Not Of The World
Scripture Passage: John 17:6-19 (NASB)
6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
SUMMARY
Continuing from the previous passage, Jesus’ powerful prayer flows into intercession for His people. Here, Jesus fervently asks the Father to watch over His beloved disciples because they will be charged with continuing the work that He began. Jesus knew the challenges that the disciples would face by living in the world without being “worldly.” He confesses to God that He has manifested God’s name and truth (His Word) to the disciples and has given them everything that God gave Him, and kept and guarded them in His name while He was with them on this earth. And He says that His disciples belong to the Father as His own and that they have a firm belief that Jesus came from God. He earnestly asks the Father to keep and protect them from the evil one by the power of His name, to fill them with His joy, to unite them as one just as Jesus and God are one, and to sanctify them in the truth so that they can be sent into the world to do His kingdom work as their mission.
MEDITATION & REFLECTION
Jesus’ love for His disciples, whom He is about to leave behind in this evil world, is so evident in His heartfelt prayer. As He commits them to the Father in His prayer, I felt such gentle warmth in Jesus’ deep love and concern for His disciples. Because of this passionate and loving prayer of Jesus, the disciples were able to go out in peace to teach the gospel while enduring persecution and tribulation. He reminds me that the world might be harsh to the “unworldly,” but real joy comes from abiding in Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
In His prayer, He asks God to unify them as one as He and God are one. That emphasizes how important it is for all Christians to be in unity in Christ and have the same mission to glorify our Holy God, just the way Jesus glorified Him with His life. He also reminds us that we are not of this world while we are in this world, rather, we are to be sanctified in God’s truth - the word of God read, heard, understood, and applied. He also commissions us, His disciples, to be sent into the world to continue the work Jesus started and to testify the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
APPLICATION
Jesus fervently lifted up a prayer with so much love and care for His people and I want to emulate how Jesus prayed. He is the ultimate intercessor that I want to be like and through this prayer of Jesus, I am gently reminded of what my life’s true mission and purpose on this earth is. When the Holy Spirit powerfully encountered me 7 years ago, He gave me a heart of intercession. Without a doubt, I felt my calling as an intercessor from the bottom of my heart and soul. God also gave me a heart for mission work as I saw and experienced the power of prayer and humble acts of service in the mission field. My heart truly aches and sometimes even feels actual physical and emotional pain when I encounter or hear about brokenhearted and hurting people. I will commit my life to pray fervently for people who are suffering, whether they are the persecuted Christians all over the world, the human-trafficking victims, or the afflicted sisters and brothers of HolyWave and beyond. I pray and hope that my prayers for them would reveal and deliver to them God’s comfort, healing, hope, peace, love, and joy. I truly want to glorify and honor our Father God with the life He gave me and the spiritual gifts He bestowed upon me.
I will also take the mission that Jesus has given to His disciples seriously and continue to pray for His will and plan for our mission work as a family, committing ourselves to do His work whenever and wherever. Our plan for missions training and outreach this spring have fallen through as a result of this horrific pandemic, but I believe that God has a better plan for us. So I will keep pressing on, seeking His perfect will for our family.
However, I must confess that I don’t pray as much and as long as I want to and need to. I often get lazy and am easily distracted by the busyness of life. I really need to carve out a big chunk of time to come to Him every day in a quiet place. I do read the Word and pray throughout the day and I do earnestly pray with all my heart, but I do it when it’s convenient for me here and there while doing my daily stuff. I resolve to really devote a fixed time to go to Him, talk to Him, listen to Him and pray and cry out for others and I am starting it during this Seek Week. I know that the earnest prayers of a person with the right heart, unshakable faith, and love for God is powerful and effective (James 5:16). So I pray to God to help me to be that kind of powerful prayer warrior who pours out to the Lord the supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings made for all people (1 Timothy 2:1).
PRAYER
Heavenly Father God, thank You for interceding on behalf of us with so much love. I pray that You help us not to conform to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we will be able to test and approve what God’s good, pleasing and perfect will is (Romans 12:2). Guide us not to be of this world, but to be in this world with the sole purpose of fulfilling the mission You have given us as Your disciples. Lord, lead us and keep us in Your everlasting love and grace, as we seek your will and pray earnestly for others with the love You demonstrated to us through today’s Scripture.
Father, let there be a great awakening and prayer revival amongst Your people during this pandemic. During this dark time, we commit ourselves to shine the bright light of Jesus to others through prayer and the Great Commission You charged us with in Matthew 28:18-20. We give all the glory and honor to You, Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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