I shared in the last post why we need to pray for ourselves,  but of course a vibrant and holistic prayer life also needs to include prayer for others. Often called "intercessory prayer," praying outwardly is, first and foremost, an imitation of Christ. After all, Jesus modeled intercessory prayer beautifully in John 17:

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. ⁷Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸For 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. ⁹I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹I 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. ¹²While 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. ¹⁴I 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. ¹⁵My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷Sanctify^[b] them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (Jesus Prays for All Believers) ²⁰"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that 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. ²²I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: ²³I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world 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. ²⁵"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

On a very practical note, I see several things that praying for others accomplishes in the life of the believer.

First, being intentional about praying for others often creates an affection for them that  would not otherwise be present. I have experienced this in many cases, most recently regarding the teenagers at my church. Our youth pastor, Peter Kim, created a monthly prayer calendar for the youth of our church and our sister church, Staten Island Chinese Christian Church. For each day of the month, there are three names of youth and the schools they attend. We are asked to pray for them throughout the month. I keep this calendar with my morning devotional materials (Bible, reading plan, My Utmost For His Highest) so each morning I am praying for three students by name. Since doing this, I have begun to care more for the teenagers in my church. One boy in particular who used to aggravate me with his attitude and distracted behavior during worship now occupies a small corner of my heart. Indeed, I have found that in this case and others, praying for someone tenderizes my heart toward him or her.

Praying for others helps overcome division in the body of Christ.  I believe that the satan is hardest at work smack dab inside the walls of the church, with dividing the body chief among his goals. Whether it is through actual offenses, bitterness, unforgiveness, or even imagined offenses, the satan looks for opportunities to turn brother against brother, sister against sister, sheep against sheep. After all, a house that is divided cannot stand. A church that is divided is the devil's playground. Whenever I sense this phemomenon at work, I battle it by praying, not just for God to help and protect us, but for the actual person who I feel divided from. Many times, I have been offended by a dismissive tone or disapproving look, and in truth, I expect that what I am perceiving is not actual truth. I have also been on the offending side; once, I discovered that a woman in my church - a devoted Christian who is a dear sister in Christ - had been upset with me for months because I had not said "hi" to her for several weeks. I had nothing against her whatsoever, and in fact, had no idea she cared whether I said "hi" to her in church! So we see that we can innocently be pulled into battles unawares. If, instead of entertaining offenses toward others, we prayed for them,  we would see far less 

Praying for others encourages them. I can't overemphasize the role encouragement plays in the human life. Over and over, I have seen people - believers and non-believers - encouraged by being prayed for. At the very least, telling someone you are praying for them lets them know that they are remembered and that someone is thinking of them. Of course, we are all remembered and thought of by God, but the Incarnation was about more than just the cross and resurrection - it was also about the fact that human beings need human connection, first with Jesus, and now, as his body that remains on earth while he awaits his return, the Church.

Praying for others places us in partnership with God on behalf of others. I do not understand the mystery of how prayer works in conjunction with God's sovereignty, but throughout scripture, I see that, somehow, when God's people pray, God responds. When we pray for others, we join God in his work for their good. Again, it is a mystery, but one I embrace.

Praying for others is the best way to fight for them. We see it in several places in scripture, but most clearly in Ephesians 6. After Paul has described the armaments for fighting spiritual battles, he emphasizes prayer above all. "Pray, keep praying, and pray for me," he says. Oswald Chambers said in one the devotions from My Utmost for His Highest, "To say that 'prayer changes things' is not as close to the truth as saying, 'Prayer changes me and then I change things.'" Yet to Paul, prayer accomplished something on behalf of others as well. Beyond the undeniable inner-transformation that prayer achieves in the life of a believer, prayer also changes things for other people. This is the incredibly, mysterious power of intercessory prayer, and it is vital for the life of every believer endeavoring toward a life of maturity in Christ.

So, if we are agreed that we need to pray for others, the question faces us, "How do we pray for others?" While there are many examples, I want to look back at Jesus in John 17 for a model of how to pray for others.

First, if we are praying for other believers:

1) Protection.  Jesus prayed, "Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name..." Specifically, Jesus is praying here for proection from division. "... so that they may be one as we are one... My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one."

2) Sanctification. ^"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth," Jesus prayed, and so should we.

3) Unity. "...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..."

4) Effective Evangelism. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

5) To see and savor the glory of God. "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."

6) To be filled by the love of God in Christ. "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

These are just some of the things Jesus prayed for his followers, and that we can pray for other believers.

Of course, we need to pray not only for other believers, but for unbelievers as well. A few things we can pray for those who are not in Christ are:

1) That they would be enabled to see and savor Christ. "The god of this age (the satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Cor 4:4).

2) That they would repent. "But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed." (Rom 2:5)

3) That they would be born again. "Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."(John 3:5-8)

4) That they would be delivered from bondage to sin. "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,        because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners." (Isaiah 61:1) Jesus echoed this verse when he established his ministry publically, and when he ascended to heaven, he passed the baton to his followers. 

So, it is necessary to pray for ourselves and for others. This is, of course, just an overview of why it is so important that we make space in our prayer lives for intercessory prayer, or prayer on behalf of others. But I hope - indeed, I pray - that it will help you to pray effectively and consistently, and to build a framework for a robust and holistic prayer life.