“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that 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. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “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. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I 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.””
John 17:20-26 NIV
Before going to the cross, Jesus prayed a powerful prayer not just for His closest friends, but for everyone who would one day believe in Him. That means us. In this prayer, He doesn’t ask for our success or comfort. Instead, He asks for three big things: that we would be united, share in His glory, and be filled with His love.
Jesus prays, “That all of them may be one…” (v. 21). He wants His followers to be united, just like He is with God the Father. This doesn’t mean we all have to be the same, but that we love each other deeply, even in our differences. That kind of love shows the world that Jesus really came from God.
He also says, “I in them and you in me…” (v. 23). Jesus is asking that we would live connected to Him, just as He is connected to the Father. When we let Jesus live in us, we begin to treat others the way God treats us, with grace, patience, and love.
Then Jesus says, “I want those you have given me to be with me where I am…” (v. 24). He wants us to be close to Him, not just in heaven one day, but even now, seeing His goodness and walking in His presence.
At the end of the passage, Jesus makes a promise: He will keep showing us what God is like so that we can know God’s love for us, and so that His love can live in us and flow through us to others.
Prayer:
Jesus, thank You for praying for us. Help us love each other and stay close to You. Let the world see You in the way we live and treat one another. Fill us with Your love today. Amen.
Pastor Lake
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