In John 17 Jesus prayed to His Father.  Not only is it an amazing chapter because we get to listen in to what Jesus said to the Father about what was about to happen, but also because we can observe a model in praying.

Much like the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 [sometimes called the Disciple’s prayer, while this one in John 17 is the Lord’s Prayer] Jesus shows us that prayer begins with the Father. It’s about Him. His will. His glory. Jesus begins with the relationship between the Son and the Father. Our prayers should begin with God, not us and our stuff.  Get a vision of the greatness of God as you pray.

Then Jesus prayed for his guys. The disciples that were no doubt listening in.  He prayed for them. He knew what they were about to encounter.  He prayed that the Father would now ‘keep them’.  That’s awesome. We should pray for each other. We should think of our brothers and sisters as the team we’re on and the team we need to pray for.

Then he prayed for those who would believe. As you might know, that’s us. He prayed for us.  How cool would it be if in our prayers, we prayed for those that are going to get saved.  At church, what about the empty seats?  What about your neighbor?  Let’s pray for those that will soon be on the team.