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(upbeat music) - Welcome to Daily Drive Time Devotions. This is Pastor Tom
Holliday and we are beginning today a look at John chapter 17. If you want to
understand prayer, there are two prayers that you need to understand.

One of them is called the Lord's Prayer. It's in Matthew chapter six. It's the
familiar prayer that begins, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your
name, your kingdom come, your will be done.

You need to understand that prayer and you also need to understand the prayer
we're going to look at this week. John chapter 17, the entire chapter is what is
called by many Jesus's high priestly prayer. The Bible records at least 19
specific instances of Jesus praying, but of all of these, John 17 is the
longest.

The entire chapter is prayer. And it is a prayer that gives deep insight into
the heart of Jesus. I have a sense walking into this chapter of it being a holy
place.

We talked a few weeks ago about the parallels between the gospel of John and the
temple of the Jews and how as John walks through this gospel, it's like he's
walking closer and further into the temple to this holy place. How the book
takes you from the outer room to the holy of holies to the place of sacrifice.
Well, this is called the high priestly prayer because it comes just before
Jesus's sacrifice of his life, his giving of his life for us.

And as we enter into talking about this prayer together this week, I have to
admit a deep sense of inadequacy. I always feel a bit of inadequacy in teaching
the Bible. How do you express God's word and all the depth and riches in it?

But John chapter 17, Jesus praying for us. I pray even as we approach this
chapter that Jesus will speak to us in the way that only he can through his
spirit using gifts of teaching and gifts of listening to help us to understand
what he wants us to hear in the incredible prayer that he prays for us. In John
17, Jesus prays about three things.

He prays for himself that he would be glorified. He prays for his disciples that
they would be protected and sanctified. And he prays for his church that the
church would be unified.

And in a sense, the circles grow wider and wider in Jesus's prayer. He begins
with himself, he extends to his disciples and then extends to all disciples of
all time, his church. And this prayer that we're going to look through this week,
it's in many ways more like a symphony than an outline.

There are themes that run throughout this prayer. You hear them again and again.
We're going to look at some of those main themes.

In fact, tomorrow we'll begin a deeper look at how you can be an answer to
Jesus's prayer. Jesus prayed a prayer, he prayed a prayer of faith. Obviously,
he wanted it to be answered.

How can you be an answer to Jesus's prayer? Four ways we're going to look at during
the rest of this week. But today, I'd like to bring us together into this prayer
by listening to how Jesus begins the prayer.

John chapter 17, verses one to four. After Jesus said this, he looked toward
heaven and prayed, Father, the time has come. Glorify your son that your son may
glorify you.

For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to
all you have given him. Now, this is eternal life, that they may know you, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on
earth by completing the work that you gave me to do.

We get the setting, we get the feel of this prayer from these first few
sentences. It begins by saying after he had said this. Jesus has taught us in
John chapter 14, 15, 16, and after this teaching, he prays.

He followed his teaching with a prayer. That's not a bad example for teachers
because in any teaching that we do, we are dependent upon God working in
people's hearts. So Jesus prayed.

After he said this, he prayed. In fact, it says he looked toward heaven and he
prayed. Notice Jesus didn't kneel down and pray.

You can pray that way, but that's not how Jesus prayed here. Jesus didn't close
his eyes and pray. He looked up with opened eyes and prayed.

Sometimes I know in our family, I like to pray with open eyes and I get a little
bit of grief for it, but I always point to this, the fact that Jesus prayed with
open eyes and it's okay. And by the way, I think I learned to do this when our
kids were younger. If you're praying around a table and you have younger kids,
you should be praying with open eyes probably for many different reasons.

It's interesting to me that when Jesus prayed, he stood and he looked toward
heaven and he prayed with his eyes open. And it indicates later in John chapter
17 that he prayed out loud. In verse 13, the Greek verb, Lalo indicates that
this prayer was a prayer that was spoken out loud.

And of course it was because the disciples heard it and they've written it down
for us. And as he begins this prayer, looks up toward heaven, opened eyes,
speaks out loud, Jesus prays that he would be glorified. The time has come, he
says.

He's been looking forward to this time all throughout the book of John, all
throughout his life. The time has come for him to go to the cross. The time has
come for what he has begun to call more and more his glorification.

As Jesus talks about this time coming, he notes to the father that he'd been
granted authority to give eternal life to all that have been given to Jesus. And
it's interesting in this passage that Jesus defines eternal life for us. He
says, "And this is eternal life, "that they may know you.

" I love that definition of eternal life, knowing God, having a relationship
with God. It's not what he gives, it's who he is. It's a new relationship of
life and a new quality of life.

Yes, we will enjoy eternal life in a place called heaven, but Jesus defines
eternal life as a relationship, an eternal relationship with God. Eternal life
isn't just about a quantity of life, it's about a quality of life. Who would
want a quantity of eternal life that wasn't meaningful?

It's as if you go and somebody says, I want to give you all that you can eat, but
I'm going to give you cotton candy. Who would want all the cotton candy you can
eat? A little bit is enough.

And I think some people feel that way about heaven. A little bit will be enough,
but not true. It's a deep, meaningful relationship with God.

It's eternal relationship with him, that they may know you. Eternal life, it's
not a when, it's not a how, it's a who. It's this relationship with God that
extends all the way into eternity that we enjoy with him in heaven.

Jesus says this is eternal life, that they know you. That's how it happens, and
that's all caught up in what it is. And then as Jesus talks to the father, he
reviews his life and he says, I brought you glory on earth by completing the
work that you gave me to do.

Now it's interesting in John 17, Jesus starts the prayer more formally by
talking about the son has done this and the son has done this, but very quickly
by the fourth verse, he switches to talking about here's what I have done.
There's an intimacy between Jesus and the father, the part of the Trinity that
we see sometimes in the father and son and Holy Spirit is this intimacy that
they have. And here you have, well, it's a mystery.

You have the mystery of God in human flesh, praying to God the father in heaven
for God the son on earth in human flesh. Now on one level, I admit it, that can
be mind boggling, but on another level, it expresses the intimacy of the
Trinity, the relationship of God in the Trinity. And on another level, it's
personal to you.

You see, Jesus prayed for you. You're the subject of this prayer. As we walk
through it, you're going to find out you're the subject of this prayer.

But there's something I don't want you to forget as we walk through this prayer.
You're the subject of this prayer, but you are not the focus. The focus of this
prayer is on Jesus being glorified.

Jesus says, glorify me now, I glorified you on earth, now you glorify me. We're
going to see that come up again and again this week as we look at John chapter 17.
As we close our look today at the beginning of this prayer, I just want to note
for you what Jesus did as he talked to the Father as he began this prayer.

Did you notice that he requested, he made a request? He said, Father, glorify
me. You should make requests when you pray.

Did you notice that he related? He just talked to God. He enjoyed his
relationship with God.

He called him his Father, and he said the time has come. He talked about what
was happening in his life. Did you notice also that he reviewed?

He talked about the truth. You've granted me to give eternal life. And he talked
about what eternal life is.

He reviewed the truth of God with God as he spoke to him. Now they both knew it,
but he reviewed it with him. That's part of prayer.

And then he also reported. He spoke of what he'd done in obeying the Father. I
completed the work that you gave me to do.

As I look at Jesus as our example, I realize these are the kinds of things that
we need to do in our prayer lives. The lesson here for me is this. Prayer should
be more than just requests.

God, I need this. God, I want this. God, please do this.

And it should even be more than just requests and thanksgiving. I think a lot of
people maybe have those two in their lives. I ask God for this, and I thank him
for this.

But there is more to prayer than that. Jesus gives us the example that sometimes
we just sit with God and we review the truth with him. God, thank you that this
is true.

God, I realize that this is true. God, I'm praising you that this is true. You
review the truth of who he is, who Jesus is, what he's doing in the world.

Review the truth with him. And sometimes, following Jesus' example, you report
on what's happening in your life. God, here's what's happened today.

Now, I know God knows what's happened in your life today. He knows everything.
But there's something in your relationship with God about talking with him about
what's happened in your life today that deepens that relationship and that gives
you new perspective on what happened in your life today.

Now, let's try this right now. In our prayer time today, I want to invite you to
talk to God in the way that Jesus talked to God. It might be a different kind of
prayer for you and prayer is something that I know I, all of us, need to grow
in.

So let's try a different kind of prayer. And as you pray today, just in a simple
moment, make a request of God. Say, God, here's a request that I give to you
today, something about my family, something about my work, something about my
life.

I request, God, that you would work in this way. Maybe it's a request for
somebody to come to know him or for you to grow in him. Make a request.

And then take a moment just to relate to God. And it may be as simple as praying
the phrase, thank you that you're my father. Thank you that I have a
relationship with you.

Thank you that you love me. Take a moment to relate to him. We're going through
these quickly.

You'll want to take longer to do these maybe at some other time, but take a
moment to review the truth with God. God, thank you that you're compassionate.
Thank you that you're patient.

Thank you that you are a God of integrity. Thank you that you're a God of power.
Thank you, God, for how creative you are.

Review the truth of who he is, what he does with him. And then take just a
moment to report. Just say to God, God, here's what's happening in my life
today.

I just came out of that meeting. I'm going into this meeting. I thank you that
you gave me strength in that meeting.

God, I was pretty irritable in that meeting. I need new strength in the next
meeting. Just sort of review and report on what's happening in your day and ask
God to be a part of everything.

Be a part of everything in your day. Our Father, we thank you for Jesus' prayer.
It is an example to us of how we can relate to you in a real, fresh, genuine way
every day of our lives because of Jesus and what he's done for us.

Thank you. In your name, amen. Well, join us tomorrow on our second day of our
look at John chapter 17.

We're going to talk a little bit more about what glory means, and what it means
to glorify God in our daily lives.