26 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself be in them.”