JESUS PRAYED FOR ALL BELIEVERS

PROCLAMATION

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word;  That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.”  John 17:20-21 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, according to the Apostle John and were 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 to His heavenly Father and said that He had glorified Him and had finished the work that He had been given to do. (John 17:1-5)  Jesus also prayed for His disciples (John 17:6-19) and He made it clear that He was not praying for all of the people in the world. (John 17:9-10)  Jesus stated 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 17:20-23)  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)  When 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.