Day 23 - Dear God, Help! (John 17)

If I'm going to learn how to pray, it would seem like Jesus Christ would be the very best example to learn from. He had a perfect one-ness and love relationship with God the Father.

In John, chapters 13-16 contain a lot of "red lettered words" - the direct statements of Jesus to his disciples. At the beginning of chapter 17, while his friends are still with him, Jesus "looked toward heaven and prayed." On one level, Jesus is wrapping up a very meaningful time with his disciples with a word of prayer. On another level, his words, his prayer topics, his emotion - Jesus is praying about certain things in this moment so that his friends would hear his heart, and "get" the priorities of God for their future.

I made a list of the things Jesus prays for his followers...

- "to protect them" (17:11)

- "make them one" (17:12)

- "protect them from the evil one" (17:15)

- "sanctify them" (17:17) (the word "sanctify" means to purify, clean, or to 'make them holy and right' before God).

If you're going to ask God for things, consider what Jesus asks for... for his closest friends - protection, unity, and purity. Three big ones. Jesus gives those things to God, but he does so in their presence. He sets the priority for their future and relationships...

(1) Protection - totally depends on God. Pray for it, live wisely, depend on God with your circumstances. Jesus knows that we all have an enemy, the "evil one," and that we need God's protection and defense - sometimes from our own sin tendency.

(2) Unity - I find it interesting that Jesus prays for this in their midst, and then expands on unity in verses 20-23. Be "one." (20) "Complete unity" (23) that they/we would all be united "with" Jesus (24)...

Jesus knows full well about Judas's greed, and the others who do not trust him, so Jesus prays for unity.

Jesus knows that Peter is such an emotionally-driven leader who runs ahead of the rest, so he prays for unity.

Jesus knows that James and John talk frequently about which one ranks higher on the leadership ladder, so he prays for unity.

Jesus knows that the "evil one" will try to turn us against one another... he'll want us to fight about silly differences, egos, and ideas... he'll want to split the church into a thousand fragments and denominations... he'll distract us in arguments about music style, politics, and church priorities...

What Jesus wants most from you and me is UNITY with our brothers and sisters... Pray for that. Read verses 20-23 and pray for that again...

(3) Purity ("sanctify") - Aren't all of these ideas intertwined?

A people who are pure, holy, and sanctified are going to do better at loving one another. We'll do better at pulling together than we do at pushing apart.

In Jesus' last days, he's extremely concerned that his people stay together. Unite for the cause. Trust and follow our God first. Leave the differences, the selfish ambitions, the minor battles to some other group.

Pray for unity...

Dear God, please protect your people from the evil one. Protect us from the one who would love to steal, kill, and destroy the good things You are doing. Help us seek unity, love, forgiveness, patience, and "oneness" with others in Christ. Help us become part of the answer to Jesus' prayer. Remind us that, in Christ, we have the most important thing in common!