John 17:1-19
17:1After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
6 “I have revealed you u to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. [1]
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What’s on Jesus prayer list for me? I don’t mean what does Jesus want me to pray for, but rather, what is on Jesus’ list to bring to the Father concerning me?
This passage is Jesus’ prayer regarding the men He had spent three years with. He is about to head to the cross and this is what is on His heart about them, what He prays about them. And the theme that struck me in meditating on this passage is how much of this prayer is dedicated to praying for their protection. He prays that the Father protect them by the power of His name. He prays that they may be kept safe by that name, that they may be protected from the evil one as He sends them into the world.
Obviously Jesus took the threat that they faced quite seriously. But we know this from the Lord’s prayer as well. The last petition is that we be delivered from evil, or the “evil one” depending on which translation you use. In other words, He instructed us to pray daily for protection.
So this leads my thoughts to this question: Do I take seriously my need for protection? Am I aware, as Jesus was aware, that the evil one is real and seeks to thwart God’s plan in my life at every step? Do I see my life as spiritual struggle with the forces of evil in me and around me?
But do I also take seriously that Jesus’ prayer for protection is answered? Jesus has won the victory over all evil and when I am in Him, I am living in protection. That protection, Jesus says in this prayer, comes through the power of His name, and our lives in Him are sanctified by His Word. Once again I am reminded of the importance of starting my day in His Word and hearing His call to live this day in the power of His name, the identity I have in Him
So my prayer today is also for protection. I pray “deliver me from evil.” I pray that the Word of God sanctify me in His truth and that the name of Jesus protect me this day from all harm.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 17:1–19). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.