Jesus said, “I Pray NOT For The World”, WHY?

"I pray not for the world"
Why?
Two songs that reflect upon what I am about to talk about,…
*Purify My Heart
*Light The Fire In My Heart Again”
……….
When I pray, I feel it almost *shameful to ask God to again help our world, in which we live.

He has helped us SO much,.. been SO merciful, and SO long suffering with us !!

And look at it,.. the whole world is in shambles!! ….
Do we not *deserve His wrath??!

But , What is wrong?

So, ….Jesus prayed a mighty prayer, just before He left His time on earth. ..when He was with His *disciples, whom He had taught to be *followers of God.He said,”I pray NOT for the world, but for *these. (His disciples),… now us being the disciples, carry out the same responsibility.

But why did Jesus say, I pray NOT for the world ?

Do we NOT pray and pray for the world,.. and it just grows worse and worse, .. corruption from the start to the finish ,.. from the least to the highest seat ?!

What is the answer?

What was Jesus saying,.. "I pray not for the world "

And, Why did Jesus say, they (His disciples) are NOT of the world ?

John 17:14 (KJV)
"I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are *NOT of the world, even as ‘I am’ *NOT of the world.”

Are we of the world?

Whatever does that mean?
And ,What does NOT being of the world constitute,….. entail ??

Or actually, what does being OF the world constitute,.. entail ??.. what does that mean ?
………….
Purify our heart,… Light the fire in our hearts again, O’Lord!!
elizabeth

While I must have the same question here, I know this:

"Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest."

Jesus was saying to them that he was not praying for the success of the world but he was praying for the success of those who the Father had given to him out from the world.

Blessings
Rbanks

Plausible brother - just at the same time one would think we would have assumed the same even without him having said it. Meaning that saying it may have a special implication.

Jesus cannot pray for the world to be, verse 17, Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

For they have not come to Christ yet. Only those who have come to Him He can pray for their sanctification whereby He can send the Holy Spirit to make them holy.

It is up to us to pray for the lost we meet in our lives.

While also very plausible, I personally feel this too still does not clearly account for why he had to verbalise his exclusion of the world.

One verse that makes this prayer even more unusual is verse 20

"20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;"

Though understandable (since he is the author of the faith) , these were still in the world at the time of the prayer.

PS. Which should at least for one tell us that this was not intercession prayer by him. But another kind - one of its own and never to be repeated by his followers. So his exclusion of the world does not imply closing them out of mercy in a way.

He’s just saying on that specific occasion he was praying for the disciples and future disciples, not the world in general. Who knows how often he prayed for the world in general at other times.

Brother Todd, your comment caters for both verses 20 and 9 but does not attempt to establish a connection with the prayer content. Which could help explain why excluding the world was necessary.

But I by now hope sister Elizabeth can see that this was neither intercession nor prayer to be copied and repeated by his then or future followers? So the exclusion of the world should not mean we must too.

Jesus also says,..

John 17:16 (KJV) They are NOT of the world, even as I am NOT of the world...
(Could this mean, that their WHOLE purpose in this life was for the life of God to be lived out in them AS it was in Jesus?),.. they were in the world, but not OF the world?

As Brenda says,:
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Then ,He sends them ‘out into the world’,..

John 17:18 (KJV)
"As” thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.”

Then, on the day of Pentecost,..
They got filled,and went out,.. meeting,.. breaking Bread,( I believe, The Bread of Life) from house to house.

Great *grace (that drawing Spirit of God, was mightily upon them,.

He says, we *cannot come to God except He draw us.

And , could it be, .. that Jesus ‘prayed NOT for the world’ because He had to prepare, and continues to prepare a people, though sanctifying us ,.. and the *world will then be drawed by The God that is working in us, as it was then, in the original intent of God?
Grace,.. The Life, and preaching of the gospel.
….some thoughts,…

Thank you everyone , for your thoughts and comments ♥️
…………….
elizabeth

Remember he is praying in front of his disciples so it is a prayer/sermon. He wants unity with them and future believers for the benefit of the world (v 23).

Matthew 16:18 (KJV) And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Todd, I am glad you said that !

John 17:23 (KJV)
"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.”
……..
This shows, that the Word must come through *disciples, (those disciples
and followed down by the continuing disciples, in order to help the *world.

The *world! ,.. .there lies the hope for the *world.
Thank you,
…………..
elizabeth

maybe it's this ?

Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.

John 12:31

Hi E-Beth,

Great *grace (that drawing Spirit of God, was mightily upon them,.

He says, we *cannot come to God except He draw us.

And , could it be, .. that Jesus ‘prayed NOT for the world’ because He had to prepare, and continues to prepare a people, though sanctifying us ,.. and the *world will then be drawed by The God that is working in us, as it was then, in the original intent of God?
Grace,.. The Life, and preaching of the gospel.
….some thoughts,…

The Greek word used for "draw" here (in John 6:44) is "elkō" (or "helkuo"). It literally means to "draw" or even "drag."

When they were in the Garden of Gethsemane, Simon Peter did "elkō" (i.e., "draw") his sword (John 18:10). When the disciples were unable to find fish on the Sea of Galilee, the resurrected Jesus told them to fish on the other side of their boat. They suddenly caught so much fish that they were unable to "elkō" the net into the boat because of the multitude of fish (John 21:6). Peter swam to shore but then helped "elkō" the net (containing 153 large fish) that the boat was dragging onto the shore (John 21:11).

Interesting, this word for "draw" is also used in another passage in John:

.......
.......

27 "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.

28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him.”

30 Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine.

31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

32 AND I, WHEN I AM LIFTED UP FROM THE EARTH, WILL DRAW ALL PEOPLE TO MYSELF.”

33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

John 12:27-33 (ESV)

.......
.......

In verse 32 (which I emphasized with all caps), Jesus said that he would "draw" ("elkō") ALL people to himself. Interestingly, the "all people" in this verse is "pas" -- the same Greek word for "whosoever" or "whoever" used in John 3:16 (i.e., "...that WHOSOEVER believes in him should not perish but have eternal life").

Personally, I believe that Jesus has drawn ALL people to God. Even in the context of John 6:44, Jesus subsequently said: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life" (John 6:47 ESV).

This particular prayer is a "high priest" prayer. This prayer has a special purpose and is to accomplish a special effect for His people. Jesus is only the high priest for the people of God. He is not the high priest for the world. He's the savior of the world but the high priest only of the church. For example, He prayed for those who persecuted him to be forgiven. Don't confuse high priest intercessory prayers with general prayers. Likewise, we as priests of God should pray especially for the saints as the highest priority, but likewise prayer for the good of all.

Paul often prayed prayers intended for and purposeful only for the church. He likewise prayed for leaders in the world, for the lost Jews, etc.

Unity in the world, the world being one in Him, the Father loving the world the same as He loves Jesus.... these are not possible for those who are not born again, indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

And this particular point must be made because it is lost on most. The love of the Father for the saints is the same love He has for Jesus and the love He has for the world is not this love. This Father's love for the saints is in us in the John 17 passage. Thus, we must love the saints with this same level of love......as the Father loves Jesus. That is how we will be one. Calls for unity without the love the Father has for Jesus is futile. A primary reason the Trinity has unity is because of this level of love. No unity today....one main reason is because we love with human love and not the Father's love shed abroad in all born again hearts (Romans 5:5, 1 John 3:16-19.

If anything can be said about the modern church's love problem it is this, we love one another with natural common grace human love. Just ask yourself if you love the brethern just as the Father loves Jesus. If you don't, how can the Father's love be in you. High priestly prayer for the highest possible love in the saints for the saints.

Dear Brother,
I am thinking of the word, *draw, as it is used in this verse,..as *drawing near to God,..

James 4:8 (KJV)
"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you….drawing near,.. close.

Another illustration, is when *grace comes upon us,… remember how it drawed us at the beginning, when we were lost and w/o God,.. this wonderful Spirit of grace started drawing ,wooing us to God ?

Thank you brother
………….
elizabeth

\t
"Remember he is praying in front of his disciples so it is a prayer/sermon."
____________________

He is praying to His Father(as He did every time He prayed). This prayer/sermon thinking comes from what you hear other men doing. Jesus' prayers are NOT in that category. You are just making that up!

Throughout Holy Scripture Jesus' prayers are prayers, and His sermons are sermons

My point is that the disciples heard what he was praying.

Chris,

Since you referenced John 3:16 in your post, I thought that maybe you(and others as well) might be interested in what I have found to be true regarding that well-known text.

"Greek has a way to say whosoever and whoever: hos (who) an (ever). This is found about thirty times in the New Testament (for example, John 4:14), but it is not here or in the previous verse.

The Greek here is pas (every) ho (the) pisteuon (trusting). Literally, it would be "every the person trusting", but that is not proper English. If pas were plural, it would be "all the people trusting" which works, but pas is not plural here. The solution is to contract pas and ho into everyone, "everyone trusting." Ray Geide

https://salvationbygrace.org/current-qa/about-john-316/

The Truth, as taught by the Spirit, from His Word, brings clarity to Jesus' prayer to His Father in John 17.

Hi savannah,

Thanks for the response. I'll certainly look more into this.

Although I don't know Ray Geide (who you quoted), my first thought is something of a slight disagreement with what he stated here.

The Greek "pas" in the structural context is what they would call "understood plural." The "pas" in this sense is typically translated (in the KJV) as "all" or "everyone."

This is why slightly more literal translations like the NASB translate the word (in its structural context) as "everyone." Some translations phrase it more personally as "whoever" or "anyone" -- but it's still the word "pas" meaning "all," "everyone" or even "all people" (using context).

As for the "pisteuō" (for "believes" or "believeth"), the word is a verb "to believe" with a context outlier interpretation of "to commit."

I suppose that "to trust" is also possible; however, the word itself is a verb with a noun root (i.e., "pistis"). That word is translated as "faith." So, the "pisteuro" would be the active verbal rendition of "faith" (hence, "believe"). Since, we don't have a verb for "faith" (i.e., "faithing"), it would be rendered "believe" or "believing."

Thus, the Greek literal rendering would be:

"...ina pas pisteuō eis autos..."
"...that all (everyone) believing in him..."

If we were to use the word "trust" as a rendering of "pisteuro," it would be the verb "trusting" (i.e., "...that all trusting in him...").

I suppose that this is why John 3:16 is almost always translated in a nearly-identical way in nearly all scholarly or academic translations (including most foreign languages).

As I am thinking on the subject, John 3:16, that has been brought up…
Actually we might back up to verse 13,…

John 3:13 (KJV) (Jesus speaking),
"And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven.”

Who came down from Heaven?

Just as God spoke The *Word, and brought the whole world into being,
I believe He called/spoke His Seed, which is The *Word of God down into Mary’s womb, and The Son of God was conceived, and was born.

John 3:16 (KJV)
" For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him *should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

question:
Did we know that many have replaced the word *should not, with *shall not ?
Pls consider,.. is there a difference in the meaning of those words ?,.. can it change anything?

John 3:17 (KJV)
"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world ‘through *him’ *might be saved."

But, Who is *Him ?……… pls bear w/me.
Who is Jesus ?
….and The *Word became flesh.

So, when We see Jesus, We must see The Word,… The ‘I Am’,..all He speaks,..

(Man cannot live (have Life) by bread alone, but by ever Word that proceedeth
from the mouth of God”… and Jesus, God’s Son only spoke The Words of His Father, God,Who is The Word.

(Everything that He said to us is important,.. not optional.

Jesus, wanted us to see *Word, that came out of His mouth,.. He is offering us
Life.
We cannot just see a man of our own imagination, …a man w/o what came out of His mouth.

He was hated because of The Word,.. He was killed because of The Word, so can we treat it like it is an *option?

(although, we know this is the purpose He came into the
world.)

An entrance has been made by the Blood of Jesus for us.

……………
There is more to consider….perhaps later.♥️

elizabeth

Please, as I am about to share w/you of some things, please,.. I am NOT trying to be harsh… I am ONLY trying to share/help in a needful way.
It is NOT mine, it is just passing through this vessel.♥️

Why do men pit ,.. lay aside , the whole Word of Jesus’ teachings, preachings,
to Jn.3:16 ?
Does not the *Whole of Scripture flow together to make One truth ?

Could it be that someone .. in that man has figured this out in *man’s thinking ?

Jesus said,
The *Words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and *they are *Life.

John 6:63 (KJV)
"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the *words that I speak unto you, [they] are *spirit, and [they] are *life."

So, it cannot be understood by ‘man’s thinking’,…. although it be well meaning and a very diligent effort has been made.
It must be given unto us by God.
Then , it is NOT ours, it is ONLY passing through us.

Remember:the loafs and the fishes,.. it was Jesus first ,that had to give out to the disciples, and *then , and then was it given out to the people…

Then we have the *plumbline.

Even Paul, who we know and love, who has brought us SO MUCH, he said , if I or anyone else bring you another *gospel, than what I’ve preached, let him be accursed.
He preached *the gospel of the *kingdom, …Jesus’ gospel.

(Upon this *Rock, …..*(The Word), ….’Jesus, The Word’ … The Rock,..the revealed Word),I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

There is mush more to be discussed, ….I welcome a discussion…
…………
elizabeth

I wonder could the answer be as simple as this -

He wasn't praying for the world, but for His disciples and those who would believe in Him through their word.

Why complicate something so simple?

Could it be we love the distractions of theory? We love being pulled from the reality of God and His call to, as Robert said, love God and love the brethren?

I wonder if as much time as has been spent on this thread were spent in prayer to understand it, and to obey Jesus in these matters, would something actually have been accomplished, rather than a handful of people tantalizing each others souls with rhetoric and debate?

Just my two cents - I would say take it or leave it, but I think it will be left.

I lacked time to comment but also thought brother Robert broke it down fairly well. Also brought me to realised that I had mistaken intercession for praying for sinners only as opposed to standing in the gap for any.

While there truly is a great temptation to get carnal about it, bringing a subject before brethren is not wrong. It is in fact supported by scriptures. We would not have pastors if we could pray to understand any passage we are not clear on.

When some said circumcision was necessary for believing gentiles, Paul and the others did not pray about it but sat in Jerusalem and spoke it through. And God was happy to make that discourse a success.

There is also something special about the coming together of brethren as one OT verse says. Something about oil going down Aeron's beards etc.

Dear Brother (ES)
Re: "He wasn't praying for the world, but for His disciples and those who would believe in Him through their word. ”

That is one thing that Jesus is truly saying…though, seems like much more, and I love it!!

Romans 11:33 (KJV)
"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [are] his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

Bless you,…
””””””””””””””-
elizabeth

Brother Kervin, also the Brother Robert,.. I so appreciate him, as well.

This is the Scripture that has come to mind, because of us getting together on this forum and talking about the things of The Lord.

Malachi 3:16 (KJV)
" Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard [it], and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.”

(There is a very dear friend of mine that often mentioned this Scripture
when we met at home church and talked about The Lord)

Appreciate your thoughts,
………………
elizabeth

Yes, while God would have us fellowshipping with him and more intimately so in prayer, he is also happy about brethren coming to together in his name (Christian fellowship).

I also agree that Jesus seems to be saying something more than just the simplistic angle suggested by brother Evan (as well as brother Todd), especially by having verbalised the exclusion. But I am also very happy to leave it undiscovered if the Lord, for some reasons, may not wish to disclose it to us now. But so far, yes, brother Robert seems to have expanded on it fairly well. And further thoughts are still very welcomed.

Kervin, thank you Brother,

As I started this post, remember, there were (2) songs that came up into my spirit?

Two songs that reflect upon what I am about to talk about,…

*Purify My Heart
*Light The Fire In My Heart Again”

I believe God uses songs, as well as Scriptures ,..as well as words that come from persons, to minister to our hungry/thirsty soul.
And we are so grateful to God ,.. what a Comfort!…(Comforter)

As I meditate this morning on the song, ‘Purify My Heart’ , and *seeing God.
We, here on this forum,.. are we not seeking to *see God?… to *know Him?
This talks about *purifying my heart,.. and actually that is the way that we can *see God..

Matthew 5:8 (KJV)
"Blessed [are] the pure in heart: for they shall see God."

Song:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=wB_gCVjoNpI&si=D1571XidUEH4SAUJ
………….
Bless each of you that has contributed to this post

I realize we got off subject some,.. that’s ok,.. the wind bloweth where it will..
…we are grateful.
………………
elizabeth

Thank you for this thread on why our Lord prayed, "I do not pray for the world, but for those whom God has given me." I too have wondered about the meaning and application of it. I recently discovered JC Ryle's blessed exposition of John, and wanted to share an excerpt where he expounds this verse, observing that it teaches us that Christ helps the souls of believers by special intercession. I hope it helps and comforts our hearts:

"On the one hand, we must not diminish Christ's heart for the world; and on the other hand, we must not say that it is more or bigger than it actually is. It is true that Christ invites and longs for all to be saved; but it is also true that He specially loves His own whom He sanctifies and glorifies...Just so it is true He is the Mediator between God and man; but it is also true that He intercedes actively for none but whom the Father calls His own...

This special intercession of our Lord is one grand secret of the believer's safety. He is daily watched, and thought for, and provided for with unfailing care by One whose eye never slumbers and never sleeps. Jesus 'is able to save them to the uttermost those who come unto God by Him, because He ever liveth to make intercession for them.'(Hebrews 7:25) They never perish, because He never ceases to pray for them, and His prayer must prevail."

-quote from: Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of John by JC Ryle

Thank you too, bcofmercy. I am also getting sold to this exposition. I also thought Christ did not interceed for the world, but commits that to his followers. But he does so for us who are known by him. So sweet! Of cause may we accordingly interceed thus for the world - as many of us as are enabled.

Bcofmercy,
Welcome !
So happy to have your input.

I’ve heard of RC Ryle’s , but don’t remember of ever checking hm out.
Probably it was on this Website that I saw his name.

I do know that Brother Greg puts credible preachers on here.

Thank you,.. hope you will continue to add to the discussions.

May I ask,. Are you a sister/ or brother?
……………..
elizabeth