Why ask others to pray for you

[FireDragon76]

The times I have felt called to pray for other people, usually as a way to deal with avoiding something negative. Like the other day, I heard a baby outside crying. And instead of getting annoyed, which is a real temptation, I prayed for somebody to come along and take care of the baby and I heard the baby stop crying immediately. Now does this mean I was changing God's mind, compelling God to do something? No. I think my will and God's will happened to meet in prayer, which involved at least as much receptivity as intentionality.

 

[Dan61861]

You are showing humility when you ask others to pray for you. You are showing love when you pray for others. We are becoming one in Christ. We are no longer acting as individuals, we are united in the Lord.
Let's say I have a problem with a particular sin. I've asked others to pray for me. I have humbled myself before the Lord and the Church. Another individual may have the same problem. It could help them face their own sin in their life. It shows the weaknesses we all have. Glorifying God, His grace and His mercy that He has shown to each of us.

In Christ
Daniel

 

[Goatee]

I do pray for Christians also but I do not understand why people request prayer if they have already gone in prayer to the Father

Why shouldnt a Christian ask for prayers? Some priests i know always say "please pray for me". Whats wrong with that?

God accepts all prayers.

 

[Mary7]

Why shouldnt a Christian ask for prayers? Some priests i know always say "please pray for me". Whats wrong with that?

God accepts all prayers.

Nothing 'wrong' with that but my question was.. why are others prayers needed.. is that person's prayers not 'good enough'

But there have been some good answers here and I am seeing that it is probably due to being part of the Body of Christ rather than an isolationist.
I admit that when one of my children are in danger my first instinct is for people to pray for the situation. why? I don't know unless 'more is better' and I have never understood that. So maybe my prayer IS enough but it is just a matter of being part of the Church.

 

[Randy777]

When I ask God, in prayer, for something I believe that He hears me.
Why, then, does almost everyone beg people to pray for them in prayer chains etc.
Are our prayers not enough?

It almost feels like He won't answer unless I reach a quota of x number of people praying.
Why is this necessary? He hears me. Does He have to be persuaded?
'ok she now has 15 people praying so now I will answer' or ' no she only has 3.. sorry, not enough.

I am very familiar with all the scriptures telling us to pray for others but I have never understood WHY this is necessary for that person's prayer to be answered.

Perhaps they don't think they are worthy of Gods grace or they feel their prayers are too selfish. We are asked to look out for the welfare of others. Hence we pray for others. One must understand when we we ask God something we shouldn't expect a answer because of our own righteousness but because of Gods mercy, faithfulness and loving kindness. What God gives he gives freely. For what can man do that God needs to repay?

 

[FireDragon76]

Nothing 'wrong' with that but my question was.. why are others prayers needed.. is that person's prayers not 'good enough'

But there have been some good answers here and I am seeing that it is probably due to being part of the Body of Christ rather than an isolationist.
I admit that when one of my children are in danger my first instinct is for people to pray for the situation. why? I don't know unless 'more is better' and I have never understood that. So maybe my prayer IS enough but it is just a matter of being part of the Church.

My pastor talked about this a few weeks ago, sometimes faith is not so individualistic. Sometimes people do carry each others burdens. It can be a way to relieve the burden to ask somebody else to pray for you. In our individualistic culture, that can be difficult to get your head around because faith is usually constructed as happening in the privatized inner world of the individual only.

 

[Mary7]

Perhaps they don't think they are worthy of Gods grace or they feel their prayers are too selfish. We are asked to look out for the welfare of others. Hence we pray for others. One must understand when we we ask God something we shouldn't expect a answer because of our own righteousness but because of Gods mercy, faithfulness and loving kindness. What God gives he gives freely. For what can man do that God needs to repay?

None of us are 'worthy' that is why it is grace It is always about HIS righteousness.
I am not a 'name it and claim it 'person. I always pray 'if it be your will'.

 

[Mary7]

My pastor talked about this a few weeks ago, sometimes faith is not so individualistic. Sometimes people do carry each others burdens. It can be a way to relieve the burden to ask somebody else to pray for you. In our individualistic culture, that can be difficult to get your head around because faith is usually constructed as happening in the privatized inner world of the individual only.

I like that. Perhaps it does relieve some of the burden during a crisis.
Also that ties in with being part of the Body rather than as you said 'privatized inner world'.

 

[Randy777]

None of us are 'worthy' that is why it is grace It is always about HIS righteousness.
I am not a 'name it and claim it 'person. I always pray 'if it be your will'.

I always think its good when other pray for me. I thank them.
Jesus=>"father forgive them for they know not what they do"

 

[SkyWriting]

When I ask God, in prayer, for something I believe that He hears me.
Why, then, does almost everyone beg people to pray for them in prayer chains etc.
Are our prayers not enough?

It almost feels like He won't answer unless I reach a quota of x number of people praying.
Why is this necessary? He hears me. Does He have to be persuaded?
'ok she now has 15 people praying so now I will answer' or ' no she only has 3.. sorry, not enough.

I am very familiar with all the scriptures telling us to pray for others but I have never understood WHY this is necessary for that person's prayer to be answered.

It is possible to pray for yourself, with practice.
Much easier to pray for the benefit of others.
I explain it here:
Answered Prayer - Steps 1, 2, & 3

 

[JacksBratt]

Prayer is simply communication with our Lord, God and Savior. He wants us to pray continually. If someone I know is in a place where they have a special need, is it not proper, in my communication with Jesus, to mention their need?

Prayer is something that I believe is neglected. We.... I, don't do it enough. However, Jesus loves for us to pray. He knows even before we utter our prayers, what we are going to say, but He still wants us to do so.

He knows what we want and what we need but still wants us to ask Him. Prayer is powerful yet an untapped source of help for us from our God.

 

[Dave G.]

I do pray for Christians also but I do not understand why people request prayer if they have already gone in prayer to the Father

They often are asking in desperation because it seems their prayer has not been answer. And it may be they are just praying with the wrong approach, someone else might have a better and more effective approach to their particular situation. There is power to prayer in numbers for a cause as well. sometimes we get great success results back from the body praying together for someone, be it healing, spiritual attack etc.

Your question is a good one though and my response above is my conclusion to wondering the same thing through the years LOL!

 

[brinny]

When I ask God, in prayer, for something I believe that He hears me.
Why, then, does almost everyone beg people to pray for them in prayer chains etc.
Are our prayers not enough?

It almost feels like He won't answer unless I reach a quota of x number of people praying.
Why is this necessary? He hears me. Does He have to be persuaded?
'ok she now has 15 people praying so now I will answer' or ' no she only has 3.. sorry, not enough.

I am very familiar with all the scriptures telling us to pray for others but I have never understood WHY this is necessary for that person's prayer to be answered.

Sometimes we are soooo discouraged or beaten down that it seems we cannot pray. We ask, of course, others to pray for us, to stand in for us, so to speak.

It's how we "minister" to each other, encourage each other, and lift each other up.

Thank GOD we DO pray for each other.

God bless us, ev'ry one

 

[Cat Loaf You]

When I ask God, in prayer, for something I believe that He hears me.
Why, then, does almost everyone beg people to pray for them in prayer chains etc.
Are our prayers not enough?

It almost feels like He won't answer unless I reach a quota of x number of people praying.
Why is this necessary? He hears me. Does He have to be persuaded?
'ok she now has 15 people praying so now I will answer' or ' no she only has 3.. sorry, not enough.

I am very familiar with all the scriptures telling us to pray for others but I have never understood WHY this is necessary for that person's prayer to be answered.

I have no idea why but since James told us to pray for each another i will just trust him .
James 5:16

 

[Soul-searching]

When I ask God, in prayer, for something I believe that He hears me.
Why, then, does almost everyone beg people to pray for them in prayer chains etc.
Are our prayers not enough?

It almost feels like He won't answer unless I reach a quota of x number of people praying.
Why is this necessary? He hears me. Does He have to be persuaded?
'ok she now has 15 people praying so now I will answer' or ' no she only has 3.. sorry, not enough.

I am very familiar with all the scriptures telling us to pray for others but I have never understood WHY this is necessary for that person's prayer to be answered.

I think it is because of being weak in our faith. I don't think it's because of love or humanity we ask for prayers, sorry for being harsh, i think it's because of weakness and lack of faith. If we truly believed would our prayer not be enough? We think it is better to have many people praying for us than ourselves, of course it can be true but i have a problem with the asking for prayer situation. I have never ever asked for prayers and i never will either, because i find it egoistic. If someone will pray for me they have to do so by themself because they want to. I don't think it's wrong to pray for others, i do it daily, birds, people you name it, but i think it can only be sincere when being humble, and not by request, but come naturally. Maybe i have high standards, but that is how i feel. Regardless God does not always give us what we want, so one prayer or a million should not change the outcome, the point is the sincerity in the prayers I think, not the quantity.

 

[Mary7]

It is possible to pray for yourself, with practice.
Much easier to pray for the benefit of others.
I explain it here:
Answered Prayer - Steps 1, 2, & 3

That is what I meant when I say I pray 'not my will but your will be done'

 

[Mary7]

Regardless God does not always give us what we want, so one prayer or a million should not change the outcome, the point is the sincerity in the prayers I think, not the quantity.

I agree but I constantly hear 'pray for me for this or that' and wondered why is it that these people always need someone to pray for them. You and I are a minority in this.

 

[Mary7]

Prayer is simply communication with our Lord, God and Savior. He wants us to pray continually. If someone I know is in a place where they have a special need, is it not proper, in my communication with Jesus, to mention their need?

Prayer is something that I believe is neglected. We.... I, don't do it enough. However, Jesus loves for us to pray. He knows even before we utter our prayers, what we are going to say, but He still wants us to do so.

He knows what we want and what we need but still wants us to ask Him. Prayer is powerful yet an untapped source of help for us from our God.

I agree with that. I was not asking about praying for others tho.. it was about asking others to pray for me. (or others asking people to pray for them) ie: my friend will say oh please!! pray for me for good dr. test results. ok. will do.. but why isnt your prayer enough?
That is what I meant.
I pray alot for others that have not asked. If I know of a need I pray for them but I do not beg for people to pray for me (I have done so a few times when it was really urgent lol but never understood why that made a difference)
Anyway there have been some good answers on here that have given me some insight on this.

 

[Divide]

Nothing 'wrong' with that but my question was.. why are others prayers needed.. is that person's prayers not 'good enough'

But there have been some good answers here and I am seeing that it is probably due to being part of the Body of Christ rather than an isolationist.
I admit that when one of my children are in danger my first instinct is for people to pray for the situation. why? I don't know unless 'more is better' and I have never understood that. So maybe my prayer IS enough but it is just a matter of being part of the Church.

In the OT, we seem to have the example set for us, that (If this, then that...) when the Israelite's would obey God, then their prayers were answered and God's help was there for them. When they disobeyed God, then He would take away their protection.

Maybe this has something to do with it? If we have unconfessed sin in our life, then...our prayers are hindered? Then wont get answered so others praying for us is a good idea at the time...

I don't know for sure. Just thinking out loud...

 

[AlexDTX]

When I ask God, in prayer, for something I believe that He hears me.
Why, then, does almost everyone beg people to pray for them in prayer chains etc.
Are our prayers not enough?

It almost feels like He won't answer unless I reach a quota of x number of people praying.
Why is this necessary? He hears me. Does He have to be persuaded?
'ok she now has 15 people praying so now I will answer' or ' no she only has 3.. sorry, not enough.

I am very familiar with all the scriptures telling us to pray for others but I have never understood WHY this is necessary for that person's prayer to be answered.

Mat_18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

Amo_3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

There are several aspects to your question. First, God has delegated responsibility to us. Second, He created us to be a corporate people which is why we are not to forsake the gathering of ourselves together. Third, we are made in his image and the power of God is in the agreement in unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is why he scattered the tongues at the Tower of Babel. Lastly, Galatians tells us that faith works by love. In other words, faith is the road of God's power and love is the vehicle of his power. So, we have others pray in faith with us who are moved by love for us to release the power of God on our behalf.

 

[Mary7]

In the OT, we seem to have the example set for us, that (If this, then that...) when the Israelite's would obey God, then their prayers were answered and God's help was there for them. When they disobeyed God, then He would take away their protection.

Maybe this has something to do with it? If we have unconfessed sin in our life, then...our prayers are hindered? Then wont get answered so others praying for us is a good idea at the time...

I don't know for sure. Just thinking out loud...

Maybe, but to me, it's dangerous to live with unconfessed sin.. should confess immediately.
Don't wait on your emotions to line up. . just admit/confess you have sinned to God.
When someone has really hurt me I have to forgive them but I may not FEEL it at that time but that is an emotion.