A Divine Prayer for Oneness-Part 1

Prayer is an essential part of the true Christian believer’s life. Jesus gave us the perfect example in Matthew 6 when He teaches the disciples how to pray.  

In that prayer, Jesus taught us to praise God. We are to thank Him. We are to acknowledge that He knows exactly what He is doing with His kingdom. We are to submit to His will. We are to thank Him for providing for us. We are to ask for forgiveness for the dumb stuff we may have done that day. Before Jesus gave us this prayer, He tells the disciples—thus us—that the Father already knows what we have need of, Matthew 6: 8.  

Thus, prayer is how we communicate with the only true and living God our creator who is also our Holy heavenly Father.   

Throughout His time on earth, Jesus continually prayed. But, in John 17, we have the only full recording of the Lord’s Prayer. Thus, it is one of the most unique and beautiful prayers because it sums up—to me—the greatest love in the world. This prayer exhibits not only the Fathers love for us but the Son’s love for us in the face of His willing sacrifice that was about to take place for and in our behalf.  

In this chapter, Jesus first prays for Himself. Secondly, He prays for His first disciples. Then, He does an amazing thing. He prays for those who shall in the future believe in Him, verse 20, 21. That’s you and I. In particular in His prayer, Jesus made a request to our Holy Father that we all be one as He and the Father are one. That is something to pause and think about. 

In verse 11, Jesus asks that the Father keep us in His own name. Specifically, it states:   And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. (KJV). The word for keep is tereo, which means to guard, watch, preserve. In other words, Jesus places the spiritual well-being of His true followers—present and future—under the divine protection of Yehovah, our God and heavenly Father.  

Given this divine truth—if we believe in Jesus—one scripture comes to mind, “if God be for us, who can be against us,” Romans 8:31.

Thus oneness is necessary. The question is why?

See part 2 for the answer