Daily Devotions
John
John 17 : 1 - 26 "THE CONCLUDING STATEMENTS OF JESUS IN PRAYER"
Day 269 – John 17
THE CONCLUDING STATEMENTS OF JESUS IN PRAYER
Jesus began His intercessory prayer on a very quiet but very intimate note. His opening word was simply, “Father…” (John 17:1). We should not be surprised that He would end His prayer on a quiet and intimate note as well.
He reviewed His life and ministry before His Father in prayer. He prayed for His immediate Disciples. He prayed for future Disciples! He prayed that they might truly know His Father and believe in Him, the Son. He prayed that they might be kept from the power of the Devil! He prayed for essential and practical oneness too!
These words may seem simple, but they contained deep and profound truths! He had completed speaking to His Father in prayer. What was now left was to conclude His prayer. How precious are His concluding words in prayer. Let us take time to ponder over each loving thought expressed as a prayer.
“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me
may be with Me where I am, that they may behold
My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me
before the foundation of the world.”
John 17:24
How tender and precious these words are! Jesus confirms that He wants those who believe in Him to be with Him in His Father’s House forever! And only in heaven would all believers be able to behold the fullness of the glory of God! Jesus also spoke of the glory that His Father had given Him.
We catch a glimpse of that glory written in the Book of Revelation.
“I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst
of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man,
clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded
about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair
were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes
like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if
refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many
waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His
mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance
was like the sun shining in its strength.”
Revelation 1:12-16
This special manifestation of Jesus must be read carefully. Each feature must be interpreted symbolically! Beauty and glory were manifested by the garments Jesus wore (Exodus 28:2). Wisdom and discernment were glorious attributes associated with Jesus! Power and strength exuded from Jesus!
Just one glimpse of the majesty and power of Jesus and John “fell at His feet as dead” (Revelation 1:17)! How awesome it must be to stand in the very Presence of the Risen Saviour in all His glory! And Jesus asked that all His true Disciples might be with Him forever! How moved our hearts must be to read these concluding words of Jesus uttered in humble prayer!
THE BASIS OF JESUS’ REQUEST
Jesus NEVER made a single demand of His Father! “Making Demands” is foreign to true prayer! There was no need to make any demands! Neither could anyone make any demands of the Father!
Jesus spoke gently of His Father’s love for Him. Was it not true that His Father had given Him the Disciples? Would not His Father now hear and answer His prayer because of the love-relationship sustained between Father and Son?
The love that the Father had for His Son had its existence before the foundation of the earth! Who can fathom the depth and profundity of this thought? What consistency and power that love of God must be! Jesus understood that love of His Father. He appealed to that love.
The Apostles of Jesus also understood the significance of the love of God in faith and life. Paul was very much taken up with this subject of love in his prayer. In his epistle to the Ephesians, Paul wrote to his readers that he was praying for them. Let us take time to read and appreciate the place of love in his intercessory prayer for the Ephesians.
“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ…
That He would grant you, according to the riches
of His glory, to be strengthened with might through
His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and
grounded in love, may be able to comprehend
with all the saints what is the width and length
and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which
passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all
the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:14-19
Note the place of love in Paul’s prayer! He had caught a glimpse of the love of God when he found salvation in Christ. Through his many years of serving the Lord, he had discovered more and more about the love of Jesus! The theme of love was never far from his preaching of the theme of grace!
Paul prayed humbly, bowing his knee to the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ! He pleaded that they may be given strength. He prayed also that Christ might dwell in their hearts truly! How should the Ephesians relate to Jesus? Surely, they must discover just how much Jesus loved them! How does one measure the love of Christ? His love was so deep and rich that it “passes knowledge”.
LEARNING TO LOVE JESUS MORE DEARLY
Surely we are deeply moved by the love of Jesus! How He must have loved us to be able to pray the way He did. How well do we love our precious Saviour? Let us spare no efforts to seek to cultivate a deeper love for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.