John 17:20-26 

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, ²¹that 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. ²²I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: ²³I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world 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. ²⁶I 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.”

 

Nature of Prayer.
A connectedness to a divine being of love who is at the center of all creation. When we pray we open ourselves to the possibility of love permeating our being and guiding us towards a future that reveals the kingdom of God!

Integrity in prayer.
²⁰“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that 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. 

This prayer is one that is at the core of Jesus’s mission in the Church. Uniting all his followers, drawing people together in the mission of revealing God’s kingdom to the world.

We have all prayed prayers we don’t really mean.
Prayers to stop us swearing, prayers for a new car, prayers for rain, or sunshine, thankfulness for a meal of cabbage, tofu and broccoli when we were still full from lunch, things that in the grand scheme of things have no real bearing. These are not prayers of integrity.

If we look at the prayers of Jesus throughout the Bible they are prayers that are generated from the deepest moments of his soul. Prayers of integrity call on God to enter our deepest, most pertinent thoughts, fears, hopes and celebrations. Prayers like these confront our humanity.

Our Prayers of integrity reveal those parts of ourselves that require confrontation and action.

How can we pray for peace with integrity if we are not prepared for hard task of making peace with our own enemies, both internal and external?

A prayer of integrity must come from a place within us that understands our own fears, our own bias, our own prejudices. Without allowing God’s in to those aspects of ourselves, how can we participate as a vehicle of peace if we are ignorant to our own conflicts.

A prayer for healing for others requires that we ourselves are open to the help and grace of God for healing of our own damage, our own wounds. When we pray for the healing of someone else we too must open to restoring love of God that surrounds us, even in our darkest places.

Our prayers require participation.
The hand-pass prayer.
“God help the homeless people because I find them uncomfortable to look at.”

“God, help my friend, because I want to watch the football.”

“God, make it rain in the catchment areas that surround Melbourne because I don’t want to change my shower habits or spend money on a water tank.”

A prayer for rain or sunshine or for food for the hungry requires us to participate. We must examine our water usage, our grocery items and our energy use if our prayers are to carry meaning.

When we find ourselves in our darkest moments, when life seems to have no meaning for us outside of pain and we pray that desperate prayer of “God where are you!” We are required to open our eyes to that small glimmer of light that God shines through those who care deeply for us.

God gave us eyes to see, ears to hear and a brain to discern. For our prayers to have integrity we must participate with God in seeing them happen.

Prayer is interconnectedness with God that exposes our own humanity and puts us into contact with the loving spirit of God that is in and through all creation! In praying we are inviting God to look upon us warts and all and move us towards the kingdom of God. A kingdom where the broken are made whole, the lost are found and we are united in the love God.

²⁰“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that 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. ²²I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: ²³I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.