TUESDAY - November 10

Read. John 17:9-26

9 “I’m praying for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours. 10 Everything that is mine is yours and everything that is yours is mine; I have been glorified in them. 11 I’m no longer in the world, but they are in the world, even as I’m coming to you. Holy Father, watch over them in your name, the name you gave me, that they will be one just as we are one. 12 When I was with them, I watched over them in your name, the name you gave to me, and I kept them safe. None of them were lost, except the one who was destined for destruction, so that scripture would be fulfilled. 13 Now I’m coming to you and I say these things while I’m in the world so that they can share completely in my joy. 14 I gave your word to them and the world hated them, because they don’t belong to this world, just as I don’t belong to this world. 15 I’m not asking that you take them out of this world but that you keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They don’t belong to this world, just as I don’t belong to this world. 17 Make them holy in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 I made myself holy on their behalf so that they also would be made holy in the truth.

20 “I’m not praying only for them but also for those who believe in me because of their word. 21 I pray they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 22 I’ve given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are one. 23 I’m in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you gave me to be with me where I am. Then they can see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, even the world didn’t know you, but I’ve known you, and these believers know that you sent me. 26 I’ve made your name known to them and will continue to make it known so that your love for me will be in them, and I myself will be in them.”

Reflect. Jesus prayed this prayer shortly before his death. In fact, he prayed this prayer just prior to entering the garden where he would be betrayed by Judas and arrested. Jesus knew he was approaching his final hours on earth, so he takes time to pray for his followers that he is leaving as ambassadors in his place. If you are a follower of Jesus, this prayer Jesus prays is for you. 

• Jesus is about the experience the betrayal of Judas, so he knows very clearly what it is like to have division in the church. The division that Jesus experienced in those closest to him broke him and led to his death. Jesus knows that when there is disunity, it allows the enemy a foothold to “steal, kill, and destroy.”
• What does it mean to you that Jesus prayed that his followers would “be one”? 
• It’s not just a prayer for Jesus, he also says that he has given us (his followers) “the glory that [God] gave him so that” we can be one just as God is one. This glory is the ongoing presence of Jesus, so that his followers can be “perfectly one.” In fact, Jesus states that non-believers will be able to recognize Jesus followers because they are so united in love. When the church is not united, it harms the witness of Jesus and can keep new people from experiencing the life changing love of God.
• How have you seen disunity in the body of Christ hurt people? In what ways have you contributed to disunity in the body of Christ? What can you do today, to help make Jesus’ prayer a reality?

Pray. Confess the ways that you might have viewed other Christians as an enemy, and ask God to give you the strength to find unity in the Spirit. 

COMMUNITY PRAYER LIST

Doug Lawson. Collier. Glenn Ethridge. Adam Funderburk.  Mary Reber.  Linda Harmon. Betty Carolyn Ward. Albert Rasanke. Lois Robinson. Ross Henley. Tiny & Donald Creasman. Bonnie Brenner. Baker Family. Robert McKenzie Family. Kibler family. Carolyn Harlow. Jeff Green. Earl Graves. Mickey Huff. Huff & Welch families. Helen Leigh. Paul Huffman. Schools, Teachers, Staff, Parents, Students. Church regathering plans. Layman family. Charlene Withrow. Brandon Casteel. Dirk Orr family. Smith family. Crowder family. Lillard family. Family of Floyd Eaton. Family of Eddie Rynes. Robertson Family. Harmon Family. Nancy Ryan & family. Bobby Roberts. Elizabeth May & family. Melvin Rinehart. Susan Rogers. Brandon Haugh. Barbara Buchanan & family. Harold Cordell. Debbie Arrowwood. Maggie Morgan family. Kay Ledford. Lacey Hitchcock and baby River. Leita. Rose Blyler. Tina Sage. Dave McKale. Chris Denton. Drew Ellison.