Prayer and Unity

Good Evening to All!

First, let me say I'm sorry for getting this out so late. I don't know where the time went. Yes, I do. I have been going through e-mails and checking on Facebook. Anyway, enough excuses.

Jesus prayed, "[Father], I pray for [my disciples]. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ...I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me [Jesus]--so that they may be one as we are one.... My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
John 17:9,11,20-23

Reference: NKJV;

(17:9) "I do not pray for the world" indicates that Jesus is praying for the present and future believers only. Further references can be found in (17:20, and Luke 23:34) (Verse 11) reveals Jesus' sensitivity to the plight of His disciples brought on by his departure. He was praying to His Father to keep them true to the revelation of God that He had given them while He was with them. In (17:20), Jesus not only prayed for those the Father had given Him but for all future believers--for their unity.and their future glory. If you are a believer, these words are Jesus' prayer for you. (17:21) speaks of all may be one: The present tense of the verb to be indicates that Jesus was praying for the unity that takes place thought the sanctification of believers. This is what Jesus was commanding in (13:34, 35): His followers had to love each other so that the world may believe in the reality of Jesus' love. the loving relationship of believers to each other is the greatest witness to Jesus Christ. (17:22) The glory, the revelation of Jesus Christ through His disciples, is the means to unity. Such unity begins with belief and correct thinking about Jesus and God the Father, that is with doctrine, but correct belief must bear fruit--a life that demonstrates God's love and produces the unity between all the believers. (17:23) I in them and You in me has to do with the mutual indwelling of the Father in the Son and the Son in the church (us).

Good Night to All and May God Bless!