“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.”
– John 10:14
John 10:14, what a simple, beautiful verse that I just want to encourage you with today and I want to pray over you today. Jesus saying, “I am the good shepherd.” Without going into details, just been some hard days. I think we could all say that. Over these last months, there’s been hard days, in many different ways.
One song that has been constant, we sang it at NBC, early on, is based on Psalm 23. “The Lord is my shepherd. I am not alone.” I have sung that song over and over and over again. Sometimes it just drives me to tears before the Lord. He is such a good shepherd. When we’re walking through the valley, he’s our shepherd. He says, “I know my own.” He knows us. This is the encouragement I want to give to you. John 10:14 just has ministered to me, just meditating on it and I just want to encourage you with it. Jesus is your good shepherd.
So, assuming you have trusted in him, he is your shepherd and I’m guessing many of you, walking through a valley, and he is your shepherd in the middle of the valley. You are not alone. You are not alone. Never alone. He is with you and he knows you. He knows your every need. Knows your every thought. He knows you’re every hurt. He knows what you’re walking through right now. In ways that nobody else knows, he knows. In ways that you don’t even fully know, he knows. He knows you completely. He sees it all. Sees everything. You’re walking through everything you’re struggling with. He knows you and you know him.
This Verse Prays For God To Guide Us As Our Lord
Just think of it, you know the Lord, the King, the Creator of the world. You know him. You have an inside track to him and not just as an outsider, but as insider, as his child. He’s your Father. He loves you and not just loves you as your Father, but he leads you and guides you and helps you and nourishes you and feeds you as your shepherd.
So God, I just pray, even as you have encouraged me with John 10:14 today, I pray it over every single person who’s listening, that they would know you in a fresh way right now, as their good shepherd, as the shepherd who loves them and lays down his life for the sheep. That’s the kind of shepherd you are. You feed us. You lead us. Guide us.
John 10:14 Prays For The Encouragement Of The Souls And Heart
So God, I pray for your nourishment in their souls. God, I pray for your leadership in their lives and the decisions they’re making and all the thoughts and emotions they’re wrestling with. God, for your help. Jesus, for your care, for your joy and your peace and your wisdom. God, for everything they need. That they would know in a fresh way right now that you know them and they know you. That this reality, what it means to know you and be known by you. For you to be a shepherd and for them to be sheep.
God, I pray that you would encourage their hearts. Restore their souls. Lord, embolden them. Encourage their hearts. Refresh their souls. Give joy at the very core of their being. Overwhelm them with peace that passes all understanding. Guard their hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus.
Oh God, we praise you. Jesus. We praise you for being our shepherd and we pray your word according to this reality in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the 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, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
