Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are…Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us…And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me.
—John 17:11, 20-23
Notice carefully how the Lord used the expression, “that they may be one,” five times. It is as if He felt the need of strongly placing the emphasis on these words if we are going to realize the chief thought of His prayer. He desires that the words will indeed have the same place in our hearts that they have in His.
As He was on the way to go to the Father through the cross, He wanted us to understand that He took the thought and the desire with Him to heaven, to make it the object of His unceasing intercession there. And He entrusted the words to us, so that we would take them into the world with us and make them the object of our unceasing intercession, too. This alone would enable us to fulfill the new commandment to love our fellowmen as He loves us, so that our joy might be full. (See John 15:11–12.)
How little the church has understood this! How little its different branches are marked by a fervent love toward believers of whatever name or denomination. Will we not heartily welcome the invitation to make this prayer, “That they may be one,” a chief part of our daily fellowship with God? How simple it would be once we connected the words our Father with all the children of God throughout the world. Each time we used these sacred words, we would only have to expand the little word our into all the largeness and riches of God’s fatherly love, and our hearts would soon learn to say our with a childlike affection for all the saints of God, whoever and wherever they may be. We would do this as naturally as we say Father with the thought of His infinite love and our love for Him. The prayer “that they may be one” would then become a joy and a strength, a deeper bond of fellowship with Christ Jesus and all His saints.