“One way to get comfort is to plead the promise of God in prayer, show him His handwriting; God is tender of His Word.”
Thomas Manton
Last Sunday, we spent some time in the great High Priestly Prayer of Jesus found in John 17:1-26. This has also been called his prayer of consecration. Thomas Manton called this prayer “his dying blaze” and “a standing monument of Christ’s affection to the church.” Manton loved this passage so much he preached five sermons from the first five verses alone! The prayer found in John 17 is quite a bit different than the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew and Luke. For this reason, J. M. Boice calls John 17 “the real Lord’s prayer” and what he means by that is that the “Our Father” found in Matthew 6 should much more be called the “disciples’ prayer” or the “model prayer” rather than the Lord’s Prayer. We agree with his assessment.
Jesus’ prayer which follows the farewell discourse leads us to many encouraging conclusions. Here is a summary:
- Doctrine is best followed up by prayer. “Christ himself, seals his doctrine with the seal of prayer.” –Calvin. When you read a great doctrinal truth in the Bible why not follow it up with prayer?
- Sermons heard are best applied by prayer. Prayer prepares us for worship and it is the cork that seals in the truth that we have heard.
- Comforting words are best crowned by prayer. The Psalms are filled with comfort. It is no surprise that it is a book of mostly prayers, sung prayers.
- His every prayer is a promise because he never prays amiss. How wonderful is the Lord who can never be faulted in his praying but always reflects his Father’s perfect will.
- His prayer for himself is the shortest of the three. Go and do likewise.
- His petitions are our pillars: 1) Christ’s merit; 2) the apostles’ word; 3) the believers’ comfort. How should we intercede? Let Christ’s petition be our model.
- To precept and promise (John 15:16), he adds example. The Lord had been urging his disciples to pray and giving them promise upon promise as an encouragement. Now he sets an example, by going to the Father himself and presenting his petitions to him.
May the Lord encourage you and strengthen you as you pray and seek him this week. Have a blessed day and we will see many of you on Sunday.
Preserved by His grace,
Pastor Dale
