The second part of the “High Priestly Prayer” is Christ’s prayer over His disciples. He begins to intercede on their behalf that they would be unified. He assures our Heavenly Father how He kept them in the truth faithfully, and all of them are saved except for Judas Iscariot, which was prophesied in scripture as being the “son of perdition”. His prayer over them was that although His disciples were not of the world, He would not take them out of the world, but rather that they would be kept from evil and sanctified through the truth, as they are sent out as missionaries into the world.

There are a number of key factors to learn from this powerful prayer. First of all, Christ prayed over His followers. It is important that leaders in ministry prayer over the flock and those to whom they are ministering. They must keep them faithfully by not only preaching and declaring the truth of the gospel over the body of Christ, but church leaders must intercede for and pray over the sheep. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.” James 5:16 says, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” While we are limited in what we can do through our preaching, we can tear down strongholds in people’s lives through prayer and fasting. It is important that we never stop praying over our brothers and sisters in the faith, that God may strengthen them to overcome the various obstacles that they are facing in their Christian walk!

Secondly, Christ prayed that His disciples would be unified. Psalm 133:1 says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” In order for the world to put their confidence in God and the church, we must be unified because there is power in one voice. The world cannot believe in the power of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection when the church itself is so divided that they cannot get along with each other. We must learn to set aside our differences in the smallest details of interpretation of scripture and focus on our relationship with God and declaring the message of Jesus Christ!

Finally, Jesus prayed to His Heavenly Father that He would not take His disciples out of the world, but that they would be sanctified in the truth as they are sent out into the world as His ambassadors. John 15:19 says, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” We are in this world, but we are not of it! We are be holy just as God is holy, but although we are holy, we are not to live separated from the lost and act like we are better than others. That is self-righteousness, not holiness! A religious, Pharisee spirit deceives one to believe that holiness can be achieved in fleshly works, but holiness is only birthed through prayer, and it is coated in God’s grace and love. A Pharisee spirit will not make friends with sinners, but sinners were who Christ hung out with. If we as Christians only associate with other Christians in church, and we take our children out of public schools, and we quit our jobs because of the “foul mouthed” people we work with, then we are not fulfilling our role as Christians. We are not to be taken out of the world, but we are called to fulfill the Great Commission and be the “light of the world”. If the light is taken out or just merely flickering, then only darkness will cover our land. Instead, we must choose to reach those who are lost in sin, hurting, wounded, and broken with the love and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. While we may encounter harassment and persecution in this life, it is worth it in order to be representatives of Christ and obtain the glory He longs for us to obtain of His favor and presence!

As followers of Christ and leaders in the body of Christ, we should not only follow this format when praying over the church, but we must live out the part. We must intercede for the church and declare the truth, regardless of the price we have to pay in order to do so. We should pray and believe God that the denomination walls and barriers will be tore down so that we can come together in unity and be the church. We should pray that we be sanctified in the truth and that we are consistently the salt of the earth and the light of the world. I truly believe that God will answer and honor these kinds of prayers because they are not self-centered, but they are selfless in hopes of giving Him the praise that He deserves. Therefore, let us not pray selfishly, but let us seek to please God in all things!