Jesus' Prayer - John 17

Take a moment to prepare yourself and your attitude, pray that you wouldn’t be distracted as you do this devo.

Now read John 17, all of it, and then read it again and try to focus on what God is placing on your heart with this passage.

This is one of the last prayers that Jesus lifts up to God, and he prays this prayer at the end of his time alone with his disciples before he is crucified. In the first five verses, Jesus prays with authority and majesty, “glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,” (v. 1), “glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (v. 5). We are reminded that eternal life with God is only made possible for us because of Jesus Christ. Everything Jesus did was for the glory of God, signifying that it is important for us to glorify God with our time here on Earth. Take a moment and meditate and pray on how you have and can be glorifying God with your life.

As Christ begins to pray for his disciples, note that he is not praying for the world. Though Jesus isn’t praying for the rest of the world, he still does care deeply for them, as anyone will be saved if he comes to God through Jesus. But how great is it knowing that Jesus cares this deeply for his disciples. He prays, “Holy Father, keep them in your name…that they may be one, even as we are one” (v. 11). What Jesus desires for his disciples is to come together and be intimate and united as Jesus is one with God. We are called to be one body. With this in mind, consider the question: How can you be more united with other believers?

As we are called to be fishers of men in Matthew 4:19, “And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’” However, it is not easy to be fishers of men in this temporary world. Jesus prays that God would keep us from the evil one and that, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (v. 16-17). Jesus prays that we would be well equipped to do the assignment that God has called us to. It is easy to lose sight of God and to place worldly things before him, but Jesus is praying that we would be sanctified in the truth, that we would abide in him.

In the last part of this passage, Jesus also prays for those whom he has not yet met, but whom are also believers and followers of Christ. Jesus again emphasizes the importance of unity as he prays for those he has not yet met in verse 20, “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me.” The importance of being one body in Christ and unified with fellow believers is strongly stressed in this prayer. We aren’t to live this life alone, but to live it together.

In his prayer, we see the vision that Jesus has for the church and for the believers in Christ; to build a unified community where people are invited to touch the glory of God, be transformed, and to be lights to the world. Reflect on this passage and on what God is speaking to you with this passage.