Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given me…Sanctify them…And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
—John 17:11, 17, 19
Christ always lives to pray this great prayer. Expect and take hold of God’s answer.
Read the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians: “Night and day praying exceedingly…to the end He [the Lord] may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God” (1 Thessalonians 3:10, 13); “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly…who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24).
Ponder deeply these words as you read them, and use them as a prayer to God: “Blessed Lord, strengthen my heart to be ‘unblameable in holiness.’ Sanctify me wholly. I know that You are faithful, and You will do it.”
What a privilege to commune with God in secret, to speak these words in prayer, and then to wait upon Him until, through the working of the Spirit, they live in our hearts and we begin to know something of the holiness of God!
God’s holiness has been revealed in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, we find the holiness of God’s people in Christ, through the sanctification of the Spirit. Oh, that we understood the blessedness of God’s saying, “Be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45)!
God is saying to us, “With you, My children, as it is with Me, holiness should be the chief thing.” For this purpose, the Holy One has revealed Himself to us through the Son and the Holy Spirit. Let us use the word holy with great reverence of God, and then, for ourselves, with holy desire. Worship the God who says, “I am the Lord which hallow you” (Leviticus 22:32).
Bow before Him in holy fear and strong desire, and then, in the fullness of faith, listen to the prayer promise: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly…who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24).