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b'My heart aches for unity in the church. I see so many divisions\\u2014Christians disregarding each other, judging, shaming, excluding\\u2026and I feel powerless. Unity seems impossible.\\nOne day I shared my feelings with my church small group, and then one of my friends shared John 17:20-26. In this passage, Jesus was sharing the Passover meal with His disciples, a hodge-podge group of fishermen, tax collectors, political radicals\\u2026you get the picture. Jesus knew that in mere hours, one of them would betray Him, another would deny Him, and the rest would abandon Him. So, what did Jesus do? He prayed for them. And not just for the people who were following Him that day, but also for everyone who would believe in Him in the future. That includes us. It brings tears to my eyes when I realize Jesus prayed for us, for me, thousands of years before we were born. He knew us even then. He knew that we would all betray Him, deny Him, and run away from Him\\u2026and yet He loved us (Ephesians 1:4-6).\\nWhen Jesus prayed for us, He prayed that we would be unified, that we would be one like Jesus and God the Father are one. Wow. When I look at the hodge-podge group of people who make up the church, many who I don\\u2019t agree with or even understand (and who don\\u2019t agree with or understand me), who have opposing perspectives on politics, how to interpret Scripture, and how to love others well\\u2014I think, \\u201cHow could we possibly be unified?\\u201d But the freeing thing is, it\\u2019s not up to us to unify ourselves. God is the only one who can. And He wants to. He gives the Holy Spirit to those who\\u2019ve put their trust in Jesus, and the same Spirit empowers each of us to love and serve each other like Jesus loves and serves us. Unity in the church is possible because God\\u2019s love is stronger than anything. Jesus\\u2019s death on the cross and resurrection from the dead have covered over every wrongdoing, every offense, everything that separates us from God and each other. We will experience complete unity when Jesus returns, and it will be beautiful. But I believe we also get to experience some of that unity here and now as we live in God\\u2019s love.\\nMy friend from small group told us she\\u2019d begun reading John 17:20-26 daily and praying Jesus\\u2019s prayer along with Him. So, I started doing the same thing. As I read, I am agreeing with Jesus\\u2019s prayer, agreeing with what God wants to do, and asking Him to do it. \\u2022 Hannah Howe\\n\\u2022 Where have you seen unity or disunity in the church? Consider taking a moment to pray.\\n\\xe2\\u20ac\\u0153I pray also for those who will believe\\u2026that all of them may be one\\u2026\\xe2\\u20ac\\x9d John 17:20b-21a (NIV)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\n1Sam.17.23-1Sam.17.50|Eph.6.10-Eph.6.18'