Study 25

Text: John 17

"I DO NOT PRAY FOR THESE ALONE, BUT ALSO FOR THOSE WHO WILL BELIEVE IN ME THROUGH THEIR WORD…" John 17:20

How uplifting are these words from the Lord Jesus Christ! His deep prayer recorded in John 17 was not uttered for His Disciples. He had all believers in mind too!

This is a staggering thought indeed. How do we understand this great statement? How could Jesus' prayer have reference to the future?

THE FAR-REACHING POWER OF PRAYER

The most obvious thought that comes to mind is that prayer has far-reaching powers that we have not realized! We would probably never fully understand this thought! But we must at least try and comprehend what Jesus said! Let us consider these three powerful thoughts!

• Jesus is teaching us that prayer has a far greater reach than we imagine. We need to reconsider the reach of prayer! Have we limited prayer far too much?
• We must also recognize just WHO is the One praying for us. It is none other than the Lord Jesus Himself. How powerful His prayers must be! How powerful His Word must be that it would span millennia!
• When Jesus prayed (as recorded in John 17), in His mind, He was thinking of future believers! He being who He was could of course see into the future! He could see the people who would believe in Him. He had these in mind as He prayed!

HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND TO THIS INSIGHT FROM SCRIPTURE?

Surely our hearts must be moved by these precious words of Jesus! He knows all about us. He prayed for us! How deeply touched we should be as we ponder over these tender words uttered in prayer! Jesus our Saviour prayed for us!

"THAT THEY MAY BE ONE, AS YOU, FATHER ARE IN ME, AND I IN YOU; THAT THEY ALSO MAY BE ONE IN US…" John 17:21

Once again, we are deeply impacted by Jesus' concern that there should be a deep sense of "oneness" among His Disciples. We can well understand how Jesus must have felt as He saw into the future.

When He was on earth, He kept His Disciples carefully. They were one with each other. They were in one accord with each other in prayer and in ministry (Acts 1:14).

Jesus must have looked into the future, and He knew that this sense of oneness among fellow-believers would be lost! How He must have loved to see all His Disciples having that sense of oneness that He enjoyed with His Father!

How grieved He must be to see His believers become so fragmented! We have to admit this reality to our great shame! There is anything but oneness in the Christian fraternity. How should we respond as we look at Christianity today?

A CHALLENGE TO PRAY AS JESUS DID

We must be challenged to pray as our Saviour did! But first, we have to understand Jesus' understanding of "oneness." He Himself defined it. The kind of oneness that He was talking about was the kind of relationship He sustained with His Father, no less!

Let us therefore identify four areas in which Jesus enjoyed obvious oneness with His Father. Then let us be challenged to pray for that oneness among believers.

CLOSENESS
There was a vital sense of closeness that Jesus enjoyed with His Father. There should be agreement that we should encourage all believers to cultivate their walk with the Lord.

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
Jesus knew His Father as no one else knew Him. When we speak of knowledge of God, we must say that we are talking about TRUTH. There should be agreement that all believers should steep themselves in the knowledge of God's Word.

MISSION
Jesus knew that His Father had sent Him on a Mission. He was faithful to that Mission to the very end. Jesus did not live for Himself. He lived with the greatest sense of purpose in His life. There should be agreement that all believers should be focused on the work of soul-winning.

HOLINESS
Jesus knew His Father to be Holy. He Himself loved holiness. He sought always to be sanctified in holiness! There should be agreement that all should seek to increase holiness in life!

Let us be challenged to pray for oneness along these four lines! If there is to be true oneness, these four things must be fulfilled.

~ Pastor Charlie Tan ~

First released 21 October 2001 © Bethany Independent-Presbyterian Church, Singapore