Written by Benoît Santos - Updated on Oct 27, 2024
As Christians, most of us have a general awareness that it is a good thing to pray for others and to have others pray for us. But perhaps praying for one another is more than just “good,” perhaps it is crucial...
So why should we pray for others? What are the benefits of interceding for people? Why is it so important to pray for one another? This is what we invite you to discover in our article! 🙏
Before you read on, here are a few other topics that might interest you in addition to why we should pray to others:
We should pray for others because prayer really helps people
There are many examples of intercession in the Bible and many reasons that Scripture gives why we should pray for one another . But perhaps the most obvious reason why we should intercede by praying for one another is that prayer really works.
Praying for others is not just a religious exercise for very dedicated Christians looking to check off all the boxes on their spiritual to-do list. According to Scripture, praying for others is extremely important to their success in ministry, life, and walk with God. Certainly, God can accomplish His plans for us and others even if we don’t have a prayer team interceding on our behalf. But when we pray for one another, it helps in very practical ways:
- 2 Corinthians 1:11: “You also ought to help us by prayer , so that many may give thanks for us for the blessing that has come to us through the prayers of many.”
- James 5:16-18: “Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it works. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
- Philippians 1:18-21: "Yes, and I will rejoice, because I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will happen for my deliverance, for this is my expectation and earnest hope that I will not be ashamed at all, but that with full courage, as always, now Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
- Colossians 4:3-4: “And pray also for us, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains. Pray that I may be able to proclaim it clearly, as it ought to be.
We should pray for one another because Jesus and the Holy Spirit intercede for people
A general rule (not always) when reading the Bible is that whenever Jesus does something, we should try to do it too (John 13:15). Jesus is the ultimate model of someone who loves others well. Everything Jesus did for others was rooted in His love for them. Therefore, to love like Jesus, we must pray for others like Jesus . One of the best examples of Jesus praying for others is found in John 17.
I pray for them [the disciples]. I do not pray for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. . . .15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. . . .20My prayer is not for these alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that they may all be one, Father, as you are in me and I in you. That they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. ( John 17:9 , 15 , 20-21 )
Not only do we have examples of Jesus praying for people in the Bible, but the Scriptures also make it clear that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us as well:
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we should pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through silent groanings. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people according to the will of God. ( Romans 8:26-27 )
Therefore, if we are filled with the Spirit and stay in tune with the Spirit ( Galatians 5:16 ), we too will intercede for one another and pray for others . When the Spirit of God resides in someone and the person seeks to be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, it will usually play out in a very practical way: What the Spirit does, that person will seek to do.
What grieves the Spirit will grieve you. What delights the Spirit will delight you. What the Holy Spirit cares about, you will care about. Likewise, since the Holy Spirit clearly intercedes in prayer for people, we who are filled with the Spirit should seek to do the same.
We should pray for one another because it increases our love for one another
We should also spend time praying for one another , because one of the greatest benefits of intercessory prayer is that it increases our love for one another.
In Matthew 5:44, Jesus says, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” We should certainly pray for our enemies because we are expressing God’s love, which is the kind of love that is given even though it is undeserved (Matthew 5:45). But perhaps Jesus commands us to pray for our enemies because he knows that in this act of prayer, our hearts will be softened and changed toward them. Here, Jesus links prayer and love because they go hand in hand for the Christian. Praying for people not only impacts their lives since you are helping to usher in the hand of God when it is in line with His will, but praying for others also changes your heart toward that person .
So we should always pray for one another because prayer creates unity . As we pray for one another, the simple act of praying for someone else builds love in your heart for that person. In prayer, you are reminded of your desire for their well-being, you are reminded of the struggles they are enduring, and overall, you focus on the other person (humility) in the hopes of doing them good through your intercession.
When you actually see that person, won’t your heart have a greater affection toward them after you’ve spent time praying for them? Because you’ve spent time praying for that person , you’ll also have a greater desire to love that person in practical ways as well.
Notice how Paul’s affections and prayers are intertwined for the Philippians. It is as if his prayers fuel his affections for them and their affections also fuel his prayers:
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer for you all making my prayer with joy. . . 7 It is right that I feel this way for you all, because I hold you in my heart, because you all share with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness that I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And my prayer is that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness. which comes by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. ( Philippians 1:3-11 )
Paul remembers them in prayer with thanksgiving ( Philippians 1:3 ), he prays for them with a heart full of joy ( Philippians 1:4 ), he holds them in his heart which gives him the right to feel for them a special affection as Christ does ( Philippians 1:7-8 ), and Paul's work of teaching them the truth by writing this letter to the Philippians is reinforced by prayer ( Philippians 1:10-11 ).
Paul’s ministry, motivation, and passion to serve the Philippians was greatly enhanced by his prayers for them. If he did not pray for them , he would not have been as effective in serving and teaching them. Likewise, we should all pray for one another because then we will be better equipped to serve and love one another not only in prayer but also in practical ways.
We should pray for others because it brings glory to God
Finally, we are to pray for one another because it brings glory to God . When we intercede for one another, we reflect God’s loving nature and thus bring glory to Him. And not only do we bring glory to God by reflecting Him in prayer, we also create a shared partnership in the good that God produces through us, giving us all a reason to praise God when one of us succeeds in fulfilling His desires for us. In 2 Corinthians 1:10-11, Paul explains:
He has delivered us from such deadly danger, and he will deliver us. It is in him that we have placed our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You must also help us by prayer, so that many may give thanks for us for the blessing that has come to us through the prayers of many.
When we pray for one another, it glorifies God in many ways. Therefore, may we seek to raise the full vault of prayer and intercession for one another. May we pray for others and seek faithful brothers and sisters who will pray for us .
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