11/11/18 - The Real Lord’s Prayer - John 17:1-5

After giving His disciples final instruction and just before He is arrested and crucified, Jesus turns to the Father in prayer. John 17 contains the longest prayer from Jesus recorded in the Gospels. Of all the things Jesus could begin to pray for, He prays for himself. “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, If it seems selfish for Jesus to pray for Himself notice closely the reason: “that the Son may glorify you,” Jesus asks the Father to glorify Him as He prepared to finish the work that would ultimately give glory back to God. So how does the death of Jesus bring glory to God? That’s an easy one…God’s sovereignty is seen over all of man’s plans, God’s power is seen through the resurrection of Jesus and God’s love is seen through the sacrifice of His son. There’s a powerful lesson for us in this prayer. When we pray, we too should be asking for God to show us His glory. That’s the thing you and I need most in our lives right now. We often pray to get God to give us things. Jesus prays to find God in things. The last personal request from Jesus is this… And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. John 17:5 It’s a remarkable thought…Jesus gave up his glory so you could have glory. Jesus gave up his glory so you could be with him. Let’s contemplate this truth together as we pray for God to show us His glory every day!