Uniting God’s Family through Prayer

When the time had come for Jesus to be crucified He prayed the following prayer:

John 17 New King James Version (NKJV)

Jesus Prays for Himself

¹ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:“Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, ² as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should^[a] give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ⁴ I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. ⁵ And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

⁶ “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷ Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. ⁸ For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

⁹ “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. ¹⁰ And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹ Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me,^[b] that they may be one as We are.¹² While I was with them in the world,^[c] I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept;^[d] and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

²⁰ “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will^[e] believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

²⁴ “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. ²⁶ And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Several things strike me in this prayer.

Jesus first acknowledged that His assignment on Earth was nearing its completion. He asked God to glorify Him. But He didn’t ask this in pride; rather He asked this in ultimate submission and selflessness so that God’s glory would be shown. Jesus was confident in who He was as part of the Holy Trinity and in His assignment on Earth. But the only reason He wanted to be glorified was so that God would be.

He acknowledged God’s glory and His own and I am sure He was glad to be going Home. He also acknowledges that those who followed Him in life were going to have a difficult time after His physical death. He so loved His Father and those His Father had given Him; but not only those presently with Him, but those to come. He wanted to spend eternity with them in Heaven. So He prayed for them to have strength… No, He prayed that they might have joy. Wow. Joy. Nehemiah 8:10 says “… Do not sorrow for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” What a concept.

In the last part of this prayer, Jesus prays for all future believers. That the love that God put inside Jesus might also be in them so that eventually they would live eternally with Him in Heaven.

Have you ever noticed how closely love and joy are connected? When a person “falls in love” there is a happiness that just bubbles up from inside. After the initial infatuation wears off, people choose to either choose to build a deep foundation or to go look somewhere else for that initial feeling of euphoria.

The former will find as they focus on the relationship at hand that a security develops. This security brings them assurance of a place where they can rest, recharge, and go out to face the world again as needed. When adversity strikes, these people know they can depend on each other for support. This security and assurance places a joy in their hearts because they know that no matter what they face, it will be faced together. Nothing can take that security away except one of the contributing parties.

Imagine if you take that a step further and join yourself with Jesus. He will never break the bond so as long as you want to participate in it you will have the joyful assurance of His presence.

Unity with Jesus brings us into unity with God. When we are united with God we cannot help but feel the joy that security brings. When we rest in Him, the things of this world cannot harm our hearts. When we have this right relationship with God and Jesus, we are also united with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to identify others who are united with God and Jesus so that we can band together with them and have strength. Not necessarily happiness at all times but joy. Happiness is situational, joy remains forever.

We should pray for the unity of the body of Christ just as Jesus did. He did not pray for the world, but for His people who are in the world. He prayed for the joy that would bring us strength. Let us do the same and enjoy the deep abiding joy that Christ died to give us.

Riding the whirlwind of God’s grace, love and mercy

L