CHRIST PRAYED FOR ALL BELIEVERS

PROCLAMATION

“My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.  May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”  John 17:20-21 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, according to the Apostle John and written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this chapter, John records the words of the prayer which Jesus prayed for His disciples and for all future believers. (John 17:1-26)  As Jesus neared the end of His earthly ministry, He prayed for His disciples. (John 17:6-19)  Jesus made it clear that He was not praying for all of the people in the world, He was just praying for His people. (John 17:9-10)  Jesus also made it clear that He was not just praying for His disciples alone, but also for all of the people who would hear their message and believe in Him. (John 17:20-21)  He also prayed that they would be with Him where He was going to be. (John 17:24)

 

APPLICATION

Once we became a believer, this prayer that Jesus prayed also applied to us.  He prayed that God, The Father, would keep us safe and protected from the evil one. (John 17:15)  He also prayed that The Father would love us as He loved Jesus Himself. (John 17:26)  It is also important to note that He prayed that there would be unity among the believers, and that we would be as one, the unity of the church. (John 17:21)  The more we bicker with other believers, the less likely it is that the world will see Christ in us.  We need to show more love towards our fellow believers.  Three times Jesus repeated the command for us to love one another. (John 13:34, 15:12, and 15:17)  Jesus prayed for us because He knew that we would need God’s help to make it in this world.  He also knew that the devil would attack us as we attempted to walk His way and do that which He had commanded.  For that reason we need to pray for ourselves and for each other, asking for God’s help that we might be more loving towards one another as we do the kingdom building work here on earth.