What Good Does Prayer Do?

Our Light the World challenge of the day was to pray for others, but I have a few minor issues with that. As I understood it (and maybe I didn't), these daily challenges were designed to inspire us to do good things to make the world a better place. But when a person prays, they aren't really doing much of anything. They're asking someone else to do something. And I'm not sure how much good the asking does, either. It seems to me that, in most cases, God was probably was already going to grant the blessing, or still won't, because He both knows and wants what's best for His children. God has probably already decided what blessings He will and won't grant, so our praying for blessings, either for ourselves or for others, doesn't do much to influence His decisions. So, praying for others doesn't do much good, and even if it does do good, we're not the ones that are doing it. So what gives? What does praying for others accomplish?

Several things. For starters, praying for the benefit of others may not be a sacrifice on our parts, and it certainly won't give us much experience with giving service, but it will help us learn compassion. When we pray for the welfare of others, we spend at least a little bit of time considering their needs. We also connect to God's love through prayer, so we can feel a bit of His love for them. These two factors work together to expand our hearts and help us become more charitable. Yet, that still doesn't help others directly.

But we can. Praying for others gives God the opportunity to tell us what they need and how we can help them. Often, we don't know exactly what we can do for a person, but if we pray for that person, God can respond by giving us a nudge in the right direction. When we pray for others, God sometimes answers by telling us what we can do for them.

Though, God does also occasionally answer prayers directly, just as we ask. For one reason or another, God has made some of His blessings contingent on asking for them. So, praying does, in some cases, unlock blessings that might not otherwise have been granted. Also, God has an amazing amount of power. He can do far more good in other's lives than we can. Enlisting God's help to bless someone might be the more effective thing we could do for them. Sure, we could bless them ourselves, and we still can, but if we can get God to bless them, that would be even better for them.

So, praying for others can have some practical benefits, both for ourselves and for those whom we ask God to bless. It still seems like an indirect and unreliable method of helping others, but it can do some good. And it doesn't take a lot of time or effort, either. Praying for someone can be quick and easy, but can still yield some positive results, like teaching us compassion, helping us learn how we can bless others, and possibly calling down the blessings of God. There may be more direct and impactful ways to serve others, but praying for them is an easy serve them, so I guess I'm glad that we were reminded and encouraged to do it.