Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.” (John 17:1-2, NRSVCE)
They call it the high priestly prayer, the words Jesus says to the Father before His Passion begins. The agony in the garden 
past, the instructions to his followers complete, Jesus turns to His source of strength and comfort. Eventually, He prays for the believers who followed Him, and asks that all people might know the Father through Him. But first, Jesus has a beautifully intimate moment with God because the hour is at hand. The work is complete. He breathes in the Father before the final leg of his earthly odyssey.
But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24, NRSVCE)
Paul exhibits the same calm in today’s reading from Acts. His concern isn’t for the presbyters at Ephesus, whom he expects he will never see again. It’s about finishing what he began in Jesus’s name.
We pray for many things: the petitions others ask us to put on our list, for our health and that of those we love, for a new job, for world peace, for a win by our favorite sports team. All fine things to pray for. But may we learn from Jesus and Paul, and pray first for the faith to stay the course until it is done.
