WHY PRAY FOR OTHERS? ~ ??????

[Bible Speaks]

 WHY PRAY FOR OTHERS? ~ ??????

We undoubtedly pray for ourselves, but our prayers ought to include others—even Christians we do not know by name.

Though the apostle Paul may not have known all the believers in Colossae, he wrote: “We thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ always when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in connection with Christ Jesus and the love you have for all the holy ones.” 

Prayers of that kind say much about us and how we view our brothers and sisters in the faith. Praying for others may change our attitude toward them. If we are not particularly fond of a person but we pray for him, how can we be unloving toward that person? 

Prayers of this kind are upbuilding and promote unity with our brothers. Moreover, such prayers indicate that we have Christlike love. (John 13:34, 35)

That quality is part of the fruitage of GodÂ’s spirit. Do we individually prayfor holy spirit, asking Jehovah to help us display its fruitage of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, and self-control?

If so, our words and deeds will show that we are walking and living by spirit. Our prayers to God reveal our motives, interests, and desires. Jehovah knows what we are inside. 

He knows how we feel about our meetings, our ministry, and our spiritual brothers and sisters. Jehovah is aware of what we think of Christ’s “brothers.” He knows whether we really desire what we pray for or we are merely repeating a set of words. “When praying,” said Jesus, “do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they [wrongly] imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.”

Our expressions in prayer also reveal how much we rely on God. How comforting it is to draw close to Jehovah in prayer with the conviction that he is ‘on our side’ during any test of our faith!—Read Psalm 118:5-9. - Bible Speaks  -

Lesson for today. (James 5:13-16)

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2009841?q=pray+for+others&p=par#h=20