Jesus Prays for His Disciples
05.09.26-06.21.26|Powerful Prayers Series
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Read: John 17:6–19
Listen: John 17
This year in Beyond the Weekend, journey through different biblical models of prayer—one each month. May’s focus is Intercession.
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. John 17:15
Having finished what would be his final meal, Jesus begins to speak to his disciples. He encourages them that they know the Father and promises to send them a helper, the Holy Spirit. And then, he begins to pray. Facing the horrors of the cross, Jesus intercedes for his disciples. He asks God the Father to protect them from the evil one. Not that they would escape the world, but rather they would be sanctified in it. By the truth of his word, Jesus asks God to protect and sanctify them as he sends them into the world. Even in his hour of need, he is thinking of them. He knows that what he is asking them to do will require prayer. And so, he intercedes.
The God of the Universe had us in mind when he prayed for his disciples. A little later, he opens his prayer to include those who come to believe through the disciples’ evangelism (John 17:20). We are descendants of their original evangelistic efforts. Jesus’s prayer for protection and for the sanctification of his disciples is a prayer that he makes for us. He intercedes that we, too, might endure the challenges of our cultural moment. He is praying for our spiritual growth, that we might look a little more like him day by day. He does not desire us to be taken out of the world. Instead, he sends us out. We are invited to follow in the footsteps of the disciples.
PRAYER DAY #5: This week we’ve been learning to pray through Jesus’s model. Today we see him praying for us. Start your time of prayer with the Lord’s Prayer. As you conclude remind yourself that not only are you praying, but that Jesus prayed for you. Ask God to help you handle difficulties differently knowing that the God of the Universe is praying for you. Thank Jesus for the ways he has been interceding on your behalf.
