Over thirty years ago, the late David H. C. Read preached and published a sermon series on the National Radio Pulpit that he titled Overheard. In that creative volume, he addressed a series of faith issues one might conceivably have overheard at that time. We overhear comments regularly. We might be riding on public transportation and overhear an amusing or telling conversation between two people, perhaps a parent and child; or we might be standing in a church lounge after worship and hear some people commenting on some dimension of church life, and our ears suddenly perk up. 

In our text for the morning, we overhear Jesus -- just prior to his betrayal and arrest -- praying to God. It is often referred to as a high priestly prayer, and is an exceedingly personal moment between Jesus and G…