A Prayerful Conversation
John 17:6-19
“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.
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This morning we find Jesus during the last moments of his time on earth. The passage belongs to a series of "farewell addresses" that Jesus leaves for his disciples. However, these particular discourses are not the primary focus for this today. Why? Because there is something even more powerful going on right in front of us, which is that in the midst of his impending betrayal, trial, and crucifixion, Jesus stops to pray. And not only does Jesus pause to pray, but Jesus also lifts up specific prayers for those he holds close to his heart. Prayer is an act of love, an act of thanksgiving, an act of grieving, and an act that can hold all the feelings that dwell within our hearts. So how are you praying today? And how are you praying for those you love?
Often theologians, philosophers, and church leaders have talked about prayer as a spiritual exercise or discipline. In many ways, this is true, yet I believe in our mystification of prayer, we've lost the ability to pray organically from the heart. I can remember a time early in my ministry where I led a retreat and asked if someone would volunteer to pray. The room grew still; people's eyes darted around the room like students not wanting the teacher to call on them until the silence broke when one person who couldn't stand the quiet began to pray. Prayer shouldn't be a practice that causes us to sweat bullets. As I said, prayer is an act of love. And in any loving relationship, communication is key. The prayer that Jesus offered in the reading today models that. Jesus begins by having a conversation with God.
Prayer as a reminder: In conversing with God, we are reminded of the blessings in our lives and given the opportunity to give thanks for those blessings, no matter how small. It's why Jesus this morning offers thanks for the disciples, even though they weren't always the best at listening and following. Jesus names them as a blessing for which he is thankful. In our conversation with God, it's powerful to identify these things. Do you know how impactful that it is to hear those names? It's why people on Sunday are moved to hear names read during our prayers of the people. And it is something that we can do even more frequently in our prayer lives when we are alone and with others.
Prayer as an act of confiding: Like any conversation with someone we love or trust, we don't always talk about the good because we can't always talk about the upside of life when reality proves that many ailments plague us and the world around us. Prayer is the moment where we can be honest, brutally honest about our deep-seated concerns, worries, fears, doubts, and ask for help in our times of trouble. If shadows in our lives are painful for us to confront, maybe our prayerful conversation with God is the time and place for us to offer them up. Jesus too, is open in his prayer. He is concerned about the well-being of those he will leave behind. He knows life is going to be hard, and he doesn't sugar coat it. If we can't confide in God in prayer, who can we talk to then? Prayer is a time for us to tell the truth and confront what troubles us.
This time we spend with God in prayer might just shine a light on something you were looking for or spark an idea to a solution you were hoping to find. However, you might have noticed Jesus spends most of his prayerful conversation with God, not focusing on his own problem, but prayer for others, for us, for you. And while our first inclination might be to list all our problems, those tend to sort themselves out as we converse with God about what is going on in our lives and, as we name those close to our hearts and strangers who we've never met.
A medical study titled "Prayer and healing: A medical and scientific perspective on randomized controlled trials" tried to research the impact of prayer on a person's health. As you might imagine, the paper writers ended up with more questions than answers (i.e., Is there a right or wrong way to pray?). My favorite question that they included in their conclusion was, "Why would any divine entity be willing to submit to experiments that attempt to validate their existence and constrain their responses?" Whether we are having a conversation about something that is going on in our life or someone else's, we shouldn't avoid talking to God because we think we are praying incorrectly.
During the last days of his earthly ministry, Jesus paused to pray for us. And Jesus continues to pray for us and hold us close to the heart of God. These prayers reverberate throughout our world, calling us to bring to God in prayer our joys, our sorrows, our grief, our faults, and everything that we carry with us. These prayers also call out to remind us that our time with God in prayer is an act of love. It's an act of love that we show towards God, ourselves, as an act of self-love, and love that we meant to express to one another. Let us pray as Jesus prayed for us. Let us pray knowing that through the tough times and celebrations, Jesus walks with us. Let us pray so that we never settle for what is, but instead move towards the bending arch of Jesus' love, justice, compassion, mercy, and grace that we are called to embody. Amen.