He prays for us

The Lord has often said, "What I say unto one, I say unto all". We may therefore infer that most of the messages of the scriptures are general in nature, applying not only to the listeners, but to the readers down to the end of time. But occasionally he speaks of us directly. 

In John 17 you can find such a moment, sweet beyond words because the Savior does not merely speak of us, he prays for us:

"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me".

The emphasis on unity—on oneness—in this prayer is significant. We are to be one as the Father and the Son are one. It is impossible to imagine an angry difference of opinion between these two members of the Godhead, is it not? Who can comprehend a heavenly rebuke to the beloved son over anything? As you contemplate the powerful personalities in the Quorum of the Twelve today, can you imagine anger or displays of temper or pettiness in their deliberations? If the Father and the Son have given us such a pattern in their family, should we not strive with all our hearts to emulate it in our families and relationships? This is at least part of the way in which we come to "know" the Father and the Son, by living the kind of lives they live, and by striving to be one as they are one.

Reading the book of Acts is a journey through the fulfillment of everything the Savior taught and prayed for in John 16 and 17. The apostles, often rejected, frequently imprisoned, even stoned and killed, were utterly faithful to their divine commission. They taught and testified and suffered and presided, and waited patiently for the fulfillment of the promise that they would see him again, and that he would give unto them eternal life.

Ted L. Gibbons