John 17:1-5

John 17:1-5 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  This is the longest recorded prayer we have by Jesus -- the priestly prayer.  He moves from praying for himself, to praying for the disciples, to praying for everyone. 
  As always, Jesus is teaching us.  He's both teaching us about God and about ourselves -- in looking at Jesus we begin to understand our own failings, and yet in teaching us about God, we learn that those failings are not fatal, and the grace of God calls us forward into a new understanding of ourselves, rather than threatens us and motivates out of fear.
  Why does Jesus ask to be glorified?  So that Jesus can glorify the Father.  He has authority, but it's to give life to others.  Jesus isn't an end, but rather a path, a gate, so that others may have eternal life, so that God may be glorified.  When we pray, and when we ask for things, do we ask just so we can have for ourselves, or are we looking beyond ourselves to think about how that prayer might ultimately serve others or bring glory to God?  It's not about us.  It's about God, and in learning how to focus on God, we receive more than we could have ever asked or imagined.  As Tim Keller puts it, when we learn to glorify God and praise God for being all we could ever want, we suddenly realize that we want other things less.