JN 17: 6-19 

Jottings on John…Easter 7…Revised 2018

What an amazing privilege to hear Jesus praying for our forebears in Faith, & us, too. (I’m anticipating v. 20). As He gets ready to leave them. Though not to their own devices. Does God ever leave us to our own devices? (Including our I.T. ones!) Do we have a personal story of thinking God had left us to our own ‘devices’? Is it unreasonable to think of Jesus’ praying here as ‘thinking aloud’ to God? How does this sit with Him Himself being One of the indivisible Trinity? Aren’t we really listening to God thinking aloud to God? Doesn’t this in itself make thinking aloud to God a legitimate kind of prayer for us, too? From a pray-er who’s reached that stage of development? Not to be confused with me ‘praying to myself’ - a real spiritual trap! 

Praying at such a deep level doesn’t come easily to most of us. A fortnight ago, blogging on JN15:1-8, I drew attention to Luigi Gioia¹ & his comments about Jesus praying from inside God. His suggesting that praying the Lord’s own Prayer is the key to unlocking this stage in our spiritual growth. I take him to mean that this stage of growth stems (!) from the vine imagery - living in Jesus - of the last couple of weeks. It goes something like this: If we live in Jesus, any praying we do must surely come from ‘inside’ God in some sense. If this sounds a bit at the mystical end of the scale, stick with it! If anyone ever prayed from inside God, it’s Jesus Himself! Doesn’t it follow, then, that if we’re living in Jesus, in some sense we’re praying from inside God, too - even if that takes some mystical thinking (& praying!) Understanding prayer as bringing us that close to God, we can hold the kind of conversation with God Jesus does. Doing as Jesus does here should be a great encouragement to us as we pray! Ever been there, done that? Today we might legitimately focus on praying: Jesus’ prayer & our own praying. 

Praying as above may also help us sort out the difference between thinking of ourselves as ‘volunteers for Jesus’ (as we can do!) &, instead, recognising our discipleship as a gift of Grace from God (v.6). Do we have a personal story of such a discovery? Can we also see that praying together as one in Christ is a way of fulfilling Jesus’ prayer that we become one (v.11). At ground zero. Theoretical prayer doesn’t cut any ice any more than theoretical discipleship does. Is there any such thing as praying in theory? Any more than that we can be disciples in theory? Jesus praying the way He does here just before His passion shows what hard work it is being the Messiah or a disciple of the Messiah. 

More, are we experiencing joy in our relationship with God & each other (v.13) ? How’s our own joy quotient? Have we yet discovered, experienced for ourselves what ‘joy’ is? How do we discern the Truth Jesus is praying for here, as opposed to - & it is opposed to -  the ‘fake news’ some are peddling & thriving on (v.17) ? Any personal story to share here? Even if it’s an embarrassing one? 

¹ ‘Say It To God’, Bloomsbury, London, 2017, p.78 et al.