John 17 is a prayer. It’s the longest recorded prayer of Jesus. It starts by His lifting His eyes to heaven. He’s talking to His Father. He’s not talking to the air. He’s not talking to Himself. However, the prayer isn’t a deeply personal prayer. It’s more of a report. It reminds me of Hezekiah praying when he gets this threatening letter and he goes and lays it out before the Lord.

Jesus talks about Himself first in the third person and then switches to the first person, as if it’s the Holy Spirit talking about Jesus at first.

Jesus talks about giving eternal life to people, but then He defines eternal life as knowing God.

We give people eternal life by helping them know God. Of course, we can’t save people. Salvation is a supernatural work. But we can introduce people to God. We can teach them about God. We can be the visible image of Christ on the earth by allowing Christ to shine through us and let His good works glorify Him.

Jesus glorified the Father by accomplishing the work He was given. We glorify God by accomplishing the good works He’s prepared for us. They are intended to glorify God, to shine the light of Christ.

Jesus is praying for all who would come to believe in His name, which I hope includes you!

What does Jesus pray for us?

He asks His Father to keep us. To keep means to guard. He asks that we be guarded from the devil. He prays that we be sanctified in the truth, made holy and set apart to God by our knowing the truth, Him and His Word.

He prays that we would be one as He is in the Father and the Father in Him. We are to become one with Christ as He was one with the Father. And everyone who comes into that unity in Christ is united to others in Christ.

Jesus makes two wonderful comments about love. One, that the love with which the Father loved Jesus would be in us; and two, that the Father loves us as He loved Jesus. Believe your Father God loves you as He loved Jesus.

Our unity as Christians shows that love to the world. It is possible to live in that unity because, as Jesus said, “I am praying for them.”