The Lord’s Greatest Prayer 3

The famous and familiar Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6
– it’s called the Lord’s Prayer – is a prayer that
Jesus would never pray. It’s a prayer that He could
never pray, because it’s a prayer that asks for
forgiveness of transgressions and debts. That does
not apply to Him. So what we call the Lord’s Prayer
is a prayer He could not pray. But John 17 is the
true Lord’s Prayer, because He prayed it; and this is
a prayer that no human could ever pray. That becomes
reinforced to us as we study each of these verses.

From beginning to end, this chapter is the
Lord’s Prayer; He prayed it. It is pure prayer, and
it is for us, it is for us. It is the Lord Jesus
praying for us, praying for His people. And because
it is for us, it is an incomprehensible priviledge to
have this prayer written down in Scripture. The
eleven disciples heard Him pray these words. But in
the purposes of God, they were written down so all
believers through all time could also hear. This is a
firsthand opportunity to hear what’s on the Lord’s
heart for His people. This prayer was prayed deep
into Friday morning in the darkness as the disciples
walked toward the garden of Gethsemane where our Lord
would pray, and be tempted, and overcome that
temptation, and then be arrested by a crowd led by
Judas; and later on that Friday, He would be
crucified.