This week's readings can be found here John 17.6-19
Reflection John 17:6-19
Before Jesus is arrested, he wants to pray and we see here that what he does is pray not just for the disciples but for all his friends, all the people who believe and know him, in fact we could say that he was praying for us today. He prays for everyone’s protection from the world’s disbelief, from the evil within the world and that they and us may know the truth about Jesus Christ. Jesus knew what was coming for himself, but he was still concerned for his people.
Jesus wanted all his people to be secure in the knowledge of who Jesus was. He wanted people to be joyful, to be content in that knowledge. He wanted his people to keep away from the worldly influence, to be confident enough to be able to walk a different path than the rest of the world. He also wanted for all his people to be faithful to his word.
If you look carefully into this prayer, you will see that Jesus is asking God to take care of those people that he is praying for. He is asking God as he knows that he will no longer be on earth himself to protect and guide them and us.
SO HOW DOES THIS PRAYER HELP US WHEN WE PRAY?
Are there clues and hints from this prayer of Jesus’s that would help us when we want to pray.
We first need to realise that Jesus wasn’t praying in the Synagogue, he was praying at home, OK someone else’s home but still he was not praying in church. If Jesus can do that so can we, Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer outside, that means we can pray anytime and anywhere.
We can also see that Jesus’s prayer feels like a conversation with God. Formal prayers are great and helpful and that was why Jesus gave the disciples the Lord’s Prayer as a start on how to go about praying. But this prayer is very much more personal and where he asks for things not for himself but for others. He wants to pray for the disciples and other believers and feels that it is very important to do this.
We can do the same, if we think the task is too big, and don’t know where to start, focus on something or someone and pray for them. Pray for them or it, for a week, then add something else, add and take away as things progress. There may be some things you ask for every day and others you just ask and pray for once a week. Do not make the list too large, praying to God shouldn’t be like a shopping list, it should be much more personal than that.
Finally, Jesus acknowledges his love of God so don’t forget to thank God for what he has done for you.
Have a go and chat to God, it is called PRAYER.
Jane Woods
Christian Aid Week Prayer
Great God,
Who makes the sun to rise, and opens the heavens
Hear the cry of the people
Who sow in hope for rain, but reap only despair
Hear the cry of the people
Seeking shelter from the storm, their hopes and homes
submerged
Hear the cry of the people,
When creation is hitting back, with rage and resistance
Give us hope, grant us salvation,
Give us a new relationship with creation
With reverence to tend this gift from You
And say once again of the earth and all you created
It is GOOD.
The Journey Prayer t. Brendan the Voyager (484–577) Irish monk
God, bless to me this day, God bless to me this night; Bless, O bless, Thou God of grace, Each day and hour of my life; Bless, O bless, Thou God of grace, Each day and hour of my life.
God, bless the pathway on which I go; God, bless the earth that is beneath my sole; Bless, O God, and give to me Thy love, O God of gods, bless my rest and my repose; Bless, O God, and give to me Thy love, And bless, O God of gods, my repose.
To Pray for
Christian Aid and the generosity of others
All those with mental health issues during Mental Health Awareness Week
All those faced with the unrest in Gaza. May peace be restored.
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