Good morning! I hope this day finds you and your family well, and I want you to know that you are in my prayers daily during this difficult time.

I invite you to take a few moments with me to reflect on today’s Upper Room Devotional below — as well as on the theology woven into “It is well with my soul.”

Special thanks to Peggy Graff and her guests for providing this uplifting and inspiring addition to us in her Dog Days Duets series. I pray that these weekly selections will uplift your spirits and feed your soul as much as it does mine.

Today’s Scripture:

John 17:1-8 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

17 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, ² since you have given him authority over all people,^[a] to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴ I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. ⁵ So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

⁶ “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; ⁸ for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

Tim’s Devotional Reflection for Today

Isn’t it a good feeling to know there is another person or a group of people who care and love you enough to pray for you? I can think of times in my life and in my ministry when there were no sweeter words to hear: “I am praying for you.” You can probably attest to that experience in your own life.

I remember a significant day of discovery in my own life: One day I was nosing around in my mother’s things and I ran across a prayer diary that she was keeping. I was probably nine or ten years old at the time and had no business going through her things, but I was and I did find this prayer diary. I read words that went something like this, “Dear God, please watch over my children.  Help them always to stay close to you. Teach them to love and to serve. I pray that they would be faithful Christians all of their lives. Amen.” There were several such prayers. It was at that moment that I knew something that I guess I had never thought of: someone (and not just anyone, but my mother) was praying for me! I could “listen in” on her prayer for me. It obviously made a big impact on me because I have remembered that moment so vividly all through the years.

I had a similar reaction to today’s scripture the first time I read it years ago and it dawned on me what was going on. This passage from John’s gospel might be called the Lord’s other Prayer. It is the one that Jesus prayed for his friends, the disciples, before his death on the cross. When I first really listened to the words of Jesus in this prayer, it was a little like discovering my mother’s prayer diary. Jesus prayed for me! Not just anyone, but Jesus himself prayed for me and for you. Today’s scripture reading is part of a prayer Jesus prayed for his disciples that spans the entire 17^th chapter. In the twentieth verse Jesus says, “I do not pray for these [disciples] alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word….” In that way, the writer of John included all believers who would come after those first disciples.

For the church at the end of the first century, besieged by persecution and facing difficulties of every kind, the fourth gospel spoke powerfully. This 17^th chapter must have had particular impact, as they contemplated that Jesus had prayed on their behalf. What might that mean for us in our day?

Thank you for sharing this early moment of your day with me, with God, and with the words and music that I hope you will carry with you throughout the coming day and night.

I am so grateful for you, for our church, and for the Love that will see us all through this very difficult time. Please stay safe and well and we’ll be together again in spirit tomorrow morning!

Grace and Peace,

Dr. Tim Bruster
Senior Pastor

Here’s more about this passage of scripture via Upper Room devotionals: