Whatever happened to Christ's prayer?

Whatever happened to Christ’s prayer?

In the seventeenth chapter of the book of John, Jesus Christ prayed to the Father on behalf of Himself, His disciples, and to all believers. This prayer is quite remarkable and consists of some very important points.

Jesus prayed saying; “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John.17:20-23).

I therefore, beg to ask the question, whatever happened to this prayer has it become obsolete? Was it offered in van? One thing for sure it was quite evident and very effective during the first century church, scripture confirms that, “All the believers were together and had everything in common” and, “all the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had” (Acts 2:42; Acts 4:32).

The apostle Paul also made an urgent plea by saying; “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1Corinthians 1;10).

So let us take a closer examination at this all important prayer and see how we can better understand and apply it.

1. Those who believe in Me through their word (message)!

To believe in Jesus Christ through the word of others is a specific message that is assigned to those who are called to preach the good news of salvation. But what is the message we are to believe since there are so many conflicting messages? John the apostle wrote; “This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not [practice] live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin” (1John 1:5-7).

So then, the most important criterion of the message which is also the catalyst for unity and peace among believers, the body of Christ is truth, because truth is synonymous to light and the admonition is that, God is light and in Him there is absolutely no darkness. Signifying that, the main building block that will unify the body of Christ is truth.

Truth is of God and anything contrary is of the devil as we have been forewarned saying; “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).

The message that is assigned to all those who are called to spread the good news of salvation is first and foremost the truth because we have been forewarned saying; “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head --- Christ” (Ephesians 4:14-15).    

So the most important question for everyone who would like to see and have unity in the body of Christ is to be certain that what we are being taught is the truth, and what is truth? According to the Psalmist David; “The entirety of God’s word is truth.” And Jesus Christ said, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (Psalms 119:160; John 17:17).

So then, truth is nothing more or less than the word of God and in addition to that we have been duly warned saying; “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:32).

The crux of the matter is, in order to have unity and peace in the body of Christ, the teachings or doctrines must be based on scriptures because, according to the apostle Paul He wrote; “Now brethren, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you, otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures” (1Corinthians15:1-4).

Here is a typical example why the church is so divided, the scriptures state clearly that, “For as Jonah was three days [36 hrs.], and three nights [36 hrs.] in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew12:40).

Now there should be no ambiguity as to how long is three days and three nights and how long Jesus Christ spent in the heart of the earth because Jesus stated quite distinctly; “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light” (John1:9).

The teachings and doctrines of the apostles are designed for all humanity, Jews as well as Gentiles, because they were instructed to, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”. And again it is written, “The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Mathew.28:18-20; Luke 24:47).

Unfortunately, according to Jesus, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God" (John 3:19-21).

The sad reality is that, the majority of people rather follow the customs and traditions of men than obeying the word of God. What a travesty!

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph