-
Jesus in Prayer, Part 4
There is perhaps no greater example of Jesus in prayer than the lengthy, swirling “high-priestly prayer” recorded in John 17.
One of the striking things about this passage is that although Jesus is God in the flesh, he seems to rely heavily on prayer as a means of accomplishing God’s will. He doesn’t simply teach his disciples what the right way is or “fix” them in some “supernatural” way. He spends time praying to God the Father on their behalf, here in John 17 and many other places. The New Testament is also clear that the risen and ascended Jesus continues to pray for us (Rom 8:34; 1 John 2:1). Prayer is apparently still the way that God’s work gets done.
One example of this can be found in In Luke 22:31-32. Jesus foresees that Simon will be tested severely. Though Simon thinks he is ready to die with Jesus, he will find out that when it comes down to it, he will quickly, easily deny that he even knows Jesus. You would think Jesus would want to secure the future of the church by perhaps re-wiring Simon’s brain so that he responds differently, to somehow guarantee his eventual success. But he doesn’t. Instead, Jesus says, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” One would imagine that Jesus desperately wants Simon to pass the test, but instead of trying to engineer the outcome, he simply prays for him. It speaks volumes about Jesus’ trust in God that he sees prayer as the best thing he can do for Simon in this very crucial, dangerous time.
Looking at Jesus in prayer teaches us that it really is a powerful tool for seeing God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven. Of course it always must be married to faith-filled action, but action without prayer is powerless to effect real transformation and belies a subtle form of unbelief where we think nothing of value can come from people simply praying. The life of Jesus and the Scriptures indicate otherwise: “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
Prayer Exercise:
Set aside 20-30 minutes to think about the following questions:- When you want to see transformation happen in those you love, is your first instinct to pray for them?
- Or do you first begin strategizing about how you could steer them toward change?
- Do you perhaps trust more in your own persuasive abilities than in God’s Spirit?
- How would you like your prayer life to change based on your answers to these questions?
Now read John 17 slowly, meditating on the fact that Jesus is praying for you right now.