Prayer requests

Someone asked me once, "Why do y'all pray for each other?"

It took me a moment, because it is just something we "do" as Christians. We don't think about it much, and don't really examine it. We just know that we love others and want the best for them, and so we ask God to bless them in the situations that they face.

But if we look at our Bibles, we see many answers for this question. We have an example, first and foremost, in our Savior. He prayed for others . . .

“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
¹³ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴ I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Jesus asked for protection as they went into the world, and He also prayed for those who would hear their message.
Also, in Matthew, Jesus told us:

                      You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your
                      enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who
                      persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven" —
                      (Matthew 5:43-45a)

With so great an example, and also His command, what a privilege it is to pray for each other!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your prayer request below.