To keep you from falling away.

John 16:1-4, “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”

Those present were to undergo the fire of unjust persecution and martyrdom with the exception of John. Rather than deny the risen Lord, they were enabled by the power of the Helper to remember and bear witness to him. He offers us this same gift, that no matter what happens we are kept from falling away, not by our own power or might, but by his Spirit!

Fill us with your Spirit; keep us abiding in the vine in every situation that we may remember all you have told us!

ESV Lectionary