Moments to Ponder

Episode 143: The Prayer That Preceded Everything (John 17)

• Betsy Marvin • Season 15 • Episode 143

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Have you ever wondered what Jesus prayed about in his final hours? Most of us are familiar with the "Lord's Prayer" from Matthew 6—the model prayer Jesus taught his disciples. But John 17 reveals something far more intimate: Jesus' own heartfelt prayer before his arrest and crucifixion.

This episode delves into this remarkable chapter, examining how Jesus first prays for himself, then for his disciples, and finally—most astonishingly—for you and me. "I'm praying not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me because of them and their witness about me." With these words, Jesus looked across time and held future believers in his heart during his darkest hour.

The central theme of Jesus' prayer is unity—that all his followers would experience the same profound oneness that exists between him and the Father. He prays that we would be "one heart and mind" with God, so mature in this unity that our very lives would become evidence of God's love to a skeptical world. When we personalize these ancient words, inserting our own names into Jesus' prayer, we discover something profoundly moving: we were known, loved, and specifically prayed for by Christ himself two thousand years ago.

Whether you're a lifelong believer or simply curious about what made Jesus' relationship with God so special, this exploration of what could truly be called "The Lord's Prayer" offers fresh perspective on Christ's desires for his followers. Listen and ponder what it means that you were on Jesus' mind and heart as he prepared to face the cross. How might this knowledge transform your understanding of your place in God's family today?

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Speaker 1:

Hi friends, welcome to Moments to Ponder. This is a podcast designed to help you spend a few moments in God's Word, gain fresh perspectives and find meaningful takeaways to ponder throughout your week. I'm Betsy Marvin and this is episode 143. In Matthew 6, there's a prayer called the Lord's Prayer. It's a prayer that Jesus gave as an example of how to pray. In our current chapter of John John 17, we have the Lord's Prayer. We have the prayer of Jesus. It's the final prayer of Jesus, as recorded, at least by John. So today we're going to take John 17 in in its entirety, as it is written in the message.

Speaker 1:

Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said Father, it's time, display the bright splendor of your son so the sun in turn may show your bright splendor. You put him in charge of everything human so that he might give real and eternal life to all in his care. And this is the real and eternal life that they may know. You, the one and only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. I glorified you on earth by completing, down to the last detail, what you assigned me to do. And now, father, glorify me with your very own splendor, the very splendor I had in your presence before there was a world. I spelled out your character in detail to the men and women you gave me. They were yours in the first place. Then you gave them to me and they have now done what you said. They know now beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything you gave me is firsthand from you. The message you gave me I gave them, and they took it and were convinced that I came from you. They believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I'm not praying for the God-rejecting world, but for those you gave me, for they are yours by right. Everything mine is yours and yours mine, and my life is on display in them, for I'm no longer going to be visible in the world. They all continue in the world. Well, I return to you. Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life that you conferred as a gift through me, so they may be one heart and mind, as we are one heart and mind. As long as I was with them, I guarded them in the pursuit of the life you gave through me. I even posted a lookout and not one of them got away, except for the rebel bent on destruction, the exception that proved the rule of scripture.

Speaker 1:

Now I'm returning to you. I'm saying these things in the world's hearing so my people can experience my joy completed in them. I gave them your word. The godless world hated them because of it, because they didn't join the world's ways, just as I didn't join the world's ways. I'm not asking that you take them out of the world, but that you guard them from the evil one. They are no more defined by the world than I am defined by the world. Make them holy, consecrated with the truth. Your word is consecrating truth. In the same way you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. I'm consecrating myself for their sake, so they'll be truth consecrated in their mission.

Speaker 1:

I'm praying not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me because of them and their witness about me. The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind. Just as you, father, are in me and I in you. So they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you in fact sent me the same glory you gave me. I gave them. The same glory you gave me, I gave them. So they'll be as unified and together as we are I in them and you in me Then they'll be mature in this oneness and give the godless world evidence that you've sent me and loved them in the same way you've loved me. Father, I want those you gave me to be with me, right where I am, so they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me, having loved me long before there was ever a world. Righteous Father, the world has never known you, but I have known you, and these disciples know that you sent me on this mission. I have made your very being known to them, who you are and what you do, and continue to make it known so that your love for me might be in them exactly as I am in them.

Speaker 1:

Jesus prayed for himself, he prayed for his disciples, and Jesus prayed for you. That night, as the temple guards are on their way and the disciples struggle to stay awake, jesus was praying for you and me. Ponder that thought. In 30 AD or so, jesus went to the garden, knowing that his death was hours away, and he prayed for you. You were on his mind that night, and he prayed that all of his followers would be of one mind and heart, unified in the Father so that the world would believe in him.

Speaker 1:

Let's go back to verse 20 to 26 and take this prayer in again.

Speaker 1:

Only this time I've edited it just a bit, adding a feminine pronoun, but please, if you're male, hear a male pronoun.

Speaker 1:

In those moments, jesus prayed for you, father, I'm not only praying for my disciples, but also for the one who will believe in me because of them and their witness in the scripture about me.

Speaker 1:

I pray that the one who follows me will be of one heart and mind, just as you, father, are in me and I'm in you, so that she might be one heart and mind with us, that the world might believe that you in fact sent me the same glory, the Holy Spirit that you gave me I give her, so she'll be as unified and together as we are, I in her and you in me.

Speaker 1:

Then she'll be mature in this oneness and give the godless world evidence that you've sent me and loved her the same way you loved me, father, I want the one you gave me to be with me, right where I am, so she can see my glory and splendor you gave me, having loved me long before there was ever a world. Father God, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and my disciples know that you sent me on this mission. May your very being be known to her, who you are and what you do, and continue to make it known, so that your love for me might be in her exactly as I am in her Dear one. May you never doubt his love for you. May you discover more and more of what it means to be of one heart and mind with Jesus, and may you become mature in that oneness, becoming the evidence of His love in this world, so that others may also know His love, amen.