Read: John 17:1-19
In John
17 we get a glimpse of Jesus prayer life as John records Jesus longest and most
profound prayer. Jesus knows the time
for His crucifixion is near, in fact, it will occur on the very next day. What are His final actions? To pray!
The prayer begins with Jesus praying for Himself (v. 1-5). His desire is to glorify the Father by His
final act of willingly going to the cross.
The next segment of Christ’s prayer was for the disciples. In this prayer we see that Jesus sees
believers as not belonging to Him but to the Father (v. 10). He prays for the protection of the believers
(v. 11). Why? The purpose for the
protection is so that they may be ONE, as He and the Father are One (v.
12). Unity is critical here. Jesus is leaving the world, going to the
Father and He won’t be around to protect them anymore so He asks the Father to
look after them and preserve their unity (v. 11-12). He wants the Father to protect them, not
remove them from the world but to protect them from the evil one (v. 15). He then prays that the Father will sanctify
them (v. 17). Sanctify means to set
apart, to make holy, to purify or free from sin. He prayed that the Father would sanctify them
completely by truth, that is, by His Word (v. 17).
JOURNALING AND PRAYER
1. Jesus desire was to glorify the Father, even
though it meant that He would suffer and die a brutal death. Read Phil. 2:5-11. This passage tells us that He did nothing out
of selfish ambition; He was a humble, obedient servant. We are not to seek glory on earth but to
follow Christ’s example of selflessness and servanthood. Ask the Lord to show
you how you are doing in the area of selflessness and servanthood. What selfish attitudes is He asking you to
root out of your life (see list on Day 21)?
Confess any areas of sin and pray for Him to strengthen you to obey Him
in these areas.
2. Jesus knew that He was leaving His disciples and
so He prayed for their protection (v. 11).
He knew that they would become targets of the world’s hatred (v. 13-14)
so He asks that they be protected from the evil one (v. 15). Parents also want their kids to be protected
and safe but can’t be with them all the time.
As they grow up we must release them into a cruel and harsh world that
will not always be nice to them. We can
learn from Jesus prayer. Jesus isn’t
manipulating and controlling circumstances to make life easy for His disciples
and we aren’t to do that for our kids either. In what ways do you try to make
life easier for your kids? Do you
struggle with being a “mother bear” when things don’t go well for your
kids? Ask the Lord to speak to you about
these things. Pray that you will grow in
trust in Him and that you would grow in praying for your kids instead of
meddling, manipulating and controlling.
If you are not a parent, pray these things for the parents in our
church.
