I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
– John 17:20–24
This is Jesus’ prayer for the church as he prepares to go to the cross. Man, just reading these verses just heavy on my heart, so I just want to read them. I want us to hear Jesus praying for us as the church, and then I’m just going to go right into praying precisely according to what he prayed.
Father, we pray that you would unify your people as you are united with your Son and Spirit.
He said, “I do not ask for these only.” He’s talking about his disciples that he was praying for right before this, “But also for those who will believe in me through their word,” which means he’s praying for us right here. “That they may all be one just as you, Father, are in me and I in you. That they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Glory Given by God
The glory that you have given me, I have given to them that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me. That they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
God, we pray together right now in each of our churches and in all of our churches collectively as your Church, that you would make us one in the same way, Father, that you and the Son are one. What an awesome picture that we would experience in the body of Christ a oneness that is comparable to the oneness in the Trinity. God, we ask for that. Please give us that. Please guard us from division. God, please guard us from disunity, for not living in the oneness that you have created for us so that the world might believe that you sent the Son to die on the cross for our sins.
John 17:20–24 Prays for the World to Listen to God’s Word
So God, we pray for that, that the world might believe like reading this, hearing Jesus pray this, to think that the world might not believe if the world does not see this kind of oneness in the Church. God, we pray for this oneness in the Church for our own good and we pray for the salvation of so many people beyond the Church in the world. God, we pray that we would be one together in the same way that you and the Son are one so that the world may know that you sent the Son and loved them even as you love the Son.
So God, as we pray all this, we desire that we would be with him where he is, that we would see his glory, the glory you have given him. We long for heaven for so many reasons, first and foremost because we will see you. We will be with you. Flowing from that, everything will be perfect, including our relationships with one another in the Church as your people. No conflict, no strife, no hurt, no pain, just one as the Father and the Son and the Spirit are one.
John 17:20–24 Prays for Unity
God, we long for that day, and we pray, we pray that you would help us to live in it today. We live in such a divisive culture where we are so prone to accuse, and to disparage, and to cancel one another, to turn against one another instead of being for one another. God, help us, we pray, to experience what Jesus prayed for us 2,000 years ago and what he intercedes for us even now and how he intercedes for us even now. May John 17:20–24 be an ever increasing reality in each of our churches and an us together as the Church. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
