Daily Bread John 17
Daily Bread John 17
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
Observation:
Jesus finishes his teaching in chapters 14-17 with this three-fold prayer. First, Jesus prays for himself. His prayer is to bring glory to God on earth, as He finishes the task He
was given by His Father. Part of this glory is to bring people into a relationship with God, which brings them eternal life. Finally, Jesus is ready to be back with the Father in the glory He shared with Him before the world was created. This affirms Jesus was with God, as the pre-existent Word before the Creation.
Secondly, Jesus prays for His disciples. His main prayer is one of protection that they may protected in the world. He realizes that the world will reject them, as it rejected Him. He doesn’t pray to have them removed from the world, but to be protected in it. He prays for them to be His light in the world. Jesus says, “Sanctify them by Your truth, Your Word is truth.” Sanctify means to “set apart for a special purpose”.
Finally, Jesus prays also for those who will believe in Him through His disciples. As part of this prayer Jesus prays, “May they be one as me and the Father are one.” This is a key verse for the Church to remember.
Application:
First off, it is interesting to analyze Jesus’ model for prayer. He prays first for Himself, then for His close followers, and finally those who will believe through them. So often we are quick to pray for others, which is certainly a good thing, but we forget to pray for ourselves.
Jesus’ prayer consists of three main themes. One, that not only would he, but his followers, be faithful to reveal all of who God is to the world. God wants to be known and He uses people to reveal who He is and His purposes. Secondly, the world does not know God and we can’t expect people to be understanding of who God is. We shouldn’t be surprised when the world rejects us, as we represent who God is and what the Truth says about who we are and who God is.
We have been sanctified or set apart to reveal God’s truth. By living according to the Truth, or according to the way of life spelled out in God’s Word and incarnated by Jesus, we become different than those in the world. This is something badly needed now, as Christians have increasingly been looking more like the world than the “set apart” ones God has called us to be.
Finally, this is not an individualistic effort. Jesus calls all who believe in Him to be One, as He and the Father are One. One of the things denominationalism has done is to splinter the Church into many factions. To the extent that we work together as One within this denominations, it is an okay thing. But if we are splintered and offer each other no resources or support (prayer or otherwise), we are not One as Jesus called us to be One.
Prayer: God you are One, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You are the first family. Strengthen our families, and strengthen the body of Christ as family to be One as you are One. Set us apart to carry on the Mission of Jesus to reveal Your Love and purposes to the world. Jesus we know you will be with us as we carry on what you started. We know you are still praying for us with all the saints in heaven. Amen.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
Observation:
Jesus finishes his teaching in chapters 14-17 with this three-fold prayer. First, Jesus prays for himself. His prayer is to bring glory to God on earth, as He finishes the task He
was given by His Father. Part of this glory is to bring people into a relationship with God, which brings them eternal life. Finally, Jesus is ready to be back with the Father in the glory He shared with Him before the world was created. This affirms Jesus was with God, as the pre-existent Word before the Creation.
Secondly, Jesus prays for His disciples. His main prayer is one of protection that they may protected in the world. He realizes that the world will reject them, as it rejected Him. He doesn’t pray to have them removed from the world, but to be protected in it. He prays for them to be His light in the world. Jesus says, “Sanctify them by Your truth, Your Word is truth.” Sanctify means to “set apart for a special purpose”.
Finally, Jesus prays also for those who will believe in Him through His disciples. As part of this prayer Jesus prays, “May they be one as me and the Father are one.” This is a key verse for the Church to remember.
Application:
First off, it is interesting to analyze Jesus’ model for prayer. He prays first for Himself, then for His close followers, and finally those who will believe through them. So often we are quick to pray for others, which is certainly a good thing, but we forget to pray for ourselves.
Jesus’ prayer consists of three main themes. One, that not only would he, but his followers, be faithful to reveal all of who God is to the world. God wants to be known and He uses people to reveal who He is and His purposes. Secondly, the world does not know God and we can’t expect people to be understanding of who God is. We shouldn’t be surprised when the world rejects us, as we represent who God is and what the Truth says about who we are and who God is.
We have been sanctified or set apart to reveal God’s truth. By living according to the Truth, or according to the way of life spelled out in God’s Word and incarnated by Jesus, we become different than those in the world. This is something badly needed now, as Christians have increasingly been looking more like the world than the “set apart” ones God has called us to be.
Finally, this is not an individualistic effort. Jesus calls all who believe in Him to be One, as He and the Father are One. One of the things denominationalism has done is to splinter the Church into many factions. To the extent that we work together as One within this denominations, it is an okay thing. But if we are splintered and offer each other no resources or support (prayer or otherwise), we are not One as Jesus called us to be One.
Prayer: God you are One, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You are the first family. Strengthen our families, and strengthen the body of Christ as family to be One as you are One. Set us apart to carry on the Mission of Jesus to reveal Your Love and purposes to the world. Jesus we know you will be with us as we carry on what you started. We know you are still praying for us with all the saints in heaven. Amen.
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