JOHN 17:1-3 – When 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, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
THEME OF THE DAY. PRAYER: GETTING TO THE HEART. When it comes to building spiritual relationships with other Christians, the most important place and practice is prayer. It is in praying with other Christians that God meets with us and deepens our spiritual relationships more than in any other spiritual practice. That is not to dismiss other spiritual practices as unimportant. Attending church together is a wonderful and necessary experience among Christians, but the time constraints on a Sunday make deepening relationships not possible. Also, serving in ministry together is a great way to spend time together as believers, but this too, is restrictive. It is more about function than relationship; more about doing than being. And hanging out together doing fun social things is important for relationship-building with other Christians but it doesn’t allow for much spiritual investment and sharing. It is in prayer we get to know one another as God desires for His people.
There is another thing prayer does. It reveals two things about a person. The first thing is what is really of great importance to an individual. Be in prayer with another person or small group and listen. If genuine and not some “canned script” or vain repetition, we will know quickly the passions of the heart, the burdens carried, and just what is of the greatest priority in a person’s life. Another thing prayer reveals in the life of a Christian is the spiritual maturity or God-centeredness in the one praying. It has been said by many great Christians throughout church history that “the true measurement of one’s spirituality and closeness to God is in prayer.” This is so true. If prayer is the language of love between God and His redeemed child, and it is, then we know immediately the value we place on our relationship with God by our commitment to seek His face in prayer – alone and with other like-minded, God-seeking believers.
Both truths about prayer – the place to build real spiritual relationships with other Christians and how much we are committed to our relationship with God – is modeled by Jesus in today’s scripture which is the introduction of His High Priestly prayer. The first truth is affirmed by the audience of this prayer. He was not alone. His disciples were near. They would have heard Him and oh, what a prayer bringing the One praying and those with Him closer together. The disciples heard Jesus’ heart poured out.
The second truth modeled by Jesus is the place His relationship with His Father held with Him. Take time and read the whole chapter of John 17 – the entirety of our Lord’s prayer. Settle in and “listen” to the dialogue with His Father. Was not this the most important thing in Jesus’ life? Absolutely. Not only at this crisis time in His life, but in His life-long commitment to spend time alone with His Father, enjoying fellowship with Him, through heart-to-heart, sincere, and genuine prayer.
So, what about us? What place is praying with other Christians holding in our lives? And what about the discipline of delightful prayer to cultivate closeness with God? How we answer those questions will tell us not only the closeness of our relationships with other believers, but also with our glorious God.
PRAYER: “My God, forgive me when I neglect my greatest pursuit and joy in life – knowing You”
QUOTE: “We were created to know God. Don’t let the world, devil, and flesh take us off our created purpose”