I LOVE the prayers of Jesus for His people in the Gospel of John! Look at John 17:8-9 to see exactly who Jesus is praying for!
8 For the [uttered] words that You gave Me I have given them; and they have received and accepted [them] and have come to know positively and in reality [to believe with absolute assurance] that I came forth from Your presence, and they have believed and are convinced that You did send Me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying (requesting) for the world, but for those You have given Me, for they belong to You. AMP
Jesus was NOT praying for the world here! He stated in John 3:16-17 what His purpose was for the world! THESE are those who received Him for Who He was/is! Now look at verses 14-19 to see WHAT He prayed for them:
14 I have given and delivered to them Your word (message) and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world [do not belong to the world], just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), [just] as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth. 18 Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And so for their sake and on their behalf I sanctify (dedicate, consecrate) Myself, that they also may be sanctified (dedicated, consecrated, made holy) in the Truth.
The moment we receive Jesus as Lord and personal Savior, our spirits are recreated from being dead spirits into living spirits in the image of God! Look at 2 Corinthians 5:17:
17 Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! AMP
Our spirits are changed INSTANTLY at the New Birth! Our bodies WILL BE changed instantly, at the catching away of the Church (1 Corinthians 15:51-54). Our souls (mind, emotions and will), however, must be changed, sanctified, renewed day by day with the Word of God! Romans 12:2 in both the KJV and the AMP Bibles:
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God KJV
2 Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]. AMP
It is the Word of God, the TRUTH, that causes our thinking to be changed to agree with God! Jesus was praying for this very thing in John 17! The REALLY Good News, though, is that He was NOT just praying for those who were with Him there! Look at verses 20-23:
20 Neither for these alone do I pray [it is not for their sake only that I make this request], but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word and teaching, 21 That they all may be one, [just] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me. 22 I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one [even] as We are one: 23 I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and [definitely] recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them [even] as You have loved Me.
THAT is referring to US, too! Don't you believe that if Jesus prayed for you, and He DID, that His prayer was answered? OF COURSE! Go boldly into every day of your life on earth KNOWING that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has already prayed for you! AMEN! We should have great expectation that He will fulfill His plan and purpose in and through our lives as we make ourselves available to Him! DO IT! AMEN! Here is Hillsong Live with "Always Will":
Shalom in Him!
