Daily Devotion, July 22, 2020

Devotion: Read John 17:6-23.

This has always been one of my favorite prayers in the Bible. It is first and foremost a prayer motivated by Jesus’ own unselfish and sacrificial love for God and others.

It is the final scene of Jesus’ farewell meal with his disciples. Dr. Gail R. O’ Day in her commentary on John writes, “It is the prayer of the One on the verge of willingly laying down his life (for the sake of others) and thus completing God’s work.”

In these words of Jesus’ prayer, we see the deep relationship between Jesus and God, the Father. The oneness they share is Jesus’ greatest joy and Jesus prays for this same “oneness” for his disciples.

As you are reading this prayer, don’t overlook the simple and yet powerful phrase “so that.” Jesus acknowledges that the purpose and outcome of each prayer request has a greater mission than the first part of the prayer request. For example, Jesus prays for God to protect his disciples "so that they may be one as Jesus and God the Father are one.” The additional five times Jesus says, “so that” are: “so that they will have joy complete, so that they may be sanctified in truth, so that the world will believe that God has sent Him, so that they will be one as Jesus and God are one, and so that the world will know that God has sent him and has loved them the way that God has loved Jesus.”

My favorite part of this prayer is in verse 20, when Jesus prays, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word,” Everything that Jesus’ prayed for his disciples then, Jesus prays for his disciples now! Jesus' prayer for you today includes protection, oneness, joy complete, being in the world and yet protected from the evil one, being sanctified in truth, being a witness and experiencing God’s love! Jesus is praying for us and our witness in the world, too! Let that be a comfort and strength to you!

Adult Challenge:

Jesus deepest motivation for this prayer is love. Reflect again on Jesus’ prayer for you.  Let us renew our commitment for unselfish love to also be the motivation for our prayer life. Pray for others today for whom it might be difficult to pray being fully confident of God’s understanding and care.

Youth Challenge:

Even right before his arrest, Jesus is thinking about the disciples and us. He came to serve and not to be served. He prays for our protection and that we will not be consumed by the things of this world, but to unify and lean on God. Take a moment to pray for your family, your friends, and that person you don’t like very much.

Children's Challenge:

• In the lesson, Jesus mentions how Christians are in the world, but in a way we are separate from it, too. That is, we don’t do everything that others might do. To illustrate how we can be this way, watch what happens when you pour oil on top of water. They are in the same glass, but they aren’t completely blended together. We can be in the same area as others, but we don’t have to adopt all the same behaviors.

• “Evidence”: look at some things that prove who we are (birth certificates, driver’s licenses, passports, etc.). How will people know we are Christians? We prove that we love Jesus when we show His love to others. Discuss how that happens.