The (Real) Lord's Prayer Series

[continuing the pastoral prayer]… Glorify your servant today. Help him to preach well so that those who hear might be impressed and tell their friends how great he is. Grow our church so that our fame might be spread throughout the area. Make my name a household word among Christians like Chuck Swindoll. Lord, please glorify me today. Amen.

What’s wrong? Don’t you like my prayer? Why not? I can see the elders calling a special meeting right after the service, or they should if I would ever pray a prayer like that seriously. In fact, they should dismiss me immediately and suggest I go to the state mental hospital at Larned. No person in their right mind would ever pray like that unless, of course, you’re the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to John 17, John 17, where John records the “real” Lord’s Prayer, the prayer our Lord prayed the night before He was crucified.

John 17:1-5 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. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed (ESV).

Doesn’t that sound strange? It would if Jesus were a mere human being, but He’s not! He is God, the Son, in the flesh, so…

HE ASKS GOD, THE FATHER, TO GLORIFY HIS SON.

Jesus asks His Heavenly Father to increase his Son’s fame throughout the world, to make His Son’s name great.

There are some who say that Jesus was just a good man, a wonderful teacher, or a great prophet. But Jesus’ prayer here eliminates that possibility. A good man would never pray this way, only a stark, raving lunatic. Jesus’ prayer here leaves us no other choice. He is either deranged or He is deity, because nobody but God would ever pray like this in all seriousness. So, if you believe that Jesus is a good man, you also have to believe that Jesus is the God-man,

He is God the Son asking God the Father to glorify His Son. That’s because Jesus glorified the Father. He brought honor to His Heavenly Father while He was here on this earth.

In verse 4, Jesus told His Heavenly Father, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do,” which was to give eternal life to all the Father gave Him (vs.2).

And just what is that “eternal life?”

Verse 3: And this is eternal life, that they KNOW you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Eternal life is knowing God—not knowing ABOUT God, but knowing God intimately. The Greek word for “know” here is the same word used elsewhere in the New Testament to describe the relationship between a husband and his wife. It describes an intimate, personal knowledge.

When Sandy and I were growing up, our parents took us to a place called Sandy Cove Bible Conference a lot. We must have played together on the same playground equipment many times, but we never “knew” each other until the summer of 1977. Then, the staff director invited her to work with me in the bookstore one weekend, and we started to get to “know” each other. We started dating a year later and four years after that got married.

Before then, if someone had asked me about the girl with the brown hair, I would have said, “Who is that?”

Now that we’ve been married for over 42 years, I can tell you what a great wife, mother, and companion she is. I can honor her better than most people because I “know” her better than most. I have an intimate, personal relationship with my wife.

Now, that’s how Jesus glorified His Father. He gave His followers an intimate, personal knowledge of God. He brought them into a relationship with His Heavenly Father, so they could tell the world what a great Father, Provider, and Friend He is.

Let me ask you a very important question: Do you know God? I’m not asking, “Do you know ABOUT God?” I’m asking, “Do you KNOW God intimately?

You can through Jesus Christ, His Son. Just trust Jesus with your life. Live your life in dependence upon the One who died for your sins and rose again. Then He will give you eternal life. I.e., He will give you an intimate, personal knowledge of His Father so you can glorify Him too.