What a blessing it is to hear some great man or woman of God pray to the Lord. I don’t mean some pre-written prayers out of a prayer book (and I’m not implying that there is anything wrong with those prayers), but I mean listening to some personal, heartfelt prayers from a devoted child of God to their Heavenly Father. That is what the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John is and our Scripture today is a portion of that. The whole chapter of John 17 is a personal prayer of the Lord Jesus to God the Father. He prayed this prayer out loud on the last night before He was crucified. This was right after He gave some final teachings to His disciples that were gathered around the table when He instituted the Eucharist, or Holy Communion. Let’s look at a portion of this chapter, of this prayer, and see what we can learn from the prayer Jesus made to the Father.
As our passage begins, Jesus stated that He was no longer in the world (vs. 11). Even though the crucifixion was still to occur, and that He had not yet given His life for our sins, Jesus prayed as if that was a completed event. Jesus’ mission would soon be accomplished with His death on the cross, and then He would actually return to the Father. However believers remain in the world, and the Lord prayed for them, that the Father would keep them through His Name. This world that we live in is a hostile environment for believers who are living for the Lord. It is God, alone, Who is able to keep us safe while remaining in the world, and Jesus prayed for that care.
The Lord also continued to pray that all of His followers would be united together, just like He, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are united (vs. 11). Just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three separate divine Persons that are co-equal, and are united, God desires that all believers be united together.
As we listen further to Jesus’ prayer, we see that He keeps believers safe from being lost again (vs 12). Jesus stated that all those who He had, the disciples, including the twelve inner circle, were kept safe and not lost, except for Judas, who was never a true believer to begin with. Once someone is kept by God, they can never be lost again, there is eternal security. Believers are secure forever because we are held by Jesus. He also prayed that we would have joy in our life, just like He does (vs. 13). The key to immeasurable joy is living in close contact with Jesus, Who is the source of all joy. When we do, we have God’s special care and protection.
The world hates Christians because our values differ from theirs (vs. 14-16). The spirit of the world is ruled by Satan, the prince of darkness. It is greatly antagonistic towards Jesus and His followers. We do not cooperate with the world by joining in their sin. We are living accusations against the world’s immorality. The world follows Satan’s agenda, and he is the avowed enemy of Jesus and all true Christians. We are to be light in the face of the darkness of this world, but not be a part of it, just like Jesus wasn’t.
Jesus continues to pray that His followers be sanctified (vs. 17). To sanctify means to be set apart for God’s purpose and use, to be cleansed and made holy. Jesus prayed that we be set apart for God, and not part of the world. We are sanctified through believing and obeying the Word of God. Daily application of God’s Word has a purifying effect on our minds and hearts. Jesus then makes a very clear statement - God’s Word, the Bible, is truth. The Bible does not merely contain some truth in it, but instead it is Truth!
As our Scripture passage concludes, Jesus prays for us as He instructs us to go out into the world with His message (vs. 18). Jesus didn’t ask God to take believers out of the world, but instead for Him to use us in the world. We are called to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). Our assignment from Jesus after we are saved is not to sit around and look holy. It is to go out into the world, not to be a part of the world, but instead to bring the Gospel to the lost, just as Jesus was sent into the world to bring salvation. We are to do the work God sent us to do.
As we read through the prayer of Jesus for His followers in this chapter, we don’t see Him praying that we strike it rich (like some televangelists promise), nor that our life will be smooth sailing. Instead He prays that the Father keeps us safe from Satan, that we are one with each other, that we have joy, and that we go forth into the world with His message. This is His prayer for each of us.
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