I didn't believe in prayer very much. I even have hard time to understand theologically how prayer can "work". My help's been C.S. Lewis, e.g. his saying in the "Chronicles of Narnia", that Aslan knows what we need, but he LIKES it when we ask him for what we need.
But I'm learning through experience. Recently I've experienced more and more often certain inspirations to pray for someone. And this is not anymore out of will or duty, but it's contemplative prayer, a sudden flame of love connected to a person or persons. Prayer's been also a natural response when I see someone's suffering and I experience compassion and pain about this person. Sometimes, but rarely, there are those strange insights, e.g. that N.N. has problem with something and I need to pray for this (sometimes I'd not say rationally that this person may have this problem - on the contrary).

During the Liturgy of the Good Friday, when I heard a part of common prayer, which was for the people who don't believe in God, I instantly thought about my good friend who is an atheist, but also a very decent and righteous person, and I prayed for him, eventually I was brought to tears praying asking for the grace for him, and suddenly I felt that he doesn't need so much my prayer, that the need to pray comes from my mind, my worries. Suddenly I felt peace and I heard in my thoughts: "Don't worry about him". It was like a sign from the Lord that my friend is given grace, even if he's not aware of this coming from God, and he's guided by the grace. I don't think I really can know or be sure about his inner state of the heart (I can't be sure about mine...), but this message from God gave me peace, and I don't worry about my friend anymore. I think I can learn much from his decency and goodness. So this was a strange inspiration "not to pray for someone", in a way

And today I realized how much of my prayer becomes - thank you, Lord - praying for others. It's like before praying for others was separated from my personal prayer (which was of course praying FOR ME...), and now it's changed. I experience often contemplative prayer in relation to others I pray for, or out of contemplative prayer I feel moved to pray for someone. God teaches me, I guess, the mystery of His Triune nature - that our deepest union with Him is achieved through our turning to others, not to ourselves. This is much different than meditation, which is self-turn or God-turn at best.

Those are my present experiences and observations about intercessory prayer. I'll surely benefit from your own experiences and feedback, so... please, help me learn more about praying for others

I'm deepening my understanding of intercessory prayer with my spiritual director, but I think what I lack is e.g. an experience of healing by prayer, like you have. In my country there are no such people, or I haven't heard about them. So thanks for the names and I benefit from your testimonies. I wonder how much spiritual pride hides in my desire to know that my prayer "works", to receive some confirmation, some proof... maybe it's just about praying and leaving the rest to God.

I'm aware of Jesus words about prayer. I have an intellectual understanding of the power of prayer, but still I need God's help to believe more in the real power of it. But He's already teaching me, since he moves me to pray for others.

quote:

Originally posted by Mt:
...I wonder how much spiritual pride hides in my desire to know that my prayer "works", to receive some confirmation, some proof... maybe it's just about praying and leaving the rest to God.
...

Yeah, being obedient if you are led to pray is the challenge, especially publically. It really is the fire which brings up a whole bunch of nonsense. When I was stepping out more to pray, I recall struggling a lot with same issues.

What helped to set me more free to pray was a lot of great role models who gave me courage to take risks, and a lot of just doing it every day. Still, there are many times I recoil from praying despite a clear prompting. I do chicken out or feel dry.

Of course, the Holy Spirit directly moves as the Teacher. But once you are called to pray, quietly or publically, you find it is one of the most beautiful ways of demonstrating God's love and compassion.

How wonderful that the Lord is teaching you to pray, Mt!

One day at church I saw this severely deformed little girl and felt moved to lay hands on her and pray. After the service, her parents brought her to the Prayer Station explaining that she was to undergo some surgery and wanted prayers for protection, etc. I happily obliged and asked if I could pray with her again in the future. I 'saw' myself laying hands on her while she was sleeping. We set a time for me to go pray with her a few weeks out. On that day, I was driving to her house, and I remember the cold, icy day. A bit of cynicism became to creep into me. "Why are you doing this? It doesn't make any sense, it is pointless, you can't heal that girl" came these dark accusations. I was disheartened, but I couldn't turn back.

Suddenly, the Holy Spirit came down through the roof of my car and landed on me with a powerful infusion and a most unforgettable revelation. I literally saw something I'd never considered or known before. In some spiritual realm, I heard something like "You will see everyone you have prayed for in their Glorified Bodies!" And there's no way to explain this but I literally SAW this truth. My mood totally changed. That girl was not visibly healed, but I got to be part of her eternal destiny, and I will delight in seeing her new body.

My sense of contemplative prayer is that it is prayer for the whole world.I also believe that I am in Christ, and so also with all who pray in His Spirit. I pray for people by writing down their names and by lighting a candle, so that I can be clear in my intention, but I rarely pray verbally.I sometimes get images of terrified and abused people,which I bring into the prayer.
I love what I hear of your ministry,Shasha,and I enjoyed reading the discussion you had with Stephen about healing on another thread.I have no doubt you are doing His work and in His Spirit.It is just interesting how resistant I am to being directive,as I see it,with God.I can ask for His Will,more specifics make me uncomfortable.I don't like to plead,and I don't like others to plead to God for me.This could be pride, but it doesn't feel that way, although I could be deluded.A few months ago I went to a healing (I have quite bad plantar fasciatis) and the young woman praying over me seemed to be begging God to show His Mercy.I felt enormous resistance, and just wanted her to stop.I liked a prayer for healing I had had before where there were no words except for God to open my heart to Him, and I experienced an incredible blue light pouring through me, an amazing,wonderful gift, which lasted for days, although my feet weren't healed outright.I did find some new exercises the next day, though, that have been very helpful.
i don't know if this is helpful,Mt,it could be God is showing you yet another way,or maybe the more charismatic way of Shasha.I just had to put in my two cents worth.
I have volunteered as a lay chaplain and as a hospice volunteer for almost 30 years,btw -- I have learned how to pray verbally,because many people need that, but it isn't exactly my prayer,and I always hope to God that the right words come out -- which I suppose is the way anyone feels who is praying in the Spirit.

quote:

Originally posted by bdb:
...It is just interesting how resistant I am to being directive,as I see it,with God.I can ask for His Will,more specifics make me uncomfortable.I don't like to plead,and I don't like others to plead to God for me.This could be pride, but it doesn't feel that way, although I could be deluded.A few months ago I went to a healing (I have quite bad plantar fasciatis) and the young woman praying over me seemed to be begging God to show His Mercy.I felt enormous resistance, and just wanted her to stop.I liked a prayer for healing I had had before where there were no words except for God to open my heart to Him, and I experienced an incredible blue light pouring through me, an amazing,wonderful gift, which lasted for days, although my feet weren't healed outright.I did find some new exercises the next day, though, that have been very helpful...

Thank you for your lovely sharing, bdb. I know exactly what you mean about the resistance to pleading prayer or specific prayer. Sometimes it just seems wrong to ask for mercy when you don't feel that lack of God's mercy is the problem! Last night I prayed for my mom's stomach problem. She said she felt much better but especially felt a "release" when I quoted the scripture that she "cast her cares" at the foot of the Cross. I find most people want so much more than this or that specific thing healed. They want their hearts more open to God--as you said. They want their starvation for love to end!

I remember once somebody at the prayer station was praying with a woman whose leg was in a cast. The prayer minister called me over to join in praying. I cringed thinking, "Not me, I don't believe I'm cut out to pray for instant healing of broken bones." Although I know God has moved this way. So I went over there reluctantly to join the other pray-er because I could see she needed a team approach. When I began to pray for this lady, I could see that she had a sister who was praying for her. I asked if she had a sister. She began crying and said that she had a long-standing hostile relationship with her sister, who was a leader in her church. Long story short, she felt the sister and others judged her broken leg as God's retribution for leaving her sister's church. She just wept and her need was for praying of the broken relationship more than the broken leg. That's a tangent...

Sounds like you've found a beautiful way of praying. I'm sure lots of contemplataives pray like you describe--a holding someone up before God. We can't be replicas of one another and the variety is wonderful. Being self-conscious in praying out loud was an issue for me. What I've learned from watching so many people praying is that being real is the most important factor. Our spirits detect and are open to realness.

There were a number of years when I didn't do much intercessory prayer, except for sincerely praying along with the intentions at Mass or something like that. I believed (and still do) that contemplative prayer establishes us in deep relationship with the world, and that God can do through us whatever God needs to do through contemplation.

During the past few years, I have begun to be more regular with intercessory prayer, generally as part of the Liturgy of the Hours. What I find is that I have more a sense of being in relationship with and caring about the people and issues I pray for. It's as though the Spirit moves through these prayers and enables me to love in very specific ways, which is a good thing. So sometimes I think the answer comes from how I am changed in such manner as to more lovingly and effectively act with the people and situations I've prayed about.

There's another more mysterious dimension to it, I am convinced, and it's related to what we might call a theology of the mystical body. In this perspective, we might recognize ourselves to be cells in Christ's mystical body, animated by his Spirit. These cells have a relation to one another as well as to Christ, and just as the cells in our body interact to stimulate growth in one another, so, too, do we in Christ's body. It seems that the usual manner used by God to communicate with us is through intermediaries, and we are such to one another as members of Christ's body. That is why we've been blessed with spiritual gifts -- that we might communicate God's Spirit to one another. Intercessory prayer might be, for some, such a gift, but we can all make use of it even if we have other gifts.

The link below has a good discussion. Good website, too.
- http://www.spirithome.com/prayintr.html