Listen

“I’m praying for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours. Everything that is mine is yours and everything that is yours is mine; I have been glorified in them. I’m no longer in the world, but they are in the world, even as I’m coming to you. Holy Father, watch over them in your name, the name you gave me, that they will be one just as we are one.”

John 17:9-11

Think

Jesus is always praying. Scripture punctuates one miracle story after another with an image of Jesus retreating to a quieter place to pray. The gospel of John tells us the story of Jesus praying in his final days, and he is praying for his friends. His hour is near, and his heart beats for his disciples. There’s no doubt about it in my mind: Jesus doesn’t want his friends to be in pain, and so he prays. Christ prays for the ones he’s been traveling with, sharing meals with, laughing with, burping with, the ones he’s done all things in life with. In his love, with his whole being, Jesus the Christ prays for the very ones for whom he will soon give his life.

How humbling it is to imagine the one who is to come as the same one who bent his body in prayer for the ones he loved. How humbling it is to trust that this savior still prays for you and for me.

Aram Feinberg

Question to Ponder:

For whom will you pray this day?

Pray

Risen One, I am humbled by the depth of your love. Help me to turn that gratitude toward love of others and neighbors, trusting in the power of prayer, no matter the impossibility. Amen.

Go

May the God of steadfast love be with you.

May Jesus the Christ smile upon you and be gracious toward you.

And may the Spirit of Peace lead you in the path of wisdom and truth.

And all of God’s people can say: Amen.