Holy Father, keep them in your name which you have given me so that they may be one just as we are.

John 17:11b

When we say someone has “a name” for being something we usually mean that some characteristic is the thing that stands out about them. Maybe it’s a name for being generous or maybe for being stingy, for being kind or being cruel.

God the Father shares His characteristics – His name- with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God has a name for being loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, good, kind, gentle, faithful and self-controlled (cf. Galatians 5:22-23). It is a name He also wants us to have.

So we know that Jesus’ prayer has to be answered. So when He asks the Father to keep His disciples – those who God had given to Jesus out of the world (see vv. 6-11a) – in His name you can be sure that God will do that. He will work heaven and earth to bring about His character in His followers. This explains the many different things that happen to those who love Jesus.

One of the ways you can know that God is at work in your life and those of others is the unity that comes in answer to Jesus’ prayer. Those who are in His name share the same love for His Church, God’s desires for the lost and also the blessings that come from a good Father. They are one just as God the Father is one with God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.