Day 17 of 21 Day Challenge

John 17 is all about what Jesus prayed right before He was betrayed by Judas, arrested, beaten, and crucified. He knew what was about to happen, yet He was mostly thinking about others. The first 5 verses is His prayer for Himself, the next 14 verses covers His prayer for His disciples, and the last 7 verses is His prayer for all believers. Did you notice He spent the least amount of time praying for Himself? Only 5 out of 26 verses is spent praying for Himself. That's less than 20% of His prayer was spent thinking about Himself and His needs. Are my prayers similar to His, or do I focus more on myself? This chapter definitely helped me to see that I should try to focus more on others in my prayers.

Another thing I learned in this chapter was that Jesus had protected His disciples. In verse 12, Jesus said, "While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled." The one "doomed to destruction" is Judas. When I read this verse, I realized that if the chief priests had been plotting to kill Jesus as well as Lazarus (because he was a living witness to the power of Jesus), then they probably weren't too happy with the disciples and may very well have wanted them dead too. Jesus also knew that it was going to be very hard for His disciples to stay true to Him in the days leading up to and following His death. In verse 11, Jesus said, "I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name - the name you gave me - so that they may be one as we are one." Jesus was asking God to protect the disciples so that they could be strong and unified, not be fearful and separate. Do you turn to God when things get hard, or do you turn away from Him and try to do things on your own? We are stronger when we stay true to God and lean on Him for strength.

Proverbs 26 is full of warnings concerning fools and sluggards. The chapter starts out with saying "Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool." The words snow and summer just don't go together. They could almost be considered opposites since the temperature is cold when it snows, but the temperatures are hot in the summer. Rain is not a welcome sight when a farmer wants to harvest his crops. Rain is needed when the crop is growing, but it is not needed or wanted when it is time to harvest. Rain can not only delay the harvest, but it can also ruin it! Honor and fool are two words that should never go together. Giving honor to a fool is a waste and can hurt other people. This verse makes me realize how important it is to make sure any honor I give is going to a deserving person!