John 17:9

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me; for they are thine.

I pray not for the world ... This shift back to the present tense denotes that at that time Christ was not praying for the world but for his disciples. That Christ could not pray for his enemies in the same terms as for his own is natural; and, as Hovey said, "The blessings which he would ask for his enemies must be different in some respects from those which he would ask for his friends."[15] Lipscomb concurred, saying, "Jesus does not mean to say that the world is excluded from his sympathy; he was dying to save the world."[16] Later, Jesus prayed that the "world might believe" (John 17:20,21).

For they are thine ... The apostles were not merely Christ's any longer but were God's chosen representatives to deliver the saving gospel to humanity. It was that new status with which they were shortly to be endowed that required this special prayer to be uttered in their hearing. It has all the effect of the great commission. In this part of his prayer, Jesus prayed not for the world but for those men upon whom the salvation of the world depended.

[15] Alvah Hovey, op. cit., p. 340.

[16] David Lipscomb, op. cit., p. 264.