fbpx

FIVE

BEGIN

Pray to experience joy in Christ through our theme verse:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

Review the memory verse for the week:

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)

READ

Read and meditate on this passage today: John 17:1-26

This is Jesus’ prayer for us, his followers. It’s an amazing window into Jesus’ relationship with the Father. Notice what Jesus prays for you and me. What seem to be the major concerns on his mind?

John 17:1–26

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

“I have revealed you  to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Take special note of verse 13. What do you think it means to have the full measure of Christ’s joy? How does Jesus’ prayer connect with our joy?

PRAY

As the Spirit leads, let these themes guide you in your prayer today:

  • Thank Jesus for praying for you. He still does today.
  • Ask God to help you have unity with fellow believers.
  • Pray that you will experience the full measure of Christ’s joy.
  • Ask the Spirit to sanctify you by the Word.
  • Pray that Jesus’ love more and more fills you.

JOURNAL

What are you learning about Jesus as you study his prayer to God the Father?

What do you sense God is saying to you in this passage, by his Spirit?

SHARE

Talk with your prayer partner about what you are learning, how you are growing to experience more joy in Christ. Pray together.

About the Engage God DailY

Jesus invites us to know him personally and engage with him daily. Through daily Bible reading and prayer, we can grow in our relationship with him. The Engage God Daily is a daily resource designed to help you better understand the Bible and take you deeper into the concepts taught on Sunday mornings.

Use this guide to prepare for next Sunday’s teaching. Each day presents a reading, Scripture, and a prayer to help grow in your walk with Christ this week. 

In Your Inbox

Past Studies

Colossians: Week 2 | Day 5

Colossians: Week 2 | Day 5

Day 5  Lisa Sheffler, author Read Colossians 1: 22–23 (NIV) 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and...

Colossians: Week 2 | Day 4

Colossians: Week 2 | Day 4

 Day 4  Lisa Scheffler, author Have you checked out the new Pastors Pregame Podcast with Bruce, Jaime, Mark, and Lisa? New episodes every Thursday! It’s available at cfhome.org/pregame or on the Apple podcast app. Read Colossians 1:21–22 (NIV) 21 Once you were...

Colossians: Week 2 | Day 3

Colossians: Week 2 | Day 3

  Day 3  Lisa Scheffler, author Read Colossians 1:19–20 (NIV) 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed...