John 17

Jesus Prays for Himself

"1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. 6 "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. 20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 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. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I 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. 26 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." (NIV)

     John 17 is a short chapter but a very powerful one. It amazes me that even during Jesus' last "free" hours He had us in mind and prayer. He not only prayed for His believers and followers at that time but also for His future ones, FOR US. How humbling it is to hear His words and know that even then when He knew what was to come that He loved us enough to pray for us before we were alive, and during such a scary time. A  time when He was about to loose His life so that we may keep ours.
      I was thinking about how might this prayer be applied to our lives today. I think this is a perfect example of how we might pray for our children, family, and friends. Believers and future believers. Not only do we pray for their safety but also that they will abide in Christ as Christ abides in us. That the world will see Him in us and not us in the world. I look at my two boys, and to be honest if they never learn anything in their life time, I pray that they learn to let Christ shine through them. That the people around them will look at them and know with out a doubt that they belong to Christ and not this world. I pray the same for my family and friends, and for me as well. I don't want to belong to the world. I want to belong to Jesus Christ, My Savior, My God and I want the world to know it!

Father, I pray that John chapter 17 will be a light that shines in the darkness for all of us who struggle to show you to this world. I pray that the words of Your son Jesus will be a beckon of light that will guide others into a life that proves to the world who You are. I pray that the world will no longer be able to claim non believers as its own because they will see You and belong to You. Father, teach us to pray  for others just as Jesus prayed for us even during the hard times in our lives. Teach us to let You live in us so that we can show others who You are. Remind us to not only pray for our selves and other believers but also the future believers. The ones that are to  come and shine Your love to others as well. Help us teach others to boldly show Your love.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen
Christian