Jesus prayed to the Father to keep his followers from the evil one, but not to take them out of the world (John 17:15). Remember, when Jesus uttered this prayer, it was during the Roman Empire. This was not a friendly environment for those who were against Emperor Worship. In this non-friendly to Christians environment, Jesus prayed for the believers he would leave behind after he went to the cross. Not long after this prayer, Jesus was gone. He was crucified, buried, resurrected and ascended. Now what? The disciples were left all alone in a very hostile place. This sounds familiar.
As already mentioned, we are inundated by information that is typically hostile toward Christianity. Thankfully, the answer appears a little later in Jesus’ prayer. He prayed that the Father would keep us from the evil one by setting us apart in His truth, the Bible (John 17:17). Jesus made it plain that we are “sanctified” or set apart from the world by His Word and these words are just as applicable today. In His prayer, Jesus made sure to include us. In verse 20, Jesus prayed for those who would believe in Him through the efforts of His disciples. That, by the way, is us.