“Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.
John 17:13-20

Dear God, thank you for praying this prayer for me. Thank you for having this kind of heart for all of us. I think, today, I am going to pray this for my fellow Christians. The ones in my family, in my church, in my community, and in the world.

Father, help us to all learn from you that we might have a full measure of your joy within us. Give us your word, and help us to receive it and embrace it even if it costs us the approval of the world. Don’t relieve us from the sufferings of this world, but use those sufferings to draw us closer to you and to learn to help our sisters and brothers in their suffering. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. Sanctify us by helping us to live in your truth. Help us to know truth from lies. Help us to know the voice of the shepherd and to discern when we are hearing Satan instead. Send us into the world so that we might be your ambassadors to others who need you and need to see you in their neighbors. And sanctify us through the power of what Jesus did for us. What you did through sending Jesus for us.

I pray all of this in Jesus’s powerful name–my only hope,

Amen