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John 17 : 1 - 26 "RECALLING AN IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE"

Day 267 – John 17

RECALLING AN IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE

Let us take time to remember a principle that Jesus practised even as He prayed for His immediate Disciples. He said,

“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world
but for those whom You have given Me,
for they are Yours.”
John 17:9

As we study this text, we also remember the context in which Jesus said these words. He had not only prayed for them. Let us recall what He said concerning His ministry to them.

“I have manifested Your Name to the men
whom You have given Me out of the world.

Now they have known that all things
which You have given Me are from You.
For I have given to them the words which
You have given Me; and they have received them,
and have known surely that I came forth from You;
and they have believed that You sent Me.”
John 17:6a, 7-8

True prayer and hard work go together. This is surely the lesson that we must learn even as we carefully study the intercessory prayer of Jesus.

It was wonderful of Jesus to pray for future believers. However, the correct understanding and application of this text is plain. Let us list the following lessons:-

1. We are to learn to pray as Jesus did.

2. We are to work as Jesus did as well.

If we desire unity in the context of the Church, we will have to bring that up to the Father in prayer. But having done that, we must also be prepared to do our part to work hard at cultivating the spirit of oneness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!

If we were to observe that the Church today is quite disunited, we cannot conclude that the prayer of Jesus was ineffective. We have to blame ourselves for not entering into prayer as Jesus did. We have no one to blame but ourselves, because we have not continued to do what He did. His focus was the teaching of God’s Word. He kept close to His Father in prayer. He sought the glory of His Father at all times.

We fall far short of the way Jesus served. We do not pray as much. We do not read His Word as much as we should. We do not have the same kind of faith in the Word as Jesus did.

A CHALLENGE TO WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE LORD JESUS

There is no doubt whatsoever that the Disciples followed the footsteps of Jesus very closely. Let us note how the Disciples practised what they had been taught.

1. The Place of Prayer

The Disciples had become people who were given to prayer. The first Church in the New Testament era began on a note of prayer.

“These all continued with one accord in prayer
and supplication…”
Acts 1:14 (Acts 1:24; 2:42 etc)

2. The Place of God’s Word

The Disciples made frequent references to the Scriptures. They cited the Word of God in their discussions. They certainly preached from the Scriptures. In his maiden message, the Apostle Peter said,

“But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God…'”
Acts 2:16-17

3. The hard work of the Disciples

The Disciples of Jesus worked very hard as a team. They were fully united. There were no quarrels among themselves. The sense of Oneness among them was very real and obvious. Luke noted what happened as a result of following this basic pattern that Jesus Himself had adopted as His approach to ministry.

“And with many other words, he testified
and exhorted them, saying,
‘Be saved from this perverse generation.’
Then those who gladly received his word were baptized;
and that day about three thousand souls were added to
them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’
doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and
in prayers.

Now all who believed were together, and had all things in
common, and sold their possession and goods, and divided
them among all, as everyone had need. So continuing daily
with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from
house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity
of heart…”
Acts 2:40-42, 44-46

WHEN WE DO NOT HEED BIBLICAL INJUNCTIONS

When believers do not heed Biblical teachings but prefer their own human methods of “growing” their churches, we can expect trouble. The history of Christianity bears sad testimony of the fact that when the Church abandons the way of the Lord, it stumbles itself. When human commandments of men are proclaimed and preferred above the Word of God, there would be chaos and not unity.

We cannot rewrite the history of the Church. There is no turning back of the clock. We can only pray that the local Church can experience that sense of oneness that Jesus spoke about. We have to remember though that prayer and hard work go together!