So Jesus teaches His men and then He
prays for them. John 17:1, “These words spake
Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,
Father.” Let’s look at some of the things He
prayed. Verse 13, “And now come I to thee; and
these things I speak in the world, that they might
have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”
Verse 15, “I pray not that thou shouldest take
them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep
them from the evil.” You see, we are to live above
the evil in the world. This ties in with what He said earlier—
that we would have tribulation in the world, but to be of
good cheer, because He has overcome the
world. Then He prays the prayer which is the
basis for the way God causes us to live above
the evil in the world— above the trials and
tests and tribulations.
Verse 17, “Sanctify them through thy truth:
thy word is truth.”
Verse 20, “Neither pray I for these alone, but
for them also which shall believe on me through
their word.” He was praying here for you and
me. He said, “I’m not praying just for these
before Me, but also for everybody that believes
on Me through their word.”
All of us received Jesus as Lord by the word
of one or more of these disciples—either
directly or indirectly. Jesus was praying that
prayer for you. What did He pray? “Separate
them with Your Word.” The Word of God will
separate you from the world. The Word is your
sword. Fight with it. It will fight its own fight.
Notice verse 18, “As thou hast sent me into the
world, even so have I also sent them into the world.”
Verses 20-21:
Neither pray I for these alone, but
for them also which shall believe on me
through their word; That they all may
be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I
in thee, that they also may be one in us:
that the world may believe that thou
hast sent me.
Notice that Jesus said, “We’re all going to be
one.” The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians
6:17, “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one
spirit.” Another translation says, “But he that is
joined unto the Lord is one spirit with Him.” The
Bible also says we are bone of His bone, and
we just read that anyone who believes Jesus is
the Christ is born of God.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
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