John 17:20-26 records the prayer Jesus prayed over each one who accepts Him as Savior and Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. Imagine, He was just betrayed by one of His disciples and He knew it was only a matter of time before the Roman Guard would be coming for Him. Although this was an agonizing time for Him in every way, He took the time to pray for people who weren’t even born yet! At this time in the world, how comforting is it to read that Jesus prayed that we’d be of one mind and heart, that we would see God as He truly is and all that He does, that we would know He loves us with the same love He has for Jesus and that in all that the world would come to know Him because of us!
I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me.
Father, I want those you gave me To be with me, right where I am, So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me, Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.
Thank you Jesus, for reminding us that You truly never leave or forsake us no matter what!
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