John 17

Take a close look at Jesus' prayer in this chapter.  First of all, in my Bible, the paragraph heading says , "Jesus prays for Himself."  My initial reaction was that since Jesus prayed for Himself, it must be okay for us to pray for ourselves, too.  But closer at the prayer: Jesus is praying for himself only the things that will bring glory to the Father.  Too often, my prayers can tend toward a "grocery list" and I wonder if sometimes we treat God like a great cosmic vending machine.  I believe we can pray for ourselves, of course, but perhaps we should pay closer attention to Jesus' model and pray more specifically for things that will bring glory to God.  

Next, Jesus prayed from His disciples.  Notice one of the things that He says: (v.15) My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.  

Finally in this chapter, Jesus prayed for all believers; that's us, too!  Think about the gravity of that--Jesus in Jerusalem the night before He went to the cross prayed for you.  The very first thing Jesus prayed for us is that we might be one.  Unity!  I don't think that means we have to always agree with everything that any other Christian says, but considering the value Jesus placed on unity in His prayer for us, perhaps we should consider it more often, especially considering the purpose of being unified (look at v. 23).