Why Intercessory Prayer? Sheldon Monson Prayer on behalf of others benefits not only those who are prayed for, but also those who pray for them.
D oes it really make a difference whether we pray for others? Are we obligated to pray for one another, or is it optional? Just what is the pur- pose of intercessory prayer? The Scriptures leave no doubt that we have a duty to pray for others. Paul was a good example of this. In Ephesians 1:15–16 he wrote: Therefore I also, after I heard
brethren pray for him and his com- panions. In his first letter to the Thessalonians he entreated the con- gregation, “Brethren, pray for us” (1 Thessalonians 5:25). Another fine example of interces - sory prayer was a member of the Church in Colossae named Epa- phras. We know little about this man. However, when Paul wrote to
for them? Job prayed for his friends even though they made unkind and false comments about him. Yet it was only after Job prayed for them that God blessed him (Job 42:10). In Matthew 5:44, Jesus said that we are to even “pray for those who spitefully use and persecute [us].” When Isaiah prophesied about the state of things at the end of the age—the age in which we live—no- tice what he wrote in Isaiah 59:14– 16: Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot en - ter. So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, And won - dered that there was no inter - cessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
God knows what our needs are even before we ask. Nevertheless, He still wants us to ask. the brethren in that city, he said of him in Colossians 4:12:
of your faith in the Lord Je - sus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: And in his letter to the Church at Philippi he stated (Philippians 1:3– 4): I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making re - quest for you all with joy, Continuing in verse 9, And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discern - ment, The apostle not only prayed for others; he also requested that the
Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. This man worked constantly and fervently praying for others. Did the prayers of Epaphras make a dif- ference as to whether the brethren grew to “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God”? If his prayers had no impact, God would not have inspired these vers- es to be written and included in the Bible. Scripture leaves no doubt that we are to pray for others. What about our relatives and un- converted people? Should we pray
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