Dear Explorer,
John 17 is one of the most beautiful passages of Scripture recorded. It is often called the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus.
Let's skip down a little to see who Jesus was praying for.
Read John 17:20
Who was Jesus praying for?
Jesus is praying for his disciples and followers. Then He specifically says His prayer is not just for his current followers -- but for all who would decide to follow Jesus because of their testimony. That's me! That's you! Whether you came to know Jesus through a person's testimony or whether you came to understand your need for Jesus by reading the Bible -- both are products of these disciple's testimony -- so you are included – and Jesus was praying for you.
Read John 17:1-11
What did Jesus request for us?
If you could only ask for one thing, what would you ask God to do for your friends?
What would you ask God to do for you?
It's interesting to see what Jesus asked for. Let's translate this passage to a "dale's version" and see if we can understand it better. I believe Jesus is saying,
Father, I know the end is near and I know what You sent me here to do. I want to make you pleased and be totally obedient to You in this. You'll have to give me the strength to complete the task because the next step is harder.
You sent me here so that all people could come to know You and love You. I've done the first part. I've gotten their attention. I've pointed them to You and given them Your message and they have received it and understand the truth. They understand My relationship with You and My purpose in coming. They have believed and received Your message.
Now, I have a request. Since I'm going to be leaving and coming back to Heaven soon, will You do something for Me? Will You please keep them in Your Name and be one with them even as We are one?"
Did you get that? Jesus asked God to let us (followers of Jesus) have the same close relationship with God that He (Jesus) had while He was walking on this earth. WHOA! That's powerful!
So how do we experience this oneness or closeness with God?
The same way Jesus did while He was on the earth – through the Holy Spirit in His core. Remember that when we invite Jesus into our lives, He cleans up our sins, and sends His Holy Spirit to indwell us. You know that over the course of this study we've discussed that the Holy Spirit guides us individually and personally. When we talk about feeling close to God or feeling God's presence, what we're really feeling is His Spirit stirring inside of us.
When I'm feeling distant from God, I turn to worship. As I worship, I feel the Holy Spirit stir deep inside and He assures me that I am His and He is mine. Not feeling that stirring tells me that something is wrong. For me it's usually disobedience. God has asked me to do something that I've chosen to ignore, or He's asked me to stop something that I don't want to stop. Then I feel distant from Him. To walk as Jesus walked, we must be obedient. Jesus was sinless – meaning He never disobeyed what the Holy Spirit asked Him to do. But we will deal with disobedience. The Holy Spirit will guide us to confess our sin and get back on track.
1 John 1:9 promises us that He will forgive us and wash us clean again.
Jesus prayed that you would walk close to God just like He did while on earth.
In His service, dale
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