Drawn Into Glory: The Greatest Prayer Ever Prayed
Jesus' Final Prayer Was About You.
In His final hours before the cross, Jesus prayed one last prayer. It wasn't for Himself - it was for you.
The Scene
It's Thursday night in Jerusalem. The Passover meal is finished. Judas has slipped away to betray his Master. In a flickering, lamp-lit upper room, Jesus has just delivered His final teachings to eleven confused, anxious disciples.
Picture this: Oil lamps casting flickering shadows on limestone walls. The disciples reclining around low tables with remnants of the Passover meal still present. The atmosphere thick with confusion - Jesus has spoken difficult things about suffering, rejection, and betrayal. Yet there's also deep love forged through three years together.
Then Jesus does something extraordinary - He prays the most profound prayer ever recorded. John 17 invites us to eavesdrop on an intimate conversation between Father and Son that reveals God's ultimate plan for every believer.
This isn't just any prayer. In verse 20, Jesus explicitly prays "for those who will believe in me through their word." That's you. Every Christian is a direct recipient of this prayer.
Three Movements of Grace
Movement I: The Foundation (vv. 1-5)
"Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you."
Jesus acknowledges that history's climactic moment has arrived. But notice something remarkable: He speaks of His work as already "finished" even before the cross (v. 4). From God's eternal perspective, your salvation is already accomplished.
Here's what strikes me about glory in Jesus' context versus our culture. When we say something was "glorious," we usually mean wonderful, exciting, victorious - like a team getting "the glory" of winning. But when Jesus talks about glory here, He's saying, "Father, I will glorify you through brokenness - through my flesh being ripped, through being crowned with thorns where there should have been gold."
The same God who glorified His Son through suffering is writing a prescription for you to be glorified through whatever suffering you endure in this life. As Paul wrote, "I fill up in my body what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ" (Colossians 1:24) and "fellowship in His sufferings, that I might partake of His glory" (Philippians 3:10).
Then comes the revolutionary redefinition: "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (v. 3).
Eternal life isn't about duration - living forever. It's about relationships - knowing God intimately. The Greek word for "know" here isn't intellectual knowledge but experiential, intimate relationship - like a husband knowing his wife. Eternal life begins the moment you truly know God through Jesus Christ.
Movement II: Safe in His Hands (vv. 6-19)
Jesus prays two primary requests for believers: protection and sanctification.
"Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me" (v. 11).
We're not kept by our strength, willpower, or religious performance. We're kept by God's holy character and covenant faithfulness. Jesus had protected the disciples during His earthly ministry; now He transfers that care to the Father.
But notice what Jesus doesn't pray: "I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one" (v. 15). Christians live in beautiful tension - fully engaged with the world yet maintaining distinctly different values and ultimate allegiances. We're in the world, not of the world.
Recently I interviewed Bishop Bronner's daughter Kirstie Foley for a book project. She grew up in a loving Christian home but faced constant rejection from peers because she wouldn't compromise. They'd tease her: "You don't know anything about that, do you?" when making crass jokes. But she said, "I wouldn't have traded any of the peace and security I saw in my home for that acceptance." That's the beautiful tension - fully engaged but distinctly different.
The means of our growth? "Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth" (v. 17). In an age of relativism, Jesus declares that God's Word is objective, transformative truth that sets us apart for His purposes. I love this verse so much that my wife and I had it inscribed inside our wedding rings: "Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth." It's the perfect prayer - asking for holiness through God's revelation.
Movement III: The Climax of Love (vv. 20-26)
Here's where the prayer becomes almost too wonderful to believe.
"That they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you; that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe" (v. 21).
Jesus doesn't pray for organizational unity. He prays that believers would participate in the very oneness between Father and Son. This supernatural unity serves as the church's greatest evangelistic tool - when we love with divine love, the world recognizes something they can't explain.
But it gets better: "And the glory which you gave me I have given them" (v. 22).
You share in Christ's divine glory. You're not just forgiven - you're glorified.
Then comes the most staggering promise in Scripture: "that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them as you have loved me" (v. 23).
The Father loves you with exactly the same love He has for Jesus Christ. This isn't metaphor or hyperbole. It's the stunning reality of your identity in Christ.
Jesus' ultimate desire? "Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory" (v. 24).
His deepest longing isn't just that you'd be saved from hell, but that you'd spend eternity with Him, exploring the infinite depths of His glory.
The prayer climaxes with the ultimate goal: "that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them" (v. 26).
Everything points to this reality: the same love existing between Father and Son dwelling in you through Christ's presence.
Here's where this becomes deeply personal for me. Years ago, shortly after my honeymoon, I was in an altar ministry in Macon, Georgia. I got on my knees, and suddenly - in what I can only describe as a visionary experience - I found myself before the Eternal Father. Like God appearing to Solomon, I heard Him say, "Ask me for anything."
I felt terrified that I'd ask for the wrong thing. But from deeper than my consciousness, this prayer leaped out: "I want to love Jesus like the Father loves Jesus." It puzzled me immediately - why wouldn't I pray to love the Father like Jesus does? The idea of having the Father's love for Jesus seemed strange.
Sometime later, studying John 17, I couldn't believe it. Verse 26 - Jesus prays that "the love with which you loved me may be in them." The Father's love for Jesus dwelling in us! I had prayed exactly what Jesus prayed, not because I understood it, but because my spirit understood something my mind didn't.
That prayer continues to be answered. We're meant to be a people who love God in a way beyond human comprehension - a love that only comes by revelation.
Living the Answer
John 17 isn't just history - it's your current reality. Jesus continues interceding for you (Romans 8:34). You are the ongoing answer to this prayer.
What This Changes
You Are Secure: Your salvation depends on God's faithfulness, not your performance. Jesus never wearies of your presence - He sees all your brokenness and mess yet never ceases to delight in you.
You Are Sanctified: God's Word transforms you. Every time you engage Scripture, you participate in the very process Jesus prayed for.
You Are Sent: Like Jesus, you're sent into the world with divine purpose. We're meant to find hurting people and show them God's love and healing power.
You Are United: Your love for fellow believers validates the Gospel to a watching world. Unity isn't optional - it's essential witness.
You Are Loved: The same love the Father has for Christ is directed toward you. This transforms how you see yourself, your worth, and your future.
The Prayer That Changed Everything
As Jesus finished praying, He would walk to Gethsemane, face betrayal, endure the cross, and rise victorious. Think about what should have happened after three years of healing miracles, driving out demons, and teaching truth. He should have been celebrated, shown kindness, honored as king instead of Herod. The disciples expected a conquering Messiah who'd overthrow Rome.
Instead, God allowed the opposite - revealing both humanity's sinfulness and providing forgiveness through this sinless man's suffering. But thankfully, that wasn't the end. The end is resurrection victory.
Everything He prayed for was accomplished through His death and resurrection.
The remarkable truth? We're living in the answer to this prayer. Every time someone comes to faith, experiences God's protection, grows in holiness, participates in Christian community, or experiences divine love - Jesus' prayer is being fulfilled.
R.C. Sproul put it perfectly: "The prayer of John 17 stands as the greatest prayer ever prayed - not only because of who prayed it, but because of what it accomplished and continues to accomplish in the lives of all who believe."
Your Response
How does knowing Jesus prayed specifically for you change your perspective?
Which aspect speaks most powerfully to your current situation?
How will you live this week as someone for whom Jesus prayed?
The next time you feel uncertain about your faith, remember: You are the subject of the greatest prayer ever prayed, offered by the greatest Person who ever lived, to the greatest God who ever was. You are drawn into glory - the very glory between Father and Son.
That changes everything.
