Week 45 Day 1

October 03, 2022

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

Scripture: John 17:6-19(NIV)

“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. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 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. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 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. 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. “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. 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. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Devotional

In this continuation of Jesus’ prayer just before His arrest, He is praying for His disciples. As a pastor, I have been with many people as they are facing their approaching death. Sometimes they are angry. Often afraid. Usually sad. But once in a while, the person is joyful. They know where they are going. And they want all the prayers to be for their loved ones to come to know Jesus Christ.

In a few moments, Jesus would be arrested, inaugurating His march to the cross. Yet here He poured out His heart to the Father on behalf of His followers. He longed for them to have unity, holiness, and joy. In fact, He prayed that they would have the full measure of Christ’s joy within them. What an interesting prayer for a dead man walking.

But Jesus didn’t stop there. He prayed that His disciples would be sanctified – to be made holy – by the truthful word of God and the presence of Christ. Though Jesus was praying this to the Father, His disciples overheard the prayer (John even wrote it down in this passage). Imagine their mixed emotions: Confusion. Grief. Joy. Holiness. Ministry. Truth. The Word. Evil. Protection. Sent. Unity.

I suppose we could call this the Great Commission prayer. These disciples were now equipped to launch the Church on earth and extend the ministry of Jesus to the edges of the world. They were no longer normal, uneducated, poor fishermen and tax collectors. They had been sanctified by Jesus Himself.

Romans 8:34 says that Jesus “is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” What is Jesus praying about you right this moment? What does He want for you? What does He desire from you? How does He see you? What does He see in you? When He is interceding for you, what makes Jesus smile?