Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Can you remember what you ate last week? The quick lunches, the guilty snacks, the healthy dinners?

Probably not. But you did eat, for sustenance and pleasure.

That’s how I feel about the nine months we’ve spent in John’s gospel. It’s been a sustaining and pleasurable meal each week, reading the text and praying a prayer. But most of it is lost in the fog of my life. Don’t count on me for memorable new insights. John didn’t deliver life-transforming mountaintop experiences for me this time.

Did I expect better from John? Not really. Eugene Peterson wrote a book titled A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. That’s my life these days. Not the erratic starts and stops of my youth. Not the tired, grudging work of my middle years. But now, a settled and orderly journey that seeks God each day.

Before I move on from John, let’s consider my least and most favorite parts of the book, and see how that fits my long obedience.

My least favorite is still Jesus’ prayer in John 17. This time, I tried to think about it under the title “Union with God.” But that was too complex and too mystical for me.

So I simplified the title to, “Jesus Prays.” That didn’t make his prayer any easier to understand, but perhaps after another decade of long obedience, I’ll connect more strongly with Jesus’ prayer.

Father Thomas Green, whose books on prayer I read, said that as he grew older, John became his favorite gospel, partly because it is more philosophical than the others. That’s not what impressed me.

This time, it was the people and stories. Nicodemus. The woman at the well. The blind man. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Thomas the doubter. Peter the fisherman. Jesus, the chef, cooking breakfast on the beach.

Each shows me something about how to interact with Jesus, and what it means to follow him. Pictures of people paint a thousand words for me. Stories of Jesus help me see clearly.

Let’s pray.

O Jesus, I still have not understood your sermons and prayers and teaching in John’s gospel. But I want to interact with you like the people John describes.

Like the woman at the well, be my water in a dry land.
Like Nicodemus, teach me the mystery of being born again.
Like the man born blind, be the light in my darkness.
Like Lazarus who you called from the tomb, be my resurrection and my life.
Like Thomas, come to me in my doubts and show me your hands and side.
Like Peter, who denied you three times, meet me on the seashore and speak to me of love.

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube.