This post is part of a 40-day journey following Jesus in his prayer life. We’ll explore virtually every reference in the Gospels to Jesus and prayer. For a more in-depth treatment, see my book Prayers from the Pit.
Did you ever wonder who was on Jesus’ prayer list? If his spiritual journal were unearthed by archeologists, what do you think it would reveal? For whom did Jesus pray?
While it’s certain Jesus prayed for many whose names are never recorded, we do know he prayed specifically for four groups of people:
First, Jesus prayed for children: “’Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.’ And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them” (Mark 10:15-16 ESV).
Second, Jesus prayed for the apostles/disciples:
- “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours… Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one…I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth” (John 17:9-19 ESV).
- “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Lk. 22: 31-32 ESV).
- “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven” (Lk. 24:50-51 ESV).
Third, Jesus’ prayer list included the church: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:20-23 ESV).
Fourth, Jesus’ spiritual journal reveals his prayer for his enemies: “And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’” (Lk. 23:34 ESV).
We find Jesus praying for those who cannot speak for themselves, those with whom he’s engaged in ministry, those who make his life difficult, and those around the world who would follow him.
Jesus prays for the forgotten, his fellow-laborers, his foes, and his international family.
Which one of these categories do you fit in? How does it feel to know that you were included on Jesus’ prayer list?
Today, in your life, who are the forgotten? Who are your fellow-laborers? Who are your foes? Who makes up your larger spiritual family? Spend time in prayer today for all of these.
