To pray for others is to pray for yourself.

 

There is a game my teacher in Sunday School introduced me to when I was younger. The game is called “angel and mortar.” In this game, the names of everyone in the room will be written on different pieces of paper and wrapped in such a way as to conceal the names. Each one of us would then pick up a name of a person already wrapped in a paper. 

 

After this, we would spend a particular period of time praying for the person we picked in our personal time with God. The game was conducted in such a way that the people we were praying for would not even be aware that we picked their names. At the end of the stipulated period, we would each then give our prayer partners special gifts they would appreciate. It was always a surreal experience and it was so much fun.

 

But beyond that, it was always fulfilling because it was a privilege to see someone you had prayed for doing better. The basis for this game as taught by our Sunday school teacher was the story of Job. The Bible says that God instructed Job to “pray for his friends,” after which his fortunes were restored. Now, it’s interesting to know that God did not tell Job to pray for himself before he would be restored. God rather told him to pray for his friends for his (Job’s) restoration (Job 42:7-10).

 

This teaches us that there is power when we pray for others and not just ourselves. Firstly, praying for others rids us of our natural selfishness. You know, there was a time I got so insecure around my younger sister. I was literally jealous of her. However, I was shocked to the bone when the Holy Spirit instructed me to pray for her. In my mind, I was like, “What in the world, God! That’s someone who is literally better than me in everything. How do I pray for someone to increase higher when I am so low?” But then, the Holy Spirit helped me and I did begin to pray for her. And God has come and is still coming through for me in various ways.

 

Intercession is a great thing. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us (Rom. 8:26-27). So does Jesus (Heb. 7:25), and He desires us to imitate and imbibe His nature. Truly, when you pray for others unselfishly and from your heart, God hears and He comes through for them – but not without coming through for you in an even greater way! God is pleased when we pray for each other. 

 

It shows that we are truly walking in love and we are truly concerned about one another’s well-being. It shows God that though we have our own problems, we are setting them aside, so we can bring to Him the problems of others. It shows that we are carrying one another’s burdens (hence fulfilling God’s law of love) (Gal. 6:2). What can make God happier than that? 

 

When God sees a heart that truly loves unselfishly and comes to Him – as a Father that cares – with the burdens of others, He will bless such a heart. 

 

Pray for someone today!