The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord's Prayer by Paul Camuti 02/06/2026
We commonly call the prayer that Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:9-13, The Lord's Prayer. That prayer was a model, pattern or structure of prayer that teaches us how to pray. The prayer that Jesus prays in John chapter 17, is His prayer that He prays. He prayed for Himself, for His disciples and for all who would believe on Him from the disciples preaching and teaching. It is the Lord Jesus' prayer.
All Scriptures are from the NASB unless otherwise noted.
These things Jesus spoke; and lifting His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind (flesh-KJV), that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life. And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ who Thou hast sent. I glorified Thee on earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do. And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” John 17:1-5
Note from NLT - “The prayer contains a threefold petition, that He may be glorified (verses 1-5), that the apostles may be sanctified (verses 6-19), and that the church may be unified (verses 20-26).” How did Jesus glorify the Father? The word glorify in the Greek is doxazo. It has numerous meanings that my be summed up by this definition, to cause the dignity and worth of some person, or something, to become manifest and acknowledged (emphasis mine). Jesus, by what He did, by what He spoke, and how He lived, by only doing what He heard the Father say, and what He saw the Father do, revealed the dignity and worth of Father God to people. As His disciples, as followers, we are to do the same.
“Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour?' But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Thy name.” There came therefore a voice out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” John 12:27-28
“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, 'Show us the Father?'” John 14:7-9
In John 17: 1-5 Jesus uses the words glory and glorified in combination of five times. The first four times, glorified and glory is the the word doxazo we just mentioned. The last time glory is used, when Jesus said, “with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” The word in the Greek is a slight variation, doxa, which applied to Jesus Christ is, the kingly majesty which belongs to Him as supreme ruler, majesty in the sense of the absolute perfection of the deity.
Notes from NLT - “To glorify God the Father on earth was Jesus express purpose. To prepare for and live in revival, it is imperative that we possess this same desire to glorify God (emphasis mine). He will not share His glory with another (Isaiah 42:8); but to and through those who are consumed with a passion to know God and give all the glory to Him, He will manifest the glory of His Person, His Power, and His Presence (emphasis mine). Glorifying God is the Holy Spirit's intent in revival. The ultimate purpose of revival is for God's glory to manifest. As churches are revived and cities transformed by the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit (through the people of God-empahsis mine) all the glory will be given back to God. Also couched within the glorification of Father God in and through Jesus Christ, and the glorification of Jesus Christ by Father God, is what Jesus defined as eternal life.
“...even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life. And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” John 17:2-3
As I have mentioned many times, the Greek word for know is ginosko which is to get to know by effort and experience. It also convey's the idea of intimacy at the deepest level. Jesus' passion to glorify Father God was driven by the intimate knowledge He had of the Father. As Jesus said, eternal life is that we may know-that we may get to know God/Jesus on as deep of an intimate level as possible. That is the purpose of eternal life. Having ongoing effort and experiences with God/Jesus produces within us a passion to glorify Him. It becomes all about Him. How do we glorify Him? By doing as Jesus did:
Notes from NTL - “...Jesus explains how He glorified God: “completing the work” the Father gave Him to do. To glorify God, then is to complete the assignment-to do those things He has called, chosen, appointed, and anointed us to do (emphasis mine).
Jesus then speaks to Father God about how He showed the disciples who the Father is.
“I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word. Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee; for the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from Thee, and they believed that Thou didst sent Me.” John 17:6-8
In verse 6 when Jesus said, “and they have kept Thy word.” The word kept in the Greek is tereo, which means to guard, to attend to carefully, to take care of.
“While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” John 17:12
Jesus prayer to Father God, speaking about what Jesus did for the disciples leads to Him praying about sanctifying them.
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” John 17:16-19
The word sanctify in verse 17 in the Greek is hagiazo, which means to separate from profane things and dedicate to God. It also means to purify internally by renewing of the soul.
What Jesus was asking Father God to do with the disciples (and for all who follow Him) is to purify the
disciples and us by the renewing of the soul. This so so that we would be able to separate ourselves from the profane things of the world. Jesus asked Father God to separate us in the truth. The word truth in Greek is aletheia, which means what is true in any matter under consideration. God's Word is true in any matter under consideration.
“I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; even as Thou, Father art in Me, and I in Thee, that they may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one. I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known Thee, yet I have known Thee; and these have known that Thou didst send Me; and I have made Thy name known to them,and will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou didst love Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:20-26
The kind of oneness Jesus is praying about almost seems impossible to achieve. If it were impossible to achieve, Jesus would not have said these things in His prayer. Like Jesus once said, “With men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 KJV
Oneness or unity is not about unity for unity's sake. It is about being of one mind and being in one accord as is mentioned several times in the book of Acts. The oneness with Father God/Jesus/Holy Spirit and with one another can only happen when nothing else matters to us than what Father God desires for us to do, and like it says in Romans 12:10 (KJV), “Be kindly affectioned one to another, with brotherly love; in honor, preferring one another.”
It comes down to all believers letting go of our preferences and our agenda's to come together and seek the Lord about His agenda and what His will is. It is about His will being done on earth, as it is in heaven through us. Amen.