By reading the title of this blog you might think that the subject of the day is from Matthew 6 which begins, "Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name..." Really this prayer should be aptly named the Model Prayer. When Jesus' disciples ask Him to teach them how to pray, He used that example.
However, in John 17 I think we find the real Lord's Prayer. Virtually, within hours Jesus will be taken as prisoner and crucified. His thoughts in this prayer are truly phenomenal. I don't want to spend a lot of time in this post in the first part of this prayer. It's the last seven verses I want to spend the bulk of our time.
At the first He told us that knowing God was eternal life. He really doesn't talk of Himself much, but really the success of the mission He has come to fulfill and what lies ahead for His disciples. He spends the next part praying for His disciples.
What strikes home in this prayer is the last part. He says, "My prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message." I wrote this in my Bible. "My prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for Jim." You should do the same. Write your name in there. Jesus prayed for you. What's remarkable is Jesus prayed for you over 2000 years ago. Perhaps that prayer is just now being answered by God. It's fulfillment is coming in your life today.
This is a good lesson for us. Our timeline is much shorter than God's. We want results. We want to see an answer and see it NOW! But can we pray a prayer that will have an effect in another 2000 years? Are you willing to make a commitment to pray for those whom you will never know. Perhaps it's a great grandchild or a nation searching for their God. Maybe it will be a plea for someone on a spiritual journey many years in the future. You keep praying the prayer. Our God is faithful. His answer may come long after we're gone.
He prays for our unity. "That will never happen," you might say. Why not? If Jesus prayed it, it can happen. Perhaps if we stopped worrying about everyone else and what they are doing and concentrate on our mission, maybe we might achieve some unity. I've noticed that most people who want to complain about my work are really not doing anything in the kingdom. Or maybe we should be praying for those who complain about what you're doing and complaining that you aren't doing things their way. I try to work by the Gamaliel rule. I've written about this before. Gamaliel was a member of the Sanhedrin. When some of the apostles were brought in and told not to preach in the name of Jesus, Gamaliel told his colleagues to leave them alone. If their work was of God, there was not stopping it. If it was from somewhere or someone else, it would die out. Good advice.
Finally, Jesus prayed that the love God had for Him would be in us. He asked us to be the love in this old nasty world. When there is hate, he calls us to love. He called on us to carry out His mission....the mission of God's overwhelming, unfailing love.
If Jesus thinks these thoughts, this prayer is worth praying, shouldn't we be doing everything within our power to fulfill His thoughts?
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