Individually Bearing the Name of Jesus in our Time.

We are studying how to become more like Christ through prayer and reading God's Word. Jesus' prayer in John 17 shows His life's purpose and the influence He had. We can draw insight about our own purpose and influence from His prayer.

The flow of this passage is very intentional. Because He had the proper kind of life, Jesus was able to have spiritual influence. Four words describe the kind of influence we are able to have in our culture because of who we are in Jesus Christ.

• Person (verses 6-8)
• Protection (verses 9-12)
• Paradox (verses 13-17)
• Purpose (verses 18-19)

The nature of Jesus' influence comes from the Person of God Himself. Jesus' name incorporates His nature and influence (John 17:6). We will have no influence without the same devotional life that Christ modeled. We have to know God, who is on full display in Jesus Christ (John 1:18). All the answers to life's big questions are found in Him.

In the Old Testament, God was primarily known as Yahweh. This name incorporated all His qualities of greatness (omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, etc.). In Greek, this name was translated as Kurios or "Lord." Jesus is called "Lord" over 700 times in the New Testament, showing that He is God. He is everything you need to exist.

Prayer reminds us and plays a vital role in maintaining a spiritually influential life. We must spend time with God to become like Him. In the church, we can also help each other grow by displaying Christ to one another.

Persecution will reveal the quality of your prayer life. Develop the strength to persevere now in a time of peace through developing your devotional life and ministering in the body of Christ.

Application Points

• When chaos strikes, every person innately knows there is no human who can make things right. That is why we turn to prayer in times of mass tragedy. The world makes no sense without Christ, and our lives have no influence or purpose without Him. Is He all the world to you? When you own Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you find out why God made you and what influence He wants you to have.

• Your will have influence as you are maturing and ministering within the church. Do you have influence here? What kind of influence do you have? If you are backing away from influencing other believers, you are probably not on your knees or not praying appropriately.

Tools for Further Study

Cross References to Explore

• John 6:35, 10:11-14, 8:58, 14:6, 1:29 – Names of Christ.

A Hymn to Encourage: "Jesus Is All the World to Me"

Jesus is all the world to me, my life, my joy, my all;
He is my strength from day to day, without Him I would fall:
when I am sad, to Him I go; no other one can cheer me so;
when I am sad, He makes me glad; He's my friend.

Jesus is all the world to me, my friend in trials sore;
I go to Him for blessings, and He gives them o'er and o'er:
He sends the sunshine and the rain, He sends the harvest's golden grain;
sunshine and rain, harvest of grain; He's my friend.

Jesus is all the world to me, and true to Him I'll be;
oh, how could I this friend deny when He's so true to me?
Following Him, I know I'm right, He watches o'er me day and night;
Following Him, by day and night; He's my friend.

Jesus is all the world to me, I want no better friend;
I trust Him now, I'll trust Him when Life's fleeting days shall end:
beautiful life with such a friend, beautiful life that has no end;
eternal life, eternal joy; He's my friend.