How to pray for others?

[KatarinaTherese]

Lately I’ve really heard the call to pray for others. There have been a lot of situations where I’ve thought, I can’t do anything. Then I say, wait, I can pray. I’ve never been that good at praying, though, and I’m having some trouble praying for other people. It sounds odd, but I don’t really know how. At meals and with others it’s sort of easy (please help so and so…), but when I’m praying alone it just seems harder to me. I want to do more than just say “God, please bless this person.”

Is that wrong, though, or should I just be content with it? Sometimes I wish I could take all the love I have and give it to God so that He can give it to that person in the way He wants to. But I feel so tiny… I know I’m really nothing, but at the same time it’s so hard. Often I don’t even know if I really only want the best for the person, or if I want him or her to actually know that I prayed for them.

So I guess another question is, how do I pray for others without letting my pride take over? A lot of times I think I might be praying because I particuraly like a certain person, and I want to be a part of their life (almost as if “I” helped them).

Sometimes I get so confused!

 

[Eileen_T]

Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet, substituting the person’s name when it says “Have mercy on us and on the whole world.”

 

[the_phoenix]

Dear Katarina Therese,

Eileen T has given you a good answer.

You can also offer up a Rosary for the person or people, saying right at the beginning, (for example) “Dear God, I’m offering up this Rosary for the conversion and healing of my friend (friend’s name), for my family, for the unborn, for the souls in purgatory …” whoever you’d like to pray for at that particular time.

You can also go to Communion by proxy for the person, especially if he or she is unable to make it to Mass. When you begin praying on receiving Communion, you can say, “Dear God, I’m offering up this Communion for (person’s name) and going to Communion by proxy for this person. Please grant all the graces that I would have received from today’s Communion to this person instead.”

As for telling someone that you’re praying for him or her, sometimes it can be an encouragement or a witness, other times, it may offend the person … pray for discernment to know whether it’s better to speak or remain silent.

Also? Saying “God, bless this person” the way you do is very commendable. I also sometimes pray this way … it’s cool too and the Lord sees your love. No prayer is wasted!

~~ the phoenix

 

[puzzleannie]

KatarinaTherese:

Lately I’ve really heard the call to pray for others. There have been a lot of situations where I’ve thought, I can’t do anything. Then I say, wait, I can pray. I’ve never been that good at praying, though, and I’m having some trouble praying for other people. It sounds odd, but I don’t really know how.
. . . .
So I guess another question is, how do I pray for others without letting my pride take over? A lot of times I think I might be praying because I particuraly like a certain person, and I want to be a part of their life (almost as if “I” helped them).

Sometimes I get so confused!

when someone asks me for prayer, here or anyplace else, I immediately stop what I am doing and say a Hail Mary, just as I do when I hear an ambulance or fire truck siren, when I see a bad news report of a disaster on TV etc. Rather than wait for a time and place when I can think of appropriate words, I just ask Mary to pray for me. Otherwise I will forget, or be worried I don’t know what to say.

the last paragraph is very perceptive, and I think could be true for us sometimes, like our priest invites people to offer intercessions at daily Mass, and somepeople use this as a forum to hand along gossip or to editorialize about people’s lives. He continually has to warn us about that. Some people always ask for a name when you pass along a prayer request, and I guess I can see the value in that, but when asking for prayers like in CCD classes or gatherings, I do not mention the person or anything about them, just “we have some parents (catechists, your classmates etc.) who need our prayers, so we will now say the OF, HM etc.”) I think this is why formal prayer is so helpful, it helps us resist the temptation to dictate to God what we want for that person.

 

[Flopfoot]

puzzleannie:

…I think this is why formal prayer is so helpful, it helps us resist the temptation to dictate to God what we want for that person.

Brilliant! Thanks for the suggestion. Why didn’t I ever think of that?