Someone is Praying for You
What is Jesus doing today? Thankfully, He’s doing more than just waiting to come again. Hebrews 7:24 (ESV) says, “He always lives to make intercession for them.” Who is “them” referring to? Believers. It’s referring to you and me. Romans 8:34 (ESV) confirms this for us, as the apostle Paul said, “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
For over 2,000 years, Jesus has been interceding for His children. Today, He and the Holy Spirit are still interceding (see Romans 8:26). So that means we have two-thirds of the Godhead praying for us every single moment of our lives. When we think about that, it’s very difficult to get discouraged. God is praying for us, and God answers His own prayers!
What Does Jesus Pray?
John 17 is known as Jesus’s High Priestly Prayer. His prayer gives us a glimpse into how Jesus prayed for His disciples when He was on earth. It also shows us what He is praying for us today. And contrary to what people often presume, Jesus is not praying for the world at large; instead, His prayers are directed toward us His disciples as John 17:9 (ESV) states, “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.”
I want us to notice three things from this prayer that Jesus prays for every Christian. He prays that God would keep and protect us, unite us, and prepare a place for us.
Keep & Protect Us
In John 17:11, Jesus prayed that the Father would keep us in His name. That’s significant because a name has authority. Each day, then, Jesus is praying that the Father would keep and protect us. That doesn’t mean we’ll never experience hardship or have challenges. But it means that our soul, our eternal reality in relationship with God, is protected and enshrouded in Jesus’s name.
The name of Jesus is powerful. The enemy has no access to you beyond that name. James 2:19 (NKJV) says, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble.” Demons quake at the mention of the name of Jesus. Sickness flees at the name of Jesus. Sin, accusation, and condemnation cannot make their way and penetrate the deepest place of your heart and into your life because you’ve been changed. You’ve been saved, you’ve been redeemed, you’ve been washed in the blood. You’ve been made a son or a daughter of God. You’ve been listed in the Book of Life. You’ve been seated with Christ in heavenly places, and God puts His hands on you and says, “He is mine,” or “She is mine,” and every single day Jesus is praying that over your life. And Jesus is asking the Father to finish the “good work” that He started in you (Philippians 1:6 ESV).
Unite Us
Jesus asks the Father that we would be one like God—“that they may be one,” Jesus said, “even as we are one” (John 17:11 ESV). Jesus wants His people to be united, to walk and live in unity. It’s the greatest witnessing tool to the world because unity is not natural. Unity is supernatural. This is Jesus’sdesire for His Church.
Ephesians 4:13 (ESV) speaks about a time that’s coming in the future when we all will “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,” to full maturity. One day, before Jesus returns, the Church is going to be united. We’re not going to look the same, but our heart and our longing for His return is going to be unified, and we’re going to love and appreciate one another. We’re not going to dumb down doctrines, and we’re not going to diminish our distinctives, but we’re going to center our hearts on the knowledge of Jesus. That’s powerful! There is power when the Church is united.
And Jesus prays that right now. He prays for a unity. Listen, he prays for a unity not just among believers, but even in our households, even in our own church, that we would be one as he and the Father are one.
To Be with Him
And lastly, in verse 24, Jesus prayed, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” We see the longing of Jesus’s heart is for us to be with Him, for us to see His glory. And He is preparing a place for us. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2 ESV). Do you know that Jesus not only is interceding for you, but He is also preparing a place for you.
Do you know the mark of true love is when you want somebody to be with you wherever you are—and to be with you forever? That’s the love Jesus has for you and me. He wants us to dwell with Him forever and always. God would unite us together around him. Ultimately, He wants to bring us to Himself.
Friend, we have an amazing High Priest and Intercessor. His name is Jesus. Remember, you have Someone praying for you. He’s asking the Father to keep and protect you, He’s asking the Father to unite you with the rest of His children, and He’s asking the Father to bring you to Him. He loves you that much.
