John 17:6-19 · Jesus Prays for His Disciples

6 "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

In the Upper Room
John 17
Sermon
by John E. Harnish
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What does it feel like to have someone praying for you? By name, in person, one-on-one? John Indermark remembers a childhood experience of being in the hospital for surgery when he was ten years old. He says he remembers a priest praying for him: "I seem to recall that as he came and stood at the foot of my bed, I felt a mix of wonder and fear. I did not know him, but he prayed. For me. He took time to bring my name and need before God. That I knew. That I still know. That I carry with me in ministry." [1]

I don't know about you, but I know about me, and I know what a blessing it is to know that someone is praying for me. In my first appointment in that little country church in Hawthorn, Pennsylvania, we had a weekly Wednesday night prayer meeting. Actually, we had three prayer meetings i…

ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Sermons, by John E. Harnish