Teach Me to Pray - Week #30: Christ the High Priest

"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am." John 17:24

This chapter is about Jesus' high-priestly prayer in John 17, and one of the opening paragraphs summarizes the chapter well:

"To let His disciples have the joy of knowing what His intercession for them in heaven as their High Priest will be, He gives this precious legacy of His prayer to the Father. He does this (also) because they as priests are to share in His work of intercession that they and we might know how to perform this holy work. In the teaching of our Lord on this last night, we have learned to understand that these astonishing prayer-promises have not been given on our own behalf but in the interest of the Lord and His kingdom. From the Lord alone can we learn what the prayer in His name is to be and what it is to obtain. We have seen that to pray in His name is to pray in perfect unity with Him. The high-priestly prayer will teach all that prayer in the name of Jesus may ask and expect to receive."

Murray reminds us of what a treasure we have in this written account of Jesus' prayer life! If this had not been recorded, we wouldn't have such a clear insight into what Jesus Himself is praying continually at the right hand of His Father nor would we know how we are to pray in our own priestly calling to intercede. Only in Jesus and from Him can we learn what true prayer is. In past chapters the author has pointed out clearly that true prayer is to pray in His name and to pray in His name is to be aligned with His heart and mind. In this prayer we have a peek into what's on His heart and mind. Praise the Lord for such a gift!

Jesus' prayer is divided into three major themes:
1. His prayer that the Father would glorify Him so that He could give glory to the Father. This teaches us that in prayer we want Jesus to be glorified (which means that His prayers are answered by the Father) so that the Father will receive glory. This is the ultimate goal of prayer - the glory of God the Father and Son. This implies oneness with God in prayer..."Draw near and appear before the Father in Christ. Plead His finished work. Say that you are one with it, you trust in it, and you live by it. Say that you too have given yourself to finish the work the Father has given you to do and to live alone for His glory. Then confidently ask that the Son may be glorified in you."

2. His prayer for the small circle of people in His life. This teaches us that our intercession must include regular persevering prayer for those God has placed us among: family, friends, ministry and work assignment, etc. Jesus tells us what to pray for them: that they will be kept from the evil one and that they will be sanctified through His Word.

3. His prayer for a wider circle: "...those who will believe in me through their message." This teaches us to pray for the Church universal and its many expressions. We are to pray for unity of the Spirit and love in the Church at large as a witness to the world of the reality of Jesus being God's chosen Messiah sent from heaven.

Jesus' high-priestly prayer ends with the expression of His desire (vs. 24). Because of His oneness in heart and mind with His Father, He could ask whatever He wanted and know that He would receive it. So with us: "He that loses his will will find it; he that gives up his will entirely will find it again renewed and strengthened with a divine strength. 'Father, I want...': this is the keynote of the everlasting, ever-active, all-prevailing intercession of our Lord in heaven. It is only in union with Him that our prayer prevails; in union with Him it avails much."

If you find it helpful for your growth in prayer, I encourage you to pray the following prayer which is part of Murray's prayer at the end of this chapter:

"Blessed High Priest...give your grace that this may increasingly be my unceasing life-work - to pray without ceasing, to bring the blessing of heaven down on all around me here on earth. Lord, I come to accept this as my calling...Take possession of my heart and fill it with one desire - the glory of God in the ingathering, sanctification, and union of those whom the Father has given you...Take me wholly and fit me as a priest to stand always before God and to bless in His name."

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for unveiling Your heart in this prayer...we love You!