What should I pray for?
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.”
John 17:1 (NIV)
One of the most satisfying activities I had with my children growing up was putting them to bed. After reading them a story and singing a Sunday School song, they prayed. Listening to their prayers was wonderful. I not only learned about them when they prayed, but they taught me lessons about prayer that I’ve never forgotten.
The longest recorded prayer of Jesus is found in John 17. It’s sometimes called the High Priestly Prayer. He begins by praying for Himself, then for His disciples, and finally for all believers.
We’re instructed to pray for each other, but also to pray for ourselves.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.“ (James 5:16 NIV)
Jesus prays for Himself when he says, “Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.“ By asking the Father to “glorify Your Son“ He is asking for God’s will to be done.
When He prays for His disciples, he asks the Father to protect them (John 17:11). Not for physical protection, as He had already told them that some would be martyred for His cause (John 16:2-3), but for protection from “the evil one”.
“I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.“ (John 17:15-16 NIV)
This doesn’t mean that we can’t pray for physical protection, it’s just not the most important thing.
Then Jesus prayed for those who would become His followers when He said, “I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.“ (John 17:20-12 NIV)
How do you pray? What do you pray for? Are you mainly interested in passing by the more difficult trials of life? Or are you prepared to face whatever life brings as long as you “understand and know” the Lord your Creator?
The prophet Jeremiah quotes God in 9:23: “This is what the Lord says, ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord.” (NIV)
God is worth whatever price it takes to acquire the knowledge of Him and to walk with this loving and faithful One. Do you agree?