August 15th, 24: Blessings and Unity: Jesus’ Prayer for Us from John 17 Explored

Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible! On this August 15th episode, your host and Bible reading coach, Hunter, invites you to journey through the pages of Scripture together. Today’s readings include Jeremiah chapters 18–20, Psalm 93, and John 17. As we reflect on God’s word, Hunter reminds us that the Scriptures point our hearts to Jesus, the living Word, and reveal the deep love and blessings the Father lavishes upon us. We explore themes of God’s transformative power, His call to repentance, and the unity, joy, and protection Jesus prays over His followers. The episode closes with a heartfelt blessing and a time of prayer—reminding us that we are deeply loved, and calling us to walk forward in God’s joy and strength. Join us as we root ourselves in His love and truth, together.

TODAY'S DEVOTION:

Jesus prays a blessing over us. We see this kind of blessing prayer echoed throughout scripture—patriarchs blessing their children, conferring identity, inheritance, and place in the family of God. In John 17, Jesus is offering this kind of prayer, but it’s a prayer that echoes into eternity, and it is not just for the twelve gathered there that night. It’s for us. We are included in this blessing, this conferral of identity and destiny. We are told who we are in God’s family, what our inheritance is as His children.

What is spoken over us here is the message of life in the Son—the Gospel conferred as a gift, received freely. From this gift of Christ flow so many others: gifts of unity, gifts of protection, the gift of joy, the gift of God’s Word, and supremely, the gift of Christ himself. Jesus prays, “Father, you have given me your name. Now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are.” We are blessed with unity in Him. He says, “I have given them your word.” In His word, we find joy, our identity, the assurance that we are loved. He gives himself as a sacrifice for us, setting us apart, making us holy by his truth.

And finally, he says, “I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” The presence of Christ in us is our hope, our glory, our very life. This abiding blessing is the Christian life: God pouring out his love, his joy, his strength, his word, his presence—his life—into ours.

So let your roots go down deep into the love of God. May you discover, each day, how wide, how long, how high, how deep is Christ’s love for you. May you experience the fullness of this life and power, made complete in Him. This is the prayer for my soul. This is the prayer for my family, for my wife and my daughters and my son. And this is the prayer I have for you. May it be so.