A Prayer for Approaching the Gospel of John

 Eternal, uncreated, never-changing God--

You revealed Yourself to Moses as YHWH, the I Am.

You have revealed Yourself throughout Your Word

    as the promise-keeping God,

    who gives life to the dead

        and calls into being things that are not, as though they were.

You have revealed Yourself most fully in the Word made flesh,

    Jesus the One and Only,

    without whom nothing was made that has been made.

He came and died as the Lamb of God

    and rose again on the third day as the Great Shepherd of the sheep.

He is the bread of life,

    the light of the world,

    the door of the sheep,

    the Good Shepherd,

    the resurrection and the life,

    the way, the truth, and the life,

    and the true vine.

Open the eyes of our hearts to behold Jesus in all His glory;

bow our knees to fall on our faces before Him in worship;

turn our stony hearts into tender hearts,

    that we might live as beloved disciples,

    that we might confess Christ boldly and openly,

    and that we might hope against hope in the promises not yet fulfilled.

We would see Jesus, and Him only. Transform us into His likeness as we behold Him in Your Book.

In Jesus we come. In Jesus we pray.

Amen.