How to See Life in 321 - a Guide to John's GospelSample

What do you find difficult about prayer?

There was once an Archbishop of Canterbury (one of the most senior church leaders on the planet) who said: “I want to want to want to pray.” There are times when, in all honesty, we don’t even want to have a prayer life — but we at least want to want to have a prayer life! Maybe? Sometimes?

The difficulty comes because prayer is actually impossible. I mean, who on earth is able to have a word with the Emperor of the Cosmos?? We try to get a message to a celebrity on social media, and if they merely ‘like’ one of our replies, we are astonished — They noticed me!!! But if it’s hard to message a celeb, how can we expect to be noticed by the Lord of Heaven and Earth?

Well, it’s a problem that is not solved by us. It’s a problem that is solved by God. As we’ve been learning, God is a loving union of THREE: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the Father sends the Son into the world to be our Brother. Jesus joins our human family as the Second Adam so that he can live our life for us, die our death for us, and secure eternity for us. In John chapter 17, we see one more thing he does ‘for us’: he prays.

According to verse 24, he has always been praying. He was there “before the creation of the world” — eternally loved by his Father and filled by his Spirit. But Jesus has come into the world to ‘earth’ that life of God into our humanity. In John 17, we see him carrying on that prayer life for us — as our Brother.

First, he prays for himself (v1-5), then for the followers in front of him (v6-19), then for every follower who will ever live (v20-26) — that’s you if you trust him. Here is our Brother leading us in prayer. The Beloved Son can, of course, have a word with the Almighty, but here’s the good news: if we are ONE with him, we can join him in his prayer life. This is what it means to pray “in Jesus’ name.” We can’t come before God in our own name, but we are so welcome to come in his.

As you read John 17, notice the way Jesus relates to his Father, to his people, and to his world. He is the great Go-Between, and if we are ONE with him, we are not just invited to pray, we are in on the prayerful life of God. Enjoy!