When Jesus Prayed for You!
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in Me through their message.” John 17:20 (NLT2)
Did you know Jesus prayed for you in John 17? After His final instructions to His disciples in chapters 13 through 16 and just hours before His betrayal and arrest, we have this record of Jesus’ prayer. It is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus just before He faces the cross. Author and Pastor Warren Weirsbe said, “It is the greatest prayer ever prayed on earth and the greatest prayer recorded anywhere in Scripture. … and we must approach this chapter in a spirit of humility and worship. To think that we are privileged to listen in as God the Son converses with His Father just as He is about to give His life as a ransom for sinners!”
As you read this prayer, notice the progression:
First, Jesus prays for Himself in verses 1-5.
Then He prays for His disciples that the Father would protect them and keep them safe from the evil one by the power of His name, fill them with His joy, and make them holy by His Word, which is truth in verses 6-19.
Finally, He prays for you and me in verses 20-26!
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in Me through their message.” John 17:20 (NLT2)
Jesus closed His prayer by praying for us, that we might be unified in Him, attracting a lost world to Christ and one day share His glory! As you read His prayer for you then, know that He is still praying for you today. I love the way The Passion Translation puts Hebrews 7:25, “So He is able to save fully from now throughout eternity, everyone who comes to God through Him, because He lives to pray continually for them.”
Then, notice how our unity as believers results from our identification with Christ. Just as the Father was in the Son, so Christ is in us! This is life eternal! Eternal life is not a gift from God, eternal life is the gift of God! Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” John 17:3 (NIV2011)
Read John 17 in a spirit of prayer. Thank Him for praying for you. Then pray for the unity of the body of Christ in our world that they may know Him, the only true God!