We’ve all had those times when we’ve heard someone pray and thought to ourselves, “I wish I prayed like that.” I imagine the disciples felt this emotion when they heard Jesus pray His prayer in John 17.
For many of us, when we think of Jesus and prayer, our minds go to Luke 11:2-4 (“Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come…”) where Jesus teaches in three short verses the content that should shape our prayers. If Luke 11 is the Reader’s Digest lesson on prayer then John 17 is Jesus’ unabridged, Magnum Opus. It is 26 theologically rich verses which are unparalleled in their ability to instruct us how to pray. Oddly enough, Jesus doesn’t do any instructing in this prayer. We receive this instruction as flies on the wall catching a glimpse of what a God-honoring prayer sounds like. As we look at Jesus’ prayer, we notice it prioritizes God’s glory, and that praying for God’s glory may be a bit more difficult than we envision.
Praying for the Glory of God Can be Costly
In John 17:1, Jesus has a unique way of praying for God’s glory. He prays that He Himself would be glorified (“glorify your
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