My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one.
John 17:15
Jesus prayed to His Father and asked Him to protect His disciples.
He did not pray that they be taken out of the world, but that they would be protected while in the world. The world is where His disciples would do their work of advancing the kingdom. He knew that the enemy would seek to keep them from doing the Father’s will. Jesus prayed to the Father that they would be protected by the power of His name: 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. (v.11) There is power in the name of Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament, the men and women of God came to know and understand the character of God through His name. Every time they experienced a side of God, they discovered another facet of His nature that was given a name. For example, God called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on the altar. God had promised Abraham that from his seed would come many nations, and Isaac was the first installment on His promise. That day God asks him to sacrifice the only possibility for fulfillment of this promise.
Abraham obeyed and prepared to sacrifice his son, but God intervened and provided another sacrifice. That day Abraham came face to face that God the Provider, Jehovah Jireh. Throughout the Old Testament, we meet Jehovah Rohi (our Shepherd), Elohim (our Creator), and Jehovah Raphe (our Healer).
The name of God is powerful, and through His Son Jesus Christ we are faced with the name above all names: Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
Heavenly Father,
Protect me and my family by the power of Your name. I exalt You to the highest place as Messiah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
