Have you ever prayed for yourself?

Of course you have.

Have you ever prayed for your family? Your friends? Your church?

Jesus has.

In John 17, on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus prays. He prays for His disciples. But then He does something remarkable. He prays for people who aren’t even there yet.

He prays for those who “will believe.”

That’s you!

Before He went to the cross, Jesus was praying for you. And what does He ask for?

Unity.

“That they may all be one.”

Unity is not uniformity. Jesus is not asking that we all have the same personalities, preferences, or opinions about every minor thing. In fact, God gives a variety of Spiritual gifts for the benefit of the church. Rather, He prays that we would be united in Him. United in faith. United in truth. United in love.

Why?

“So that the world may believe.”

Our unity in Christ is a witness to the world.

Division, bitterness, and constant conflict harm that witness. They distract from Christ. They make the church look like just another fractured group fighting for power.

But when sinners forgiven by Jesus live in repentance, humility, and love toward one another, the world sees something different.

It sees Christ.

This doesn’t mean living out that unity is always easy. It isn’t. We are sinners. We misunderstand one another. We hurt one another. Sometimes we disagree strongly.

Unity is not maintained by pretending those things don’t exist. It is maintained the same way all Christian life is maintained — by repentance and forgiveness, by love, communication, and understanding.

Jesus prayed for our unity before He shed His blood to secure it.

Through His death and resurrection, He has made us one body. We don’t create unity. He does. We simply live in it.

So today, we can join Jesus in praying for our church. For patience with one another. For humility. For truth. For love. That we would be one in Christ, and that our unity would point others to Him. We can also pray for the church throughout the world, that we would be united in true Christian doctrine and support one another in the mission.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for making us one through Your Son. Forgive us for the ways we contribute to division. Help our church to be united in Christ — in truth and in love — so that others may see Jesus in us and believe.

Amen

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

• Your family
• Your local church
• Your pastor
• Some of your fellow church members
• The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
• Your country and her leaders
• Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.