John 17:9–19

Bible Studies for Life
Director of the Extension Division, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University

Pray for Others
John 17:9–19
So often, upon learning of another’s pain or misfortune, we respond by saying we’ll be praying for him or her. And when we say this, we really are concerned and hope things will improve, but sometimes, if we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t really know how or what to pray in so many of these situations. This week’s lesson from John’s Gospel reminds us that prayer is an incredibly powerful blessing from God — one He wants us to use for His glory and to uplift and undergird the saints. 

Pray for Unhindered Fellowship (9–12)
As Jesus was contemplating His departure from “the world,” He began praying for those He would be leaving. Jesus expressed a deep concern for their well-being and acknowledged He had been guarding and preserving them thus far. He then appealed to the Father to continue this protection and safeguard their oneness with Him and each other.

Pray for Joy in the Midst of Opposition (13–16)
Knowing His disciples were and would be hated by the world and the “evil one,” Jesus again asked God for their preservation and protection. But more than this, He prayed that His followers might come to fully experience His “joy” — the joy that comes from abiding in the Father’s love. Jesus was well aware of the troubles and difficulties that lay ahead of them and knew this would empower and embolden them in the midst of these challenges.  

Pray for Devotion to Jesus’ Mission (17–19)
Jesus then prayed for His followers’ sanctification — that they be set apart and made holy by the Father in His truth. He wanted them to be reserved for God’s service. And to this end, Jesus effectively asked Him to “remake” them through His Word so that they might learn to think and live in a “godly” way. Furthermore Jesus proclaimed He had set Himself apart to help the disciples as they grew closer to God. Jesus, already acting in the role of “Priest,” offered Himself so the disciples might be made “holy.”

 Jesus was en route to the cross and knew it and knew why. And yet the only thing on His heart was what He wanted for His followers: to be set apart for God and the work of God. Jesus so loved His disciples that at this moment in His life, they were His only concern.

Intercessory prayer is when we “go to the Father” on behalf of another and humbly ask Him to provide for and bless him or her with no concern for our own well-being. Scripture tells us even now, Jesus sits at the Father’s right hand and intercedes for all who call Him “Savior.” This is what He was modeling in this text. First Jesus taught we are to pray for others — that they might have a deep, gratifying and abiding fellowship with God and His people. Jesus used words like “protect,” “keep” and “preserve” to emphasize the necessity of oneness with God and unity among believers. He demonstrated that we are to pray for these blessings for other Christians and the Church. But as we think of other believers, we also need to recognize the incredible pain and difficulties many of them are experiencing. Remember Jesus told us that this world would bring a lot of trouble (John 16:33) but He had overcome the world. By making this statement, He wanted His followers to celebrate His victory, which defeated this world’s evils for them. Jesus encouraged us to pray for fellow Christians in the midst of difficulties, certainly for their endurance but also that they would experience the joy of His salvation while under oppression.

And in the same way Jesus prayed for the disciples’ and our sanctification, He called us to make this a focus of our prayers for others — that they would submit their lives to Him in a holy and obedient fashion (Rom. 12:1–2). Jesus prayerfully sought God’s best for all people ahead of His own desires and glory, an example we ought to faithfully follow (Matt. 22:36–40). We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves — whatever this love might require.

Being chosen by God means we are to pray for others with commitment and conviction that they might experience oneness with God, joy through Jesus and the power that comes when they have been set apart.