John 17:20 Prayer for Believers - For The Glory of Jesus

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Prayer for Believers

This prayer is for all future believers. This prayer includes you and me. Jesus has prayed for Himself and His disciples.

This is a Bible Study. Have your own Bible handy to look up the references mentioned.

If you do not have a Bible, I invite you to go to BibleGateway.com or another online Bible.

John 17:20-26

20. Jesus “begins to pray for us who live today, for the whole church throughout all ages…He is concerned that His people experience a spiritual unity that is like the oneness of the Father and the Son. Christians may belong to different fellowships, but they all belong to the Lord and to each other.” (Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume 1 Matthew-Galatians. [Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2004], 371)

“Now, many centuries later, we can know our great High Priest is praying for us.” (McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume IV: [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983], 481)

Believers

21. “The lost world cannot see God, but they can see Christians, and what they see in us is what they will believe about God. If they see love and unity, they will believe that God is love. If they see hatred and division, they will reject the message of the gospel. (Wiersbe, 371)

“The basis of this unity centers in adherence to the revelation the Father mediated to His first disciples through His Son. Believers are also to be united in the common belief of the truth that was received in the Word of God (Philippians 2:2).” (MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Bible Commentary. [Nashville, Thomas Nelson Inc., 2005], 1414)

22. The glory which You gave Me. [NKJV] “This refers to the believer’s participation in all of the attributes and essence of God through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (v. 10; cf. Colossians 1:27; 2 Peter 1:4), as verse 23 makes clear (‘I in them’).” (MacArthur, 1414)

23. Made perfect in one. [NKJV] “The idea here is that they may be brought together in the same spiritual life around the truth that saves. That prayer was answered by the reality of 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 2:14-22.” (MacArthur, 1414)

“The unity of believers calls forth a recognition of God’s hand by observers in the world even while the church is on earth. Just a few hours before this prayer, Jesus told the disciples, ‘By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another’ (13:35).” [Max Anders and Kenneth O. Gangel (2012). HNTC Vol. 04: John. B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com]

Prayer by Jesus

24. Be with Me .[NKJV] “This will be in heaven, where one can see the full glory that is His (cf. v.5).” (MacArthur, 1414) Philippians 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18

“How do we know that Christians go to heaven? Because of the price that Jesus paid. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10), and the promise that Jesus made (John 14:1-6), and the prayer that Jesus prayed (John 17:24). The Father always answers His Son’s prayers, so we know that believers who die go to heaven to behold the glory of God.” (Wiersbe, 372)

25. “Anyone who is a believer knows that the Father has sent Him, and the purpose was for Him to die for our sins.” (McGee, 482)

26. “We talk so much about grace and about faith, rightly so; yet the great desire of His heart is that His love should be manifested in the lives of those whom He has redeemed. That should put us down on our faces before Him.” (McGee, 482)

“Jesus simply reported to His Father about the ministry in the world, and He made several declarations that are important to us.

1) The world does not know the Father, but that we believers know him because the Son has revealed the Father to us.
2) The importance of trust and love in the church. (Wiersbe, 372) Ephesians 4:15

“As you review this prayer, you see the spiritual priorities that were in the Savior’s heart: The glory of God; the sanctity of God’s people; the unity of the church; the ministry of sharing the gospel with a lost world.” (Wiersbe, 372)

References

In this article Scripture quotations taken from KJV.

Borchert, Gerald L., The New American Commentary Volume 25B, John 12-21. Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002
Max Anders and Kenneth O. Gangel (2012). HNTC Vol. 04: John. B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com
McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume IV: Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983
MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Bible Commentary. Nashville, Thomas Nelson Inc., 2005
Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume 1 Matthew-Galatians. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2004

Disciples Betrayed

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