Answering the Prayer of Jesus

“I’ll be praying for you!”

We use this phrase often, and that is not a bad thing.  We are called to pray for each other, to “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2).  This is quite a calling and responsibility. 

It is an invitation to make God the center of all our relationships, since only He can help us fulfill this incredible call.  Only God can turn these prayers into answers.

As we seek to incorporate the discipline of prayer into our lives, one helpful element to recognize is that we have a Lord who prayed for us. In John 17, the longest recorded prayer of Jesus in the New Testament, Jesus actually prays for us! 

Hear these comforting words as you begin your week: “My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 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” (John 17:20-21, NIV).

During this time when we are approaching the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, let us all remember that Jesus not only prayed for us – the “future believers” of John 17 – but He also prayed that we would be “one.” 

This means that we have the awesome opportunity to call out to this all-powerful God in prayer.  It also means that we can take heart that Jesus, our high priest, is praying and rooting for us.  Furthermore, it means that we can be an answer to the prayer of Jesus by seeking unity in the mission and purposes of God in the world. 

Prayer for the Week:

O Lord, who prayed for us, we pray to you, so that we can be who You created us to be.  By your grace, hear and answer the prayers on our hearts. By that same grace, make us the answer to your high priestly prayer, that we may be united in your mission and purpose.  Amen.

Charles W. Christian is managing editor of Holiness Today.

Written for devotions with Holiness Today

Please note: All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of original publication but may have since changed.