Verses 1-5
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Jesus establishes three things:
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He was with the Father, glorified as part of God, before anything existed (verse 5). This is part of what makes Jesus God.
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He has all authority to give eternal life to us (verse 2)
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The eternal life He gives is relationship with the Father (verse 3)
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As believers, we have access to relationship with God, and when we talk about the gospel with others, we should teach that Jesus is the way to truly know God. Eternal life is all about knowing and pleasing God, not about going to a place of heavenly paradise. Relationship with and obedience to God is the focus, not a relocation.
Verses 6-8
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Jesus made God clear to us through His words, and His words bring the power to believe.
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Jesus' words are more important for us than His miracles. With Christ are “the words of eternal life” (John 6:68), and His words bring the belief that we need to receive eternal life.
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Receive, obey, and focus on the words of Jesus, and you will have all the belief that you need.
Verses 9-19
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Verses 9-13, 17-19. Jesus did not focus His prayers or His efforts on the whole world, but on the select few that God chose to be His disciples.
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His purpose was so that He could concentrate His work on getting them well-trained to go out into the world after Him and be as effective as He was.
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Practically, this reminds us not to spread ourselves too thin. Trying to help everyone, but poorly, is far less effective than helping fewer people excellently.
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Practically, focus most of your works and prayers on the people you want to impact most, and the people in your immediate community. Working together with your community (close people) will allow you to have the most influence, since multiple people in unity accomplish more than one who works alone. Even Jesus said the church together would accomplish more than He could by Himself (John 14:12).
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Verses 14-16. Jesus did say that we are not of this world, but that doesn't mean we're supposed to leave this world. We are meant to be here.
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Remember that God does not want to remove you from this world. He wants you to be in this world as a light in the darkness (Matthew 5:16), to bring others to Him, while being protected from the devil.
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Don't desire to leave this world to go to heaven. Simply turn away from sin and from the enemy. This will keep you strong. Consider others as well. Others need you to keep living (Philippians 1:21-25).
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Verses 20-23
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Now Jesus turns His attention to praying for all those that will become believers through the Word that we shared with them. His singular focus is that all believers would as unified with each other as the Father is with the Son.
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Verse 23. When believers are unified, it helps the world to see the truth about Christ. When we are close to each other, we can help each other grow. From this growth comes the fruit that the world values, and this attracts them to Christ.
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Love creates unity (Colossians 3:14-15). Prioritize growing relationships with believers in your community, and strive to be at peace with each other. Reject selfish, bitter, or envious thoughts towards others, and be in agreement in your beliefs.
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Although it's important to correct beliefs to be in unity, love through relationship must come first. If you try to correct someone without relationship, you risk losing the relationship, which damages unity. That's why Proverbs says, "the wounds of the FRIEND are faithful" (Proverbs 27:6). You usually have to be someone's friend before you can "wound" them successfully.
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Verses 23-26
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We are deeply loved by the Father, even to the same degree that God loves Jesus Himself.
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Knowing how loved you are, have that love for others, and let that love drive your actions in everything.
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