⁶”I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; ⁸for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. ¹²While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. ¹⁴I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.” John 17:6-19

“It’s Thursday night in this part of John’s account, the evening before Jesus’ crucifixion. He knows he will soon be leaving his disciples to fulfill his mission and wants them to be prepared. And so Jesus has been teaching his disciples across chapters 14-16 about his nature, mission, destiny, and about their role and future in all of this. Now, in chapter 17, he prays for them. And what does he pray for? Not that it will be easy. He knows it won’t. This world is captive to a spirit alien to God’s spirit. It is animated by a sense of scarcity instead of abundance, fear instead of courage, and selfishness instead of sacrificial love. Jesus — the one who came to bring abundant life, does not run away in the face of danger, and lays down his life for the sheep — offers an alternative spirit and reality. This is the reason the world (kosmos — John’s word of choice for the spirit and power that is hostile to God’s good intention to love and redeem all) hates Jesus and will hate those who follow him. So Jesus doesn’t pray that it will be easy, but rather that God will support the disciples amid their challenges and that they will be one in fellowship with each other and with Jesus and the Father through the Spirit. But Jesus doesn’t only pray for his disciples back then. And this is the second move it’s important to make and what requires that we read just a little further: “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one” (John 17:20-21a). Who are “all those who believe in me through their (the disciples’) word”? Yeah, we are. That’s right, Jesus, on the night before his death, prays for us.” (David Lose, The Other Lord’s Prayer, workingpreacher.org, May 13, 2012)

The best way to find the guidance of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is to pray, pray, pray.  So, How are we to pray?  Take a lesson from Jesus today and pray, and don’t worry whether it is right or wrong – just pray.  While we wait for Christ to come again, we need to let the Spirit move us in prayer.  And pray in the manner you find most meaningful, or most comfortable.  Pray in thanksgiving for new life found in Jesus Christ.   Meditate and pray the Jesus Prayer as you remember that we are all sinners, but through the lens of the cross, Christ sees us as righteous and loved people.  Pray spontaneously when grief suddenly strikes, or joy overwhelms, or fear freezes you in a moment – let the words stumble and mumble from your lips, praying in confidence that the One who came to bring repentance and forgiveness doesn’t care whether we are eloquent in our words, but simply seeks a relationship with us that begins with humble words, a  want and need to be in conversation, and a heart that understands that we are in need of a oneness that only the Father Son and Holy Spirit can give……thanks be to God. 

Pastor Dave