John records the prayer of Jesus prior to His death and resurrection in chapter 17 of his gospel account. In that prayer we hear Jesus praying for you, me, and all who will believe in him. Imagine seeing Jesus present in the room with you and hearing him pray for you. Imagine the comfort and encouragement this would have on your life.
The good news is that Jesus has prayed for us and continues to pray, interceding in our behalf to the Ever-loving, Almighty Father. That truth alone, if believed, will transform any and every threatening and fearful situation of darkness you may be experiencing or ever will.
Jesus begins his prayer by saying that he is not praying for the world. And yet, we know that Jesus came into the world because He so loved the world. For that very reason, Jesus prepares and sends out his disciples into it, with the purpose of making the world aware of God and his love and inviting the world into a love relationship with God.
Jesus’ great concern is that his disciples be faithful to their task and successful in their witness. And Jesus prays that His disciples be equipped, protected, united as one, and made holy for their special mission in this world that God so loves.
It is important to hear and understand that Jesus never prayed that His disciples should be taken out of this world. He never prayed that they be given escape from this world. Instead, He prayed that they experience victory in this world and glorify Him. (vv. 11,15,18).
Christianity, being a disciple of Jesus, was never meant to be a means of withdrawing from life in this world, but rather a means of equipping for a better life in it. Christianity, being a disciple of Jesus, does not offer us a freedom from problems, but a God-blessed way to resolve them.
Being one of his disciples, I find it encouraging to be frequently reminded of the three things Jesus prayed would be given to His disciples:
Firstly, Jesus prayed that God would protect his disciples from the evil one. (v.11,15).
The Bible describes the world, the place wherein Jesus’ disciples live, as a scary, threatening place, an alien environment. And Jesus asks his father to protect His disciples with a special protective shelter.
As a disciples of Jesus, it is immensely encouraging to know that the Almighty God stands as guard over our lives, protecting us and limiting the assaults of evil against us.
I wonder, could it be that because we try to meet life’s difficulties and threats in our own wisdom and strength, rather than remembering that our omnipotent God is present to protect us, explain our many falls, failures, and defeats in life?
Secondly, Jesus prayed for unity among His disciples, that they be united as one. (vv.11,20-23).
Probably the greatest threat from this world toward this unity that Jesus prayed for us, is its ability to breed divisiveness among people. The world naturally divides, separates, isolates, forms cliques and closed communities, because its father, the devil, is the father of divisiveness.
Wherever there are divisions, exclusiveness, and competition between Christians, the cause of Christ is harmed. For that reason, Jesus prayed that his disciples might be as fully one as He and the Father are one – “so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (v.21).
Yes, Jesus knows this unity, this bond of love, would be the one crucial ingredient toward evangelizing the world. And yet, sadly, there is no prayer of Jesus which has been so ignored by the Christian community as this prayer.
Thirdly, Jesus prayed that his disciples be sanctified, made holy, by the truth. (v.17-19).
Jesus sends His disciples into the world in the same manner He was sent by the Father into it. His mission will now become the disciples’ mission. And so, Jesus prays that they be consecrated (set apart, made holy) for their special sacred task.
Being the disciples of Jesus, and being sent to serve a holy God, means that we must also be holy. “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”
(1 Peter 1:15-16). And so, our gracious God, fits and cloths us for our task of witnessing to His saving mission in the world, as we place our life in His hands and submit to His will.
Jesus makes it clear that the Christian is “not of the world” (v.16), and He makes it equally true that it is within the world that the Christian is to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ. We are in this world in the place of Jesus. Our mission is identified with Jesus’ mission. Our work is Jesus’ work. Our objective is Jesus’ objective. And our life is linked with Jesus’ life. For that reason, Jesus prays for us.
Thank you, Jesus!
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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 18, 2023
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
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