Scripture: John 17:14-19

I gave your word to them and the world hated them, because they don’t belong to this world, just as I don’t belong to this world. I’m not asking that you take them out of this world but that you keep them safe from the evil one. They don’t belong to this world, just as I don’t belong to this world. Make them holy in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. I made myself holy on their behalf so that they also would be made holy in the truth.

Consider:

One of the hardest parts of parenting, for me, is I know things my children do not yet know. That little baby is born without any knowledge or expectations - or experiences - to shape its life yet, but you as a parent know all of the milestones which are before them. Maybe other parents didn’t look at their baby and then worry about their teenage years - but I wouldn’t be surprised if so much of our parental worry isn’t actually anticipating the heartbreak we know is to come.

What I pray for them most of all is not an escape from the hard experiences of life which shape them, but that they will be able to face them with strength of heart and solid character which will allow them to come out whole on the other side.

When Jesus prays, he doesn’t ask for God to make their path straight or easy. In fact, he explicitly says he prays God doesn’t remove them from the cares and concerns of the world. Instead his prayer is for us to come out the otherside of those hard times with our hearts and mind whole, more able to trust God to lead us through them.

Our lives on this earth are precious and bumpy. Jesus’ prayer for us is not to avoid those bumps, but to go over them or through them or under them, knowing the promise of life which comes after the potholes.

Respond:

Look back on a time when the world seemed extra challenging or difficult for you to navigate. What was your prayer during that time? Maybe write down an example of something you would have asked God during that time.

Now, consider re-writing the prayer in light of Jesus’ prayer for you - not to avoid the time of trial, but to go through it with God’s help. How might your prayer look or sound different?

Pray:

Lord, help me trust You when Your plans feel confusing or painful. Teach me to believe you will help me go over the mountaintop to the other side, heart and soul intact, trusting even more in your favor. Amen.

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