day 17
Closer to Jesus
Closer to Jesus
Jesus prays to be glorified
1 After Jesus said this, he looked towards 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.
Jesus prays for his disciples
6 ‘I have revealed you 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.
Jesus prays for all believers
20 ‘My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one –
23 I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 ‘Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 ‘Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.
26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.’
Have you ever tried to imagine how it was in the beginning when Jesus was in the bosom of the Father? What glory was there before the world began? What unity and perfect love between the Father, Son, and Spirit?
We were living in darkness before Jesus came to us. We had no idea about glory. Sin marred and distorted the whole creation, especially us human beings, and all our relationships. Then the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Here, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is praying for us, wanting us with Him in His glory. Jesus in the Father and the Father in Jesus. Jesus in us, and we in Jesus in complete unity. His love in us and us in His love. Partakers. Sharerers. Brothers. Part of the family of God. Together. One.
Then the world will know. Then the world will believe. Not when we struggle and fight, when there is division, rivalry, antagonism, individualism, disparity, and hate in the Body of Christ. But when we keep our unity, partner, collaborate, support, and love each other with the same love Jesus loved us.
As you go through this guide, be encouraged. Thousands of believers worldwide are praying with you. We are TOGETHER.
Reflect on the glory of being one in God. Are you experiencing togetherness and unity in your community of believers? Praise the Lord. Are you seeing division and strife? Pray for reconciliation and unity. Ask Jesus: ”What do You have in Your Word for me today?” Listen and pray.
📖 INTERCESSION
"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
Ephesians 4:4-6
🙏 PRAYER
Pray for a spirit of love, cooperation, and togetherness in the whole Body of Christ.
Pray against Satan's attempts to bring division and conflicts within the church.
Pray for solutions to the conflicts you are aware of.
Pray for fruitful partnerships among churches worldwide.