David Bahn – Reflections

John 17:1-5

 ¹When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, ²since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ⁵And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Prayer is a mystery. Jesus clearly tells us that God knows what we need even before we ask (Matthew 6:8).  God knows all things, and nothing is hidden from his sight. Psalm 139 tells us that even before a word is on our tongue, God “know[s] it altogether” (Psalm 139:4). We don’t inform God by our prayers.

In his High Priestly Prayer, Jesus speaks to the Father about things the Father clearly already knows. He is surely not reminding God to keep the Father from forgetting who he is and what he has done. He does, however, speak about the Father, and of his own mission, and the authority the Father had given him. These expressions of truth, praise, and context surround Jesus’ petitions for glory, and a return to his proper place of honor with the Father.

This prayer clearly shows how dependent  on his heavenly Father the Son of God was while here on earth as a man. Jesus depended on the Father to restore his true glory; without the Father’s action it would not be. He was totally submissive to the Father’s will, purpose, and timing.

These words are also reminders of God’s will, Jesus’ example to us, and an insight for our own prayer life. As Jesus rehearsed the promises of God, and expressed the truths of who God is and the faith-filled expectation of God’s glory, he was surely bolstering himself and fortifying his own faith.

If our prayer life is merely a recitation of our shopping list of spiritual, physical, emotional, financial, and relational needs, we are simply informing God of something he already knows. But if we surround those needs with the promises of God’s word, with praise and thanksgiving for what God has done and promised, and with an acknowledgement that our life and future are in his hands, we better honor God and fortify our own faith and prayers.

Prayer is indeed a mystery: why do we need to tell God anything at all? But we are commanded to pray. Our prayers do honor God, and to the extent that they are surrounded by the words and promises of God they also fortify our faith. That is not only a mystery; that is a blessing.