2000+ YEARS AGO JESUS PRAYED....FOR YOU!

 

Dearest Readers,

Ordinarily I don't like to do this too often - cut and paste a large pieces of anything, including the Bible ,and then say "Here, read this!" However, today I am breaking this 'rule' and doing just that. Lately I have been reading, and re-reading John chapter 17 - which is where Jesus prays His longest recorded prayer in the Bible. I've been studying it and looking deeper, and I really want to share this and encourage you all to read it too....really read it. Look deeply at what Jesus is doing and saying here...especially look at the section I have highlighted (verses 20-26), where Jesus is praying for YOU. When the true revelation of that hit me I was awestruck, and a little emotional. 2000+ years ago, when He knew what was about to happen to Him, He set that aside and prayed for me! And you...and every other believer. Whoa, that is a little overwhelming, don't you think?

 

Also, I underlined the first part of verse 24...Jesus is asking God for us to be with Him in heaven! How does that make you feel? To know that our Lord and Saviour was thinking of you all those years ago before He was to go to the cross for our sins, and more than that, He wanted us....with Him....in heaven! He petitioned the Father for us!

 

How deep is His love?

How immense is His desire for us?

The King of kings and Lord of lords is in love with us! :-)

 

"Here, read this!" :-)

Please read this chapter, Dear Readers....it truly is worth the time it will take to read 26 verses, and to hold these words of our Lord close and safe in our hearts.

 

God bless you all,

Love Toni (Jeanne) xxxxx

 

John Chapter 17 [New International Version (NIV)]

Jesus Prays to Be Glorified

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You. ² For You granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those You have given Him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. ⁴ I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began.

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.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. ²² I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are One— ²³ I in them and You in Me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.
²⁴ “Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world.
²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know You, and they know that You have sent Me. ²⁶ I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”