John 17:20–26 (ESV)
The High Priestly Prayer (Part 3)
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have
sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you,
and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
In this third
part of Jesus’s prayer, verse 20 is very captivating, yet can be so easily overlooked if you read it too fast. It reads ““I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” The last
part is talking about me and you today. When Jesus says “I do not ask for these only”, they are the ones that are with Jesus when he was speaking. But when he says “but also for those who will believe in me through their word,”
that is all who are saved by their evangelism... that is, their sharing of the Gospel. Others will still be saved by our sharing of the Gospel, and our children’s sharing of the Gospel, and so on... and so on. The rest of the prayer is one
of oneness and harmony.
I pray: O Lord, help me to live up to Jesus prayer by sharing the Gospel to others who do not know you. Let the Holy Spirit convict and convert those who hear your Word.
Help us to be seed planters in this dark world. Amen.