Jesus' Shared Wisdom

12: Prayers for Others

Lately, I've been finding myself asking Jesus for things that benefit mainly myself. In my prayers, I have asked for success in school, assistance in certain games, etc. I've focused more on overcoming my obstacles with Jesus rather than asking Jesus to help others overcome theirs. Praying for ourselves is something we all do, but this type of prayer does not yield a powerful result. We must pray for the needs of others before we pray for ourselves since it demonstrates the true power and glory of Jesus and allows Him to change the lives of others.

I know I've stated in Lesson 1 that we should ask Jesus for assistance whenever we face an obstacle. I referred Matthew 7:7 to build upon this statement, which states, "Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

But we should be applying this message to our prayers for other people. We already know that our good prayers will be heard and responded to by Jesus. So when Jesus opens his ears to hear our prayers, we should talk to Him about the struggles and obstacles of other people. Our good prayers for other people will be treasured higher than our own desires or fears.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."
(Philippians 2:3-4)

By looking out for the needs of others, we act in the same way that Jesus acted for us. When the time came for Jesus to be put to death on the cross, when He was forced to carry the cross through the streets, when He was mocked by the soldiers, when He was nailed to the cross and had His crown of thorns on His head...

Jesus was not focusing on Himself and His conditions. He was thinking of the soldiers who mocked Him and whipped Him. Jesus was thinking of the large crowd that did not believe that He was the son of God. He asked God to "forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)
When Jesus was on the cross, He was thinking of us. We should act like Jesus did and pray for other people. We should even pray for the well-being of those who hate us, since Jesus prayed for the soldiers and the angry crowd.

When we pray for others before ourselves, we see Jesus's unlimited power affect the lives of those we pray for and see a true change. For example, I've been praying for a friend who has recently been diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer. I've prayed for Jesus to bring him happiness through this difficult part of his life, and I've seen Jesus act upon my prayers. Jesus has responded to my prayers and allowed him to remain happy through his tough circumstances.

So who can you pray for? Could you pray for your friend who struggles with a certain sin? Could you pray for the well-being of someone who has sinned against you? Of course! As long as you have faith in Jesus's ability to answer your prayers, then Jesus will make a lasting impact on the lives of those you pray for.

Each day, when you pray, remember to think of those who struggle with sin in their lives or those who don't know Jesus. Don't fear for yourself, since you know that Jesus has a plan for you. However, many people don't know that Jesus has a plan for them. These are the people we must pray for, since they truly need the Love of Jesus. Jesus already knows how to take care of you, so don't focus on yourself when you pray. Instead, focus on the needs of others, and Jesus will provide for them and allow a true change to occur in their lives.

If you learned a lot from this lesson, please share this knowledge with the people you know. Thanks for reading and don't forget to talk to people about what you learned!