This year in Beyond the Weekend, journey through different biblical models of prayer—one each month. September’s focus is Corporate Prayer: praying together as the church.

Read: John 17:20–23| Listen: John 17

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” John 17:20–21a

Jesus gathers with his disciples hours before his arrest. By morning, he will be nailed to a Roman cross. Gripped with urgency, he tells them to remain in him, promising to send the Holy Spirit to help them do just that (John 15–16). Then he prays for them. Jesus knows his followers will face a broken and hostile world. Their unity will not come by their own strength, but from the Spirit uniting them in Jesus. He prays for the disciples in the room, and for all who will one day believe because of their message.

Jesus’s prayer for unity includes us—all who believe in him. The same Spirit who helped the disciples remain in Jesus unites us to him today, and through him, to each other. Unity doesn’t mean we all look alike or agree on everything; it means the Spirit binds us together in Christ, so we reflect his love for one another. When we pray for unity, we follow Jesus’s own example, trusting the Spirit to hold his church together so the watching world will see and believe.

TODAY: Pray for unity, following Jesus’s example: “Father, thank you for your Spirit, who unites me with your Son. Please unite your church through your Spirit, that we would love one another as you love us. Help Ada Bible Church reflect your love so that others would come to know Jesus.”