John 17:1-26

Before I begin to write anything I pray. I pray that the words I write be from the Father; that the words are what He wants me to share. So, I prayed, read the John 17 and a few thoughts came to me. I wasn’t going past a note or two. So, later I sat, invited the Holy Spirit; prayed for guidance and wisdom; read the chapter again and a few more thoughts came. I did this a couple of times and nothing but a few thoughts came each time and it wasn’t anything that was building on previous thoughts. I was just having a bunch of bullet points. The Father never fails, so I am going to trust that this is what He wants me to share. So, I will share the different thoughts that came to me as I read.

• Jesus is a perfect example of obedience
• This is a pray of absolute love and faith
• Jesus prays for His disciples with concern and love, even though they may have failed Him with their imperfections, that He loved them anyway and will go to the Father and intercede for them.
• Jesus reveals the importance of sanctification
• The importance of being in the Lord’s word; reading, understanding, breathing, and living His Word
• Jesus reveals the importance of loving one another; to be united and like-minded so we can share the gospel.
• If we believe through Jesus we have an eternal relationship through with the Father.
• Everything in the prayer glorifies the Father. Even when Jesus prays for the Father to glorify Jesus and the Son’s honor be revealed, Jesus turns it back to glorify the Father; His glory, authority, sovereignty. The same goes for us...all that we do should glorify the Father.
• The Jesus wants His disciples to be filled with joy
• John 17:20, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.” How awesome that Jesus didn’t just pray this prayer on behalf of His disciples, but also on behalf of you and me! Jesus doesn’t  wants us to have just eternal life with the Father, but an intimate relationship with Him now. Jesus wants us to live, breathe, understand God’s word and go out and share the truth. Jesus has the same love and concern for us as He did for His disciples. He loves us even though we fail Him. He prays for us to be united so the world can see His love and glory. He prays that all we do points right back to the Father.
• Just as Jesus intercede for his disciples, He will continually intercede for us always. “...because he always lives to intercede for them.” Hebrew 7:25.