Richard Boyd
Many moments in our times of prayer and meditation before the Lord, we seem to focus more on ourselves than praying for others. Now is this improper, or is it something we do without understanding? Yeshua (Jesus) gave an example of prayer when he said, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which you have given me; for they are yours.” John 17:9
We read that Yeshua focused His prayer on those He calls His disciples, and so should we. Prayer must not constantly be about us and what we can receive from God. I believe some prayers we appeal to before God, are dismissed because they are selfishly motivated.
Like Christ, our prayers should focus on the needs of others. Prayer is essential in Christian life, and it should be done without selfish reasons. Praying for others is a requirement of all believers according to the Bible.
Several years back, I went to minister in Jamaica, West Indies. I was asked to hold a one-week meeting at a local church. It was a time of unrest on the island. There were violent outbreaks against some citizens who held certain political views. When speaking the first few nights with some of the church attendees, I notice that those who were demanding that the turmoil end, were allowing their disapproval to blind their love for fellow brothers. Some claimed that the violence was valid toward those who disagreed with them. Others claimed judgment on anyone who opposed their position.
One of the nights as I was speaking, the Holy Spirit impressed on my heart to challenge them in the church. The scripture He gave me was, First of all, I exhort that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for all people. 1 Timothy 2:1
I then encouraged the church that for the rest of the meetings, we focus our prayer on those with whom we disagree. Yes, that we pray for them instead of praying for ourselves. We did this corporately every night for the remainder of the meetings, The following week a noticeable change began to take place. We witness an immediate halt in the unrest disrupting the city. We observed a truce amongst those opposing each other. It eventually spread across the country and before I departed a noticeable calm returned.
I am not claiming that we alone had induced these steps towards peace, but I do know our prayers affected a situation that was spiraling out of control. Recently in America when we had civil unrest over racial tensions, churches began to pray and there was a noticeable difference as clam developed.
When prayer is focused on others, we witness the joy of answered prayer for ourselves and those we intercede for.