Jesus knew that the people should be praying to the Father in the name of Jesus as they had previously done, and so he offers an explanation of why the people happened to be praying directly to him. Jesus then turned around and prayed to the Father on behalf his disciples and those who would believe on their words. This petition was similar to his prayer on behalf of the Jewish Apostles recorded in the gospel of John, chapter 17. Similar thoughts from the Jerusalem prayer are also expressed throughout verses 28 and 29 of this chapter.