WHO To Pray For?

Jesus says in Matthew 22:37-39 ““You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

So then, who is our neighbor?  In the Catechism, paragraph 2212, it says “The fourth commandment illuminates other relationships in society. In our brothers and sisters we see the children of our parents; in our cousins, the descendants of our ancestors; in our fellow citizens, the children of our country; in the baptized, the children of our mother the Church; in every human person, a son or daughter of the One who wants to be called "our Father." In this way our relationships with our neighbors are recognized as personal in character. The neighbor is not a "unit" in the human collective; he is "someone" who by his known origins deserves particular attention and respect.”  

God knows the person you are praying for. He knows their deepest needs. We don’t need to know all the specifics in order to pray for someone. We just need to see them as a special and unique creation of our Heavenly Father, someone whom God loves, and desires to be loved by. 

If a person is still alive, then they are someone who can benefit from the prayers of others. It doesn’t matter their age. It doesn’t matter their religion, or lack thereof. Every living person has the opportunity to receive the saving grace of God, the sanctifying grace of God, and His mercy and love. No one is beyond prayer. You may be the only person that day to pray for someone. They may have no family or friends. But Jesus desires to save and to bless, and for us to participate in His works. So don’t be timid!

And remember, we have a Heavenly Father who is outside time. He is in the eternal present, seeing everything at once. So what does that mean? Our prayers are not limited by time! If God puts someone on your heart who has already passed, you can still offer a prayer up for them. A simple prayer you can offer up could be, "O Lord, I pray for _____. Lord, I pray that at the hour of their death, they took hold of all the grace and mercy You had for them, and they died in friendship with You. And I pray their time of purification was quick and that they are enjoying now the beatific vision (perfect happiness)." 

Living in the world can be difficult at times. We see the effects of sinful actions by others. We can have anger at those actions, but it is important to remember that God desires to save the person who has hurt others. Our true enemy is Satan and the fallen angels who seek to lead all to hell. They often know who “pushes our buttons” and will bring them to mind, especially at inopportune times, like when we are trying to grow spiritually. Turn the tables on them! 

If Person X comes to mind and you feel uncharitable thoughts towards them, offer up a pray for that person. “Lord, you know how I feel about the actions of Person X. They have hurt a lot of people. But Father, You will all men to be saved, so I pray for Person X, that they would turn to You, repent of their sin, and take all the mercy and grace you have for them, so that they would lead others to You.” 

A great thing about a sincere prayer like that is it blesses two people: you – by having an expanding heart for all God’s children, and Person X – who has someone praying that they receive grace and mercy.