Prayer for others

God makes it clear that we are to pray for fellow believers. We are to pray constantly for our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a command for all aspects of life and during all times. Prayer for our fellow brothers and sisters is not to be tainted by our own will or our own motives. Prayer needs to be of God and to God in order to be lifted up to God in a proper and edifying way of giving glory to God. Jesus prayed to the extent of praying that if it was God's will then let it be so... and Jesus is the ultimate example, so too should we pray this way.

At the crux of the situation, if your prayer is most helpful to your brother and hurtful to you, then I believe that is when prayer is most God honoring. To know that you are asking God for something that will help your brother in Christ and not help you- even hurt you- makes you realize that you are on the right track. Man's instincts as a fallen race is to put your needs in front of others. When you pray putting your brother's needs before yours is praying God's way. Putting others before self... servanthood at it's most basic form. God's been impressing this in my heart lately. It's certainly not easy to do, but after I pray that way, my heart is lightened and I feel more at peace with the situation.