Unity

John 17:20-26 (The Message)

This is Jesus' prayer for the unity of his believers in John 17. As we do the work of being a church together, what would happen if we stopped and recited this prayer together, whenever we encounter difficulty or conflict?

This might be the ultimate conflict buster. Let's don't leave it on the shelf to collect dust when it can live and breathe and give us life.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

I'm praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.

The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.

Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.

The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they'll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.

Then they'll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you've sent me and loved them
In the same way you've loved me.

Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,

Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.

Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.

I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—

And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them

Exactly as I am in them.

-- Jesus

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. Where charity and love are, God is there.