Each Sunday during Lent we have been looking at prayers offered by the Apostles for the new believers in Christ. Each time we have seen their heartfelt love for their friends and deep conviction that their faith grow and develop. Today on this 4th Sunday of Lent I want to look at Jesus’ prayer recorded in John 17. I have chosen verses 20-26 but the whole chapter is Jesus’ prayer.
John 17:20-26 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
****Jesus prayed for you and me, future believers. He prayed for unity and that world who see and hears our testimonies will also come to believe.
22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!
****Jesus has shared part of His glory with us so that we may be unified with Him. He sent His Holy Spirit to indwell us! He wants the world to see His love. He wants us to be able to ‘see’ Him and know He is real and has always and will always love us.
25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
*****Jesus promises to continually reveal Himself and the Father to us. His love will continue to be in us and with us.
Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, we too can pray for others to deeply abide in Him and reflect His glory given to us. Who do you know today that needs the love of Christ? Who needs to see Jesus and have a spirit of unity with other believers? Pray for one another today.
Linda












today and forever.”
rose from the dead,
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.
Hebrews 1:3 tells us “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Isaiah had a vision of the throne room of God in Isaiah 6:3 he describes the scene, “
Knowing that Jesus reflects God’s glory means that having Jesus’ Holy Spirit indwelling us gives us the power to bring glory to God by doing His work. Hebrews 13:21 “ equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
This name of God is referred to in Psalm 3:3. “But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.” The name O Lord is YHWH and my glory is Jehovah-Kabodhi in Hebrew. David describes God as Lord, the one of glory and the lifter of his head. Have you ever thought about what God’s glory is? The Old Testament describes the glory cloud that led them in the wilderness and the ‘Sheikinah’ glory that filled the tabernacle and later the temple as the presence of God on earth. Moses asked to see God’s glory while on Mt Sinai but God told him he could not see His face and live. But, God said hide in the cleft of the rock and I will pass by. Exodus 33:20-22
catch a glimpse of His glory. Ezekiel, the prophet, saw a vision of the throne room of God in heaven. Ezekiel 1:28 “
of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” Here is the first part of this verse in the Amplified, “
As I have only a few days left in this month, I wanted to go back and pick up a few names of God I have not written about before. The Lord of hosts is a name of God referred to in the Old Testament and first appears in 1 Samuel 1:3. “Now this man (Elkanah) used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the
Israel that God commanded many angelic beings and is similar to the reference to God as the God of Heaven’s armies. Jeremiah 15:16 NLT Lord of hosts acknowledges that God is Almighty, powerful and can command and use a host of beings to aid His children. I particularly love the story of Elisha in 2 Kings 6:15-17. The king was after Elisha as he had been giving information to enemy as the Lord had directed him. He and his servant had fled into the countryside to escape the king. “
young man cried to Elisha.
every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” I can depend upon Him to be with me and carry me in whatever circumstances I find myself. Truly, He is the Lord of hosts the one who commands Heaven’s Armies and the whole earth is filled with His glory!