Jesus' Most Impactful Prayer
And it is the greatest love letter you will ever receive
Of course, the Lord’s greatest love letter to us all is His great sacrifice on the cross, making it possible for you and me to spend eternity in the glorious place I visited.
It can’t get better than that.
In addition to what we discussed in the last post, Jesus made a few more choices—each one still rooted in His deep love for us and His Father's deep love for Him. With steady, unwavering, people-focused character, He focused on relationships: with His disciples and with you and me.
But this time, He didn’t limit His love to just His followers. He opened it to everyone.
Jesus Asks to Go Home & Be Restored to His Position
Please scroll to the bottom if you want to read the full prayer without my commentary.
After over thirty years of being human, Jesus asked to go Home and be restored to His proper place next to His Father in Heaven. His job on earth is almost complete, and He’s been human long enough (although He would have stayed if that was required of Him).
17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. 1
Jesus Reviews His Job Description
Check out the complete list of duties Jesus reviews in this prayer.
He has revealed to the people who His Father is and who He, as Jesus, is. Of course, He did this countless times by performing miracles, resurrections, healings, and flat-out telling them.
He acknowledges that the disciples belong to the Father but were given to Him, Jesus, to care for during a time period. He accomplished this by loving them deeply, becoming their friend and confidant, answering their many questions, and showing them the way to the Father.
He reminds His Father that they now believe and acknowledge the true origin of Jesus. Several disciples verbally acknowledge Him as Lord, of course. And tell others of it. However, the remaining (mostly) have shown their belief by leaving loved ones, abandoning possessions and money, and giving it all up to follow Jesus.
He tells the Father that the disciples have been obedient. In fact, they’ve gone overboard in obedience and willingness to learn.
He also says that glory has come to God the Father due to their work. In an obvious upvote, Jesus often talked of His Father and why He, as His son, was on earth.
The ultimate goal of Eternal Life has been granted to them. Mission accomplished, Dad.
Of course, that ultimate Mission was the most important of all. The possibility of salvation and the disciples' practice of self-giving would have ripple effects on all humans for hundreds and thousands of years. They were just the start.
Here are the verses highlighting Jesus’ role here.
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.
8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 2
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
But Jesus has concerns for those He loves and is leaving behind. As many of us would do, he moved from listing out His obedient acts and started requesting protection, guidance, joy, and sanctification for His beloved disciples.
11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.3
Jesus Prays for All
Did you know that those in heaven pray and intercede for us? And that it might go both ways? Check out Matthew 18:10, Zechariah 1:12-13, and Psalm 91:11-12.
Words fail to describe the events I saw taking place. It was like looking through a thin, pale membrane or veil. I knew what people were doing and could see my wife and others on Earth praying for me. 4
I saw streaks of brilliant light going straight up…I asked the angel what they were. His reply brought me to tears. “James, those are the prayers of your family for your soul. They are coming up to heaven before God even now.” 5
One of the things Jesus showed me when I was in Heaven was how these children of God, family of God, were praying in faith…they were joining in agreement. I saw the Earth, and I saw bridges that kept rising. As people stayed persistent in praying the word of God, not just emotions or things that they were thinking, the bridge formed. It went higher and higher. That was the bridge/road I came back to earth on. (Near Death Experiences: 101 Short Stories by Randy Kay and Shaun Tabatt, page 230)
Jesus prayed for all of us, too, whether we believed in Him or not. He prayed for those who would come to know His Father in the future. You could say that Jesus’ prayer was very “seeker-friendly”.
20 “... I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you 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 may be in them.”6
When you think of an action that someone provided to you, showing great love, what was it? And what about the people in your life now? Would they die for you, if necessary? And if knowing that you were a part of what was putting them to death, would they pray for you anyway?
May we remember this Easter His great sacrifice - yet to be imitated by others. His greatest plan - yet to be mimicked elsewhere. And His greatest gift - yet to be completely realized and fulfilled until we all reach Heaven someday.
See you there soon, my friends.
Read Entire Prayer Here
17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.
8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.
11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you 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 may be in them.” (John 17: 1-26 NIV)
John 17: 1-5 NIV
John 17: 6-10 NIV
John 17:11-19 NIV
I Believe in Heaven by Cecil Murphey and Twila Beck, Revell, 2013, page 44
Heaven: An Unexpected Journey by Jim Woodford with Dr. Thom Gardner, Destiny Image Books, 2017, page 97
John 17:20-26 NIV
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