PRAYER FOR PROTECTION

JOHN 17:11–14

“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept”

(John 17:12).

Returning to our study of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17, we find Him praying for the continued protection of His disciples: “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” Jesus speaks as if He had already died, so certain was Calvary! Christ Jesus, as our High Priest, was already immersed in His sacrificial work that was yet to come and in His task as intercessor. Anticipating His departure, then, He prays for the disciples to be protected by the Father once He was gone.

Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry He had protected the disciples. He had cared for them, instructed them, and watched over them. But soon He would be gone, and they would be scattered, afraid and alone. The world would be in a rage against them, and they would need God’s protection. Like never before, they would need His strength to stand united against a hostile world.

It is easy to become frightened when you see the world standing against you and when you think you are alone. No doubt the disciples knew this fear and felt it deeply during the weeks and months after Jesus’ crucifixion. They would need God’s protection, just as we need it today. God has promised that He will be a refuge for those in trouble, that He will go before us and defeat our enemies, and that He will guard us from the temptations and the threats of the world.

It is important to pay close attention to Jesus’ prayer because it reminds us that we cannot withstand the trials of this world without God’s protecting love. We cannot do it alone. We need Him in everything we do, and it would be a mistake for any Christian to think he can face the world in his own strength.

Finally, Jesus prays that His followers be protected so they might be “one.” He was not praying that there be no denominational distinctions in the church, but that His disciples be one in their stand against the world. He prayed that they remain united in love and in defense of the truth as they go out into the world, just as the Father and the Son are united against the world.

CORAM DEO

Isaiah 7–9

Galatians 4

WEEKEND

Isaiah 10–15

Galatians 5–6

Meditate on Psalms 32:7; 34:7; 91:4; 125:2. Do you try to do things in your own strength? Do you become frightened by the trials of this world? Memorize two of these verses. When you begin to feel afraid or anxious about something, repeat these verses to yourself, and ask God for the faith to believe them.

For further study: 2 Chron. 20:1–30 • Dan. 6:16–23 • 2 Thess. 3:1–5

WEEKEND