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Jesus’ prayer in The Garden still amazes me. He prayed for those who were with Him then. But He also prayed for me. He prayed for you.
He prayed that we would all be one just as He and His Father were One.
Referring to those with him, He said,
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.”
John 17:20-21
Besides the wonder of His loving us so much that He was thinking about us already, there is the awesome thought of how we are joined together in Him.
We are joined with those who went before us and those who will come after us.
We are joined with people we may never meet on earth, but we are joined already in Jesus.
God brought this home to me in beautiful ways in the past weeks.
A friend, who sensed my grief, encouraged me to play the piano. She knew that was something I enjoyed. And she had the spirit led feeling God would meet me there.
I hardly had the strength to even try, but as I began to play, God not only gifted me with comfort in the music, He also opened another door.
As I played a song He let me compose some years ago, He carried me in the spirit to a winding road. That would certainly match my life recently.
But as I walked that road, I began to feel stronger. I picked up the pace and I began to run. I felt the wind on my face and the joy of freely moving forward.
The road then turned into a straight road and I heard cheers and familiar voices calling out to me. I realized the people on the side of the road were those who had gone before me.
They were people who had been promoted to heaven already. Some I instantly recognized, like my parents and my sister in law.
Some I recognized as having contributed to my life in some way by their writing, their art, their music or in other ways. I had never met them in their time on earth, but I simply knew them already.
They were all encouraging me to keep going. The cloud of witnesses Paul described came to life.
It was an experience that lasted only a few minutes. God gently returned me to earth and the road faded. But the feeling of connection has lasted.
I am connected to all those who are calling me to finish my race and not give up.
I am already a part of God’s Connection to people now and the ones who will come after me.
So many people have prayed for us, as we have shared the ups and downs of life. That includes those of you reading or hearing this.
I have been so thankful for each and every one of you. We have not only been joined with you, but you have been joined to each other, as you shared in the prayers for us.
And that is exactly what Jesus prayed for — that all of us — through all times and places would be one.
May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are One— 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.
John 17:21-23
