The Real Lord's Prayer
The Real Lord's Prayer
During my whole life up to now, I’ve been taught that the Lord’s Prayer was the “Our Father, who art in heaven,” prayer. Meanwhile Jesus was teaching them that the world wasn’t a stage of pretence.
I was in church when Pastor, in the middle of his sentence had said, “No, no, that’s not The Lord’s prayer, The Lord’s Prayer is John 17:20. That’s the real Lord’s Prayer!” Then went back to his message.
BAFFLED.
“There’s a real Lord’s Prayer?” Lord knows my curious self rushed home to search the scriptures. So Jesus, being the medium interceded for His followers and you discover that this was the Father’s prayer for us who believe in Him and for those that are yet to come to the faith.
I discovered 4 prayer requests in this prayer too:
#1 - Intimacy with God
Jesus prays to The Father for intimacy with Him. He prays that you and I may experience the intimacy He experiences with The Father.
“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son (Your name), so that your Son (Your name) may glorify you— just as you have given him (Your name) authority over all humanity, so that he (Your name) may give eternal life to everyone you have given him (or her. Now this is eternal life—that they (Your name) know(s) you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.”
#2 - Security for our salvation
From verses 9 to 12, Jesus turns over the guardianship of His followers to The Father. He’s handing us over and placing us in The Father’s hands of safety. So that no one who belongs to Him will be lost.
“I am praying on behalf of them. I am not praying on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you have given me, because they belong to you. Everything I have belongs to you, and everything you have belongs to me, and I have been glorified by them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. When I was with them I kept them safe and watched over them in your name that you have given me. Not one of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, so that the scripture could be fulfilled.”
#3 - Purity in our world
“I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth.”
The King James version says in verse 17 “Sanctify them through thy truth:” The word “Sanctify” comes from the Greek word, “Hagiasmos” and it means, “to set apart for Holy service”. They weren’t perfect, just like you and I, but rather had to be perfected, just like you and I. you can see this in verse 19 when Jesus says, “And for their sakes I sanctify myself…"
So it shows us that the same way Jesus was separated for service is the same way we also are separated for service. We’re in this world, but are not of it. So here Jesus is praying that although we’ll be in contact with the world, that we should not be contaminated by it.
#4 - Unity
“I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony, that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me."
Jesus prayed for unity in the church. For unity and not uniformity. God has called you and I to reproduce disciples; not to duplicate ourselves. Verse 17 was talking about the necessity, the need of the truth; first and foremost. So that for those who hear the truth of God’s Word will have unity amongst themselves; because they’ve understood it and know why god requires it of them.
When we think unity, we automatically can think that it means, “Yeah let’s gather all the denominations and look unified before the world.” That’s nowhere near what is required of us. When Jesus Christ talked about unity, He was talking about our unity on the truth of His deity. His resurrection. His Word holding the uttermost and first authority. His return, and so much more.
These are God’s deepest desires for us. The real Lord’s Prayer for us.