A Prayer for the Otherworldly

4/25/25 Bible Thought (Jn. 17)

Photo by Greg Sellentin on Unsplash

I always find it touching when people give little gifts to someone else, because they were, “just thinking about them.” There is no special date, whether it be a birthday or anniversary; rather, they were just being kind. It’s nice to be thought of by others, even talked about by others, when the topic is nice.

But, in my opinion, what is even more special than being talked about or thought of is being prayed for. To know that someone else is thinking about you in such a way that they are taking your name to the throne of grace, solely for your benefit not their own—now that’s special.

How much greater then, is it to know that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself bears our names before the Father in glory?

In John 17, again on the eve of His death, the Lord Jesus sets aside time before His arrest to pray specifically for His disciples and, “also for those who will believe in me [Jesus] through their word” (Jn. 17:20). Not only this, but He is presently interceding for us! (see Heb. 7:25). How amazing is that?

Now, while there are many facets of what is known as Jesus’ “high priestly prayer” I want to focus in on one element specifically. Jesus recognizes that His disciples are not of the world (Jn. 17:16) nevertheless, He prays, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (Jn. 17:15).

Although the Christian isn’t of the world, the world is our temporary home. We live here as sojourners and exiles, knowing that a heavenly Promised Land awaits us. But in the present, we are here and in fact we’re meant to be here.

The famous illustration I’m sure we’ve all heard is that the Christian is like a boat, and the world is like water. The boat is made to be in water. That’s where it was designed to function. As long as it is in the water and the water is not in it, everything is okay. So it is with the Christian and the world. We’re to be here representatives of our Lord Jesus, while not allowing worldliness and the love of the world (see 1 Jn. 2:15-17) to creep into our lives.

With this, the Lord prays for the disciples’ sanctification in truth, specifically in the Word (Jn. 17:17). Sanctify is a verbal form of “holy.” Essentially, Jesus is praying for the “holy-ing” of His disciples, that they would be separate or distinct from the rest of the world. This is to be true both in position and practice.

What a joy it is to know that Jesus prayed for us on the eve of His death and that He prays for us even in the present. We are here on the basis of His prayer, as salt and light in a dark world (see Matt. 5:13-16). If the world was not dark, it would have no need for light and truly light would have no significance. If the world were not unholy, then those who are made holy wouldn’t be special.

The believer in Jesus is made distinct, holy, through Christ’s atoning death, victorious resurrection, and continual intercession on our behalf. We might not be part of the world, but Jesus has us here for a purpose. The world might bring troubles as we saw yesterday (Jn. 16:33) but until the day He has appointed this is where we are to be.

If He has made us to be light, then we need dark places in which to shine.