Praying Like Jesus

For so many Christians, prayer is a very private matter. But often, Jesus offered his prayers to God in a very public way—never to show off how great he was as an intercessor or to showcase how impressive his prayers were, but simply to model for his disciples how to connect simply and powerfully with his Father. Through Jesus, we come to understand that authentic prayer is in no way about overcoming any reluctance on God’s part to hear and answer our prayer, but rather it is about tapping into God’s desire to graciously give us what we desire and what he wills through our praying.

Jesus gives us several examples of how we can pray like he did. Obviously, the most famous example is what we call the Lord’s prayer—a brief but powerful, simple yet profound way to effectively connect our needs with God’s will. Another touching example of prayer is this one found in John 17, what we now call Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. This is his final prayer before going to the cross. He knows full well that he will have to suffer unspeakable pain, take the sin of mankind into his sinless spirit, and die the death of a common criminal to redeem mankind, yet facing that he still focuses his prayer on us. And he leaves us a beautiful template for how to pray.

Let me encourage you to take a moment to pray through Jesus High Priestly Prayer using the guide that following. Read the verses aloud as a prayer to God, then using the prayer focus, rephrase Jesus prayer in your own words.

Prayer Focus: Glorifying God through your praise—verses 1-5

“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

Prayer Focus: Acknowledging God’s Word and who you are in him—verse 6-11

“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.”

Prayer Focus: Interceding for unity and protection for Christ’s church—verses 11-12

“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.”

Prayer Focus: Asking for joy and sanctification—verses 13-19

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”

Prayer Focus: Lifting the world-wide church of Christ to God—verses 20-23

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Prayer Focus: Ask that the love of God will be revealed in you and through you—verses 24-26

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

This may time a few extra minutes, but it will be well worth your time as you enter into the same kind of praying that Jesus did. And as you do, you can have this confidence that if the Father listened to the Son, he will listen to you as you come to him in the name of his Son.

“Our prayers matter to God—all of them. They rise up to heaven as pleasing incense before his throne. God will not answer every prayer according to our desires, yet each prayer is an act of worship offered in faith that blesses the very heart of God. Prayer is practicing the presence of God. It is entering his very throne room in the great court of heaven. It is exercising faith in the One who rewards those who believe that he exists and diligently seek him. It is placing your needs, concerns and hopes into the hands of a loving Father who delights in your dependence and is pleased to provide for your needs according to his gracious will. Never forget, your act of prayer does far more in the unseen realm that you will ever realize this side of eternity. So pray—and let God.”

Getting To Know Jesus: Use this prayer guide ever day this week, and notice the results in your life. You will be pleased with the things that happen for you—and more importantly, in you.