We hear about studies that show that praying for others works, as people who were prayed for tend to heal from their physical afflictions measurably faster or with better results than those who are not prayed for. I think that is a good thing.

To be honest, though, there is something about an overabundance of prayer requests for others that doesn't quite feel right to me. I think it's fine to ask for help from or for other people, but I wonder if sometimes it takes the place of going directly to the source. There is nothing wrong with praying for what you need, and for guidance and direction and personal blessings, etc. I would like to share scriptures that show that we are expected to do just that, but scriptures aren't allowed here. I could find a lot more scriptures directing us to pray for our own needs than that say to pray for someone else.

There's nothing wrong with prayer chains, as long as they are not taking the place of your own personal prayers (or the person's who is prayed for). There is something empowering about knowing that you have the responsibility to pray for yourself. I think that has a lot more impact than being prayed for by someone else. And that is part of why I don't often answer the prayer request threads, or request prayers here myself. In my prayers, I do pray for people I care about or know that they are suffering or have a need, but I don't pray for specific outcomes for them, because I'm not the one who knows what they need. I pray that God will answer their prayers according to what He knows they need, and that I might know what He would have me do to help.

That said, there are different kinds of prayers, and at times you might want to say a prayer of selflessness where you only think of others, or a prayer of gratitude that is thanks only and no requests, etc. I just think that none of these should take the place of your own personal prayers, which are a sacred conversation between you and God.