Jesus Prayed For You
I don't know about you, but I am ecstatic to know that the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Son of the living God, prayed for me. John 17 gives an account of Jesus praying the High Priestly Prayer. This is the only prayer in the Bible written by God Himself.
In verses 9 and 10, Jesus says “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.” in this prayer, Jesus prayed specifically for His disciples. He did not pray a general prayer, neither did He pray for the world. Jesus prayed exclusively for His disciples who, after His ascension, would carry His message of love and redemption to the world.
Jesus prayed the following for His disciples:
That they be kept: “Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name, the name You gave Me” (V. 11)
Unity: “so that they may be one as We are one.” (V. 11)
That they may be filled with the joy of the Lord: “so that they may have the full measure of My joy within them.” (V. 13)
That they be kept in the evil world: “My prayer is not that You take them out of the world” (V. 15)
That they be kept from evil: “but that You protect them from the evil one.” (V. 15)
Their sanctification: “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth” (V. 17)
And then in verse 20 He broadened the scope of His prayer to include you and me — “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message,” “them alone” referring to His disciples and “those who will believe in Me through their message” referring to all followers of Christ that come after the disciples.
Specific prayer requests made by Jesus on your behalf:
Unity: “that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.” (V. 21)
Witness of Christ to the world: “May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” (V. 21) We must stop and take note of this statement. It is clear here that the world has permission to judge the validity of Jesus’ ministry (His coming to earth to save the world) based on the unity of His people, the unity of the church. Unity among God’s people helps the world to believe that the Father sent the Son in the world to save sinners.
Convey the love of Christ for the world to the world: “I in them and You in Me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.” (V.23)
To be with His people, and for them to see His glory: “Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory,” (V. 24)
To be filled with the love of the Father: “that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I Myself may be in them.” (V. 26)
To know the indwelling presence of Jesus Himself: “that I myself may be in them.” Jesus prayed that His disciples (and you) would not only be filled with the love of God the Father, but that they would also know the indwelling presence of Jesus Himself.
My beloved, Jesus prayed for you. The main focus of His prayer was that we be one as He and His Father are one. And here's a thing, if we are not one, Jesus himself said the world will not know that God the Father sent Him into this evil world to show the world that God loves them the same as He loves Him.
Oh, listen. There's a big reason behind why we, the church, must be one. The main powerful reason why we will be effective in ministry is if we maintain unity in the bond of peace. Jesus prayed for this!
Jesus prayed for you!
This topic is covered in detail in chapter 2 of THE HIGH CALL OF FORGIVENESS.
Chapter title is IT’S A STRATEGY.
