John 17.1-11

When you pray, what do you pray for?

Do you pray that you would get a “good night’s sleep?”

Do you pray that you would pass your upcoming school exams?

Do you pray that the guy or girl that you really like would ask you out on a date?

Do you pray that you would get a call back from the job you interviewed for?

Do you pray that you would have the money to pay the rent this month?

Do you pray that a rebellious child would turn around and come home?

Do you pray for reconciliation in our currently divided and hostile nation?

Do you pray for the imprisonment of your political rivals?

Do you pray that a sickness or disease would be healed?

Do you pray that the addiction of a loved one would be broken? 

Or, do you pray that a personal addiction that you are enslaved by would be broken?

At the age of 16, in the year 371, Augustine ran away from his mother in Carthage. During the night he sailed away to Rome, leaving her alone to her tears and her prayers.

How were these prayers answered? Not the way Monica [Augustine’s mother] hoped at the time.

Augustine himself wrote, “And what did she beg of you, my God, with all those tears, if not that you would prevent me from sailing away? But you did not do as she asked you. Instead, in the depth of your wisdom, you granted the wish that was closest to her heart.

“For she saw that you had granted her far more than she used to ask in her tearful prayers. You converted me to yourself, so that I no longer placed any hope in this world, but stood firmly upon the rule of faith. And you turned her sadness into rejoicing, into joy far fuller than her dearest wish, far sweeter and more chaste than any she had hoped to find.”

God always has our best and his glory in mind, and he is willing and able to answer our prayers with more than we could ask or imagine.

Through a mother’s prayer, a once rebellious teenage son became a 4th Century philosopher who majorly influences Christianity.  Today, when we discuss his theological contributions to the Church, we refer to him as Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Prayer happens in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons.

Sometimes we pray with other people in church using pre-writen, guided words of prayer on a screen.

And, sometimes we pray, using our own words, in our bed at night after reviewing the day we just completed and anticipating the new day that will begin in a few hours.

Sometimes we pray because we are thankful.

And, sometimes we pray because we are desperate.

We all pray.  

But, the questions that come with our prayer habits are:

“Who do you pray to?”

“What drives you to pray?”

And, “What do you pray for?”

In this morning’s text from the Gospel of John, or, in other words, John the disciple’s biography of Jesus, we are going to hear who Jesus prays to, what drives Jesus to prayer, and what Jesus prays for.  

In John 17:1–11, we hear this:

[1] When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, [2] since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. [3] And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. [4] I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. [5] And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

[6] “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. [7] Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. [8] For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. [9] I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. [10] All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. [11] And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. (ESV)

This morning, we find ourselves in the room and at the table where Jesus is eating The Last Supper with his disciples.  This is the night that Jesus will be betrayed, arrested, and set up for the death penalty.

Jesus’ disciples were troubled at the news of Jesus no longer being physically with them on a daily basis.  They had many questions about who would lead them, guide them, teach them, protect them, defend them, and strengthen them for the hardships associated with everyday life.

They were filled with fear, anxiety, confusion, doubt, and were experiencing an existential crisis that demonstrated a great need for help.

In the texts leading up to this morning’s pericope, Jesus addressed their concerns and gave them confidence through assuring them that He would fulfill his promise to them—the promise to be with them always (see Matthew 28.20)—by living with them and in them through the third person of the trinity known as the Holy Spirit.  In His presence with them, in the person of the Holy Spirit, Jesus would do everything He did for them while present with them in the flesh and bones of Jesus Christ.  He would continue to strengthen them to know the truth of God when confronted with the lies for the world and He would strengthen them to be obedient to God’s commands for life and love while always providing forgiveness when they stumbled.

After speaking with the disciples about what life will be like once He was gone from the earth, but present with them in the Holy Spirit, Jesus turns his attention to pray.

Just as we mentioned a few minutes ago, prayer begs three questions whenever we do it.

The first question is, “Who do you pray to?”

Why is this an important question?

This is an important question because there is only One person you can pray to that is alive and powerful and can therefore hear you and respond.

And, this One person is the exact person that Jesus prays to.

In verse 1 of our text, Jesus begins His prayer by acknowledging that He is asking God, the Father in Heaven, for His help.

In 1 Peter 5.6-7, we have this directive:

[6] Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (ESV)

And, in Proverbs 15.29, we are told:

[29] The LORD is far from the wicked,

but he hears the prayer of the righteous. (ESV)

God cares for us and wants us to speak with Him about EVERYTHING,  He wants to know when we are content, happy, and thankful.  But, He also wants to know when we are in despair, dealing with depression, and have questions about His love for us.

We also have a warning about addressing our prayers to the wrong people and places in Psalm 115:4–13 when we hear the song writer say this:

[4] Their idols [the false gods that they pray to] 

are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

[5] They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

[6] They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

[7] They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

[8] Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them.

[9] O Israel, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

[10] O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

[11] You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

[12] The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us;

he will bless the house of Israel;

he will bless the house of Aaron;

[13] he will bless those who fear the LORD,

both the small and the great. (ESV)

This Biblical text is saying that,

You cannot pray to a statue and expect results;

You cannot pray to Allah or Mohammed and expect results;

You cannot pray to Mother Nature, and expect results;

You cannot pray to “the god of your understanding” and expect results;

And, you cannot cause a manifestation of a wish or desire by speaking it out into the Universe and expect results.

All of those examples are just man-made fictitious gods and prophets who have no divine power.

This Biblical text is also saying that,

You cannot pray to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and expect results;

You cannot pray to man-named “saints” and expect results;

You cannot pray to Buddha or Confucius and expect results;

And, you cannot pray to your ancestors—your parents, grandparents, or other relatives—and expect results.

All of those examples of people that are prayed to are just plain humans, like you and me, who have passed on from this life.

Regardless of what other people or places tell you about who to address your prayers to, you should always be wise and go back to the Bible to find the truth about who is listening and wants to respond to you.

And, this is what the Bible says about who we pray to:

[1] First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, [2] for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. [3] This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, [4] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, [6] who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (1 Timothy 2:1–6, ESV)

Jesus knew the truth that God, the Father in Heaven, the Creator and Redeemer of all things, was the One and Only true God who is eternally alive and active.  

So, Jesus’ prayer aligned with the truth that would later be recorded by the disciple John in his first letter to the Christian Church in which he states:

[14] And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:13–15, ESV)

The second question that has to be asked when we pray is, “What is driving us to prayer?”

Well, for Jesus, we see and hear that Jesus is driven to prayer because He knows God is good and He wants the world to know that God is good by having him provide for the needs of His friends.

Jesus asks over and over again in prayer for God to be glorified.

What does this mean?

For God to be glorified means for God to receive the recognition and honor and praise and thanks that He deserves for being good and gracious and merciful to the world.

We actually ask the same thing when we pray the Lord’s prayer.

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, we open in a similar way to the way that Jesus opens his prayer during this Last Supper conversation.

We say, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be your name.”

When we ask, “Hallowed be Your name,” we are asking God to let His name be known everywhere by every person so that He receives the recognition and honor and praise and thanks that He deserves for being good and gracious to the world.

So, Jesus is driven to prayer so that God can act graciously and mercifully and be known by more people in more places by His miraculous answers to prayer.  Jesus is praying for people to be saved.  He is asking for people to recognize God and their need for forgiveness and eternal life.

And, finally, the third question that has to be asked when we pray is, “What do we pray for?”

Well, in Jesus’ prayer this morning, he asks for two things.

The first thing we just discussed, Jesus asks that God would be glorified as people believe in Him as Lord and Savior.

The second thing that Jesus prays for is unity among all who follow him.

Jesus knows that the Church is made up of people from different ethnicities, different socio-economic status’, different upbringings, and so on.  

And, on top of all of those differences, the Church is made up of individuals corrupted by sin who are all self-centered, self-seeking, and self-preserving.  The Church is made up of changed and transformed individuals who will continue to struggle with the temptation to sin by always seeking their own good above the good of others.

But, Jesus knows what God reveals as truth—when humans find themselves believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and they are strengthened by the Holy Sprit to love one another and put the needs of others above their own, the love of God is shown to the world because they are demonstrating that this is the way that God loves humanity—He puts the needs of others, meaning you, above His own.

Through the unity of Christian brothers and sisters, the love that God has for you, the love that God demonstrated to you by giving Himself over to death on the cross in the person and work of Jesus Christ for you—to forgive your Sin, which includes a messed up prayer life and your part in the disunity of the Church—God points us back to what the song writer says in Psalm 133.1 when he tells us this truth:

[1] Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity! (ESV)

Tim Keller, reflecting on the passage, “Don’t be anxious but make requests to God with thanksgiving”, writes that, “We would expect Paul to say first you make your requests to God and then, you thank him for the answers. But that is not what Paul says.” Keller then illustrates his point with a story from his early twenties:

I prayed for an entire year about a girl I was dating and wanted to marry, but she wanted out of the relationship. All year I prayed, “Lord, don’t let her break up with me.” Of course, in hindsight, it was the wrong girl. I actually did what I could to help God with the prayer, because one summer, near the end of the relationship, I got in a location that made it easier to see her. I was saying, “Lord, I am making this as easy as possible for you. I have asked you for this, and I have even taken the geographical distance away.” But as I look back, God was saying, “Son, when a child of mine makes a request, I always give that person what he or she would have asked for if they knew everything I know”

Jesus, being God in the flesh, knew everything that God, the Father, knew.  Therefore, when he prayed, he prayed for the exact things that He needed and that those He was praying for needed.

In this morning’s text, Jesus prayed that God would be glorified in all things done by Him and in all things done by those that had faith in Him as Lord and Savior.  Jesus prayed for the disciples at the table during The Last Supper, and Jesus prays for you.

I will say that last part again…

Jesus is always praying for you!

You are on Jesus’ prayer list!

That means the God that created and sustains the universe knows your name, knows your troubles, and knows your needs, and has you on His prayer list every second of every day.

So, with the good news of Jesus’ prayers for you, 

Go this week and pray only to God the Father in Heaven.

Go this week, let the love that God has for you in the person and work of Jesus Christ—the love that leads to your forgiveness, your reconciliation, your righteousness, and your eternal life—lead you into moments of prayer.

And, go this week and pray that God would be glorified in your thoughts, words, and actions, and that God would allow you, and the Christians in your Church, and in the world around you, to be unified so that that people are drawn to the cross of Christ where there is rest, peace, encouragement, support, help, and hope.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

November 9, 2025

Psalm 4

How’s your prayer life?

When do you pray?

Where do you pray?

How much time do you spend praying?

What do you say when you pray?

I shared this story a few years ago, but I return to it again and again because of how clear it describes genuine prayer.

A pastor from Florida told the following story about a woman he knew who showed up at church and prayed the same simple prayer. “O Lord, thank you Jesus,” she prayed week after week. The kids at church would start laughing every time she opened her mouth because they knew it would be the same prayer—”O Lord, thank you Jesus.”

Finally somebody asked her, “Why do you pray the same little prayer?” She said, “Well, I’m just combining the two prayers that I know. We live in a bad neighborhood and some nights there are bullets flying and I have to grab my daughter and hide on the floor, and in that desperate state all I know how to cry out is, ‘O Lord.’ But when I wake up in the morning and see that we’re okay I say, ‘Thank you Jesus.’ When I got to take my baby to the bus stop and she gets on that bus and I don’t know what’s going to happen to her while she’s away, I cry, ‘O Lord.’ And then when 3:00 P.M. comes and that bus arrives and my baby is safe, I say, ‘Thank you Jesus.’”

She said, “Those are the only two prayers I know and when I get to church God has been so good I just put my two prayers together, “O Lord, thank you Jesus.”

Prayers come in all shapes and forms.  

Some are elongated dissertations on the eternality and efficacy of the triune Godhead.

Others are just a simple statements that say the same thing; like, “O Lord; Thank you Jesus.”

But, one thing is for sure…

All prayers offered in Jesus Christ-centered faith are heard by God the Father in Heaven, Maker of Heaven and Earth.

That being said, the question, “How’s your prayer life?,” can bring up two totally opposite emotions or thought patterns.

The first is, “My prayer life is amazing.  I love getting up early each morning to have my coffee while I prayer for each item and person on my prayer list.  I feel so connected to God in those moments because I know he hears me and I see the answers to my prayers piling up in my life in real time.”

And, the second response is, which is my personal response, as I always try to be honest with you from the pulpit, “Prayer is hard.  I struggle to do it.  I don’t often do it. Don’t get me wrong, I want to do it more.  I want to be one of those first thing in the morning people.  But, I continually struggle to pray because I find prayer hard.”

For many of us, prayer is hard.

And, prayer is hard for many reasons.

Prayer is hard for some of us because we get distracted.

We have kids knocking on our bedroom or office door in need of help getting a snack or changing the television channel.

Or, we have cell phones at our side that are always ringing, vibrating, and giving off text alert sounds.

Prayer is hard for some of us because of busyness.

We have school buses to catch, laundry to do, groceries to buy, dinner to cook, and bedtime stories to tell.

We have 5 AM alarms, 60-90 minute commutes to work, 8-10 hour work days, 60-90 minute commutes from work, and midnight bedtimes.

We have classes to attend, homework to do, papers to write, teams to practice with, television shows to binge watch, and boyfriends or girlfriends to hang out with.

Some of us are all too familiar with the line, “I will prayer after I….” (Fill in the blank).  But, we are also familiar with the truth that the “after I….,” never comes.

Prayer is hard for some of us because of we just don’t want to do it.

We don’t think we have the time.

We think it is a waste of time.

We think our prayers fall on deaf ears.

We don’t think we know how to pray correctly.

We think it is boring.

And, for some of us, we are afraid of silence.

Prayer can make us uneasy if we aren’t use to quietness.

Regardless of how we feel about prayer, as pastor Bill Hybels famously said and then titled a book, “We are too busy not to pray!”

The German Lutheran Pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who served and was imprisoned during Adolf Hitler’s reign of terror, highlighted the utmost importance of prayer for the Christian life.

He said, “Prayer is the heart of the Christian life.” 

He said, “Where a people prays, there is the church.” 

And, he said “Prayer is necessary for the Christian life and necessary for life together in the church.”

In this morning’s text, which once again comes from the book of Psalms, King David is praying to God asking him for help at a time when the people around him are gossiping about him and spreading lies about him.

Let’s hear about King David’s prayers and prayer life from his words in Psalm 4.

King David says to God:

[1] Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!

You have given me relief when I was in distress.

Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

[2] O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?

How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?

[3] But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;

the LORD hears when I call to him.

[4] Be angry, and do not sin;

ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.

[5] Offer right sacrifices,

and put your trust in the LORD.

[6] There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?

Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”

[7] You have put more joy in my heart

than they have when their grain and wine abound.

[8] In peace I will both lie down and sleep;

for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (ESV)

It is in this prayer of King David’s that he complains that enemies are speaking badly of him in an attempt to shame him.

After voicing the problem and naming the problem people that he is dealing with, he turns away from his problem and makes statements reminding himself (and all that would hear his prayer throughout history) that God protects the faith-filled from those who do the things that these problem people are doing.

It is true that we often find ourselves in the same position as King David.  We do have points in our lives where people try to cause problems for us.

But, how often do we find ourselves in the same position as those speaking badly of King David, their leader?

We are often quick to open our mouths and share our opinions about how terrible people in positions of power around us are.  We speak badly about our bosses, our teachers, our principals, our presidents, our elders, and our pastors.  

So, we are in the same position as King David’s enemies.

And, what position is that?

The position where our sin completely breaks our relationship with God and communication back and forth between us and God becomes impossible.

Because of sin, there is silence when we pray.  

Like King David’s enemies, we pray but do not trust God. 

Therefore, God does not respond or answer us.

We find ourselves experiencing silence from Heaven.

In June 1730, a handful of Cherokee Indian Chiefs crossed the Atlantic seeking an audience with King George II. They first appeared in court at Kensington Palace. They were there to sign treaties, to present their grievances against the French, and to petition the king for aid and support. They had to wait in the lobby for days, returning again and again until the king granted them an audience. They were finally granted their opportunity to present their petitions. Custom dictated that the king would signify his acceptance of their petition by giving them gifts. King George II gave the Cherokees clocks. 

They were fine clocks, no doubt. Any English nobleman would be honored beyond words to have such a gift, and he would be just as sure to display the clocks prominently. But these Cherokee had no idea what these clocks were and had no use for them whatsoever. It’s not even clear that they took the clocks home with them as they crossed the Atlantic on their return to the colonies. History is clearer on what became of the treaties King George II made with the Cherokee. 

How opposite is prayer to the almighty God, sovereign King of the universe. We do not need to board a ship and travel thousands of miles and wait for days in a grand entrance hall. And when we do get an audience with this King, he does not give us clocks. He graciously grants to us exactly and precisely what we need. And we know that his promises are sure. He does not break treaties. 

Bonhoeffer reminds us that the journey of prayer is actually far more costly than a transatlantic trip. Our journey of prayer into the presence of God cost the precious blood of Christ, God’s Son. Christ’s sacrifice grants us entrance to the Father’s court.

This morning, me and you have the good news that the line of communication between us and our Creator has been repaired for us.

In his first letter to his student and mentee, Timothy, the apostle Paul reminds you that the connection between man and God, that is, between you and God, that was severed and broken because of sin, has been repaired.

In 1 Timothy 2:5–6, Paul tells Timothy, and in turn through the canonization of the text, us, that:

[5] For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, [6] who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (ESV)

When you find yourself believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior, as the one who lived a perfectly righteous life for you, obeying all of God’s commands for you every second of every day, as the one who gave his life over to death on the cross to forgive your sin, and as the one who defeated the power of death and sin for you by raising from the grave on the first Easter morning, 

silence is broken, 

silence is canceled, 

and your prayers fall of the loving ears of God, your Creator, who hears and responds to you in any and every moment of need.

Without Jesus, there is silence when you pray.

But, Jesus cancels silence.

Jesus cancels silence for you.

And, we can, like King David say, 

the LORD hears when I call to him.

That means that we can talk to God in prayer, whenever we want, with big words or small words, with run-on sentences, or simple statements, always trusting in the promise that God gave to his people through the prophet Jeremiah.

In Jeremiah 29:12–13, God promises:

[12] Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. [13] You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. (ESV)

And, we can say with confidence, alongside the psalm writer who wrote Psalm 66:

[18] If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,

the Lord would not have listened.

[19] But truly God has listened;

he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

[20] Blessed be God,

because he has not rejected my prayer

or removed his steadfast love from me! 

(Psalm 66:18–20 ESV)

The German Lutheran Pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, that we heard from earlier, also said these Biblical things about prayer:

He said, “Christ is the ground and basis for prayer, Christ enables us to pray, and Christ even teaches us to pray.”

He said, “Prayer means bending our desires o God’s determinations, bringing our petitions in line with his priorities, and having the kingdom and our agenda at the center.  Simply put, prayer is the orientation of one’s life to God.”

And, he said, “prayer is about God first; then it is about us.  It’s wrong to think and pray otherwise.”

The comforting thing for us is that God knows our weakness so well that he has even safeguarded prayer for the times we pray for the wrong things and the times we neglect prayer.

In his letter to the Christians gathered in the city of Rome during the 1st Century, the apostle Paul lets them (and you by extension) know this:

[26] Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. [27] And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26–27, ESV)

Although you start out in the same position as the problem people in King David’s life, as enemies of God who hear nothing but silence when we pray because our relationship with God is cut off due to sin,…

You, by God’s grace alone, find yourself faith-filled, believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, with the silence canceled and God graciously hearing and answering you when you pray.

So, I leave you with this encouragement for the week:

[16] Rejoice always, 

[17] pray without ceasing, 

[18] give thanks in all circumstances; 

for this is the will of God for you [that you have an open line of communication with him] in Christ Jesus. 

(1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

June 2, 2024.