Why should we petition God for other people?
As Abraham intervened by his prayer for the inhabitants of Sodom, as Jesus prayed for his disciples, and as the early Christian community looked "not only to [their] own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Philipians 2:4), so too Christians always pray for everyonefor people who are dear to their hearts, for people who are not close to them, and even for their enemies.
The more a person learns to pray, the more profoundly he realizes that he has ties to a spiritual family through which the power of prayer is made effective. With all my concern for the people whom I love, I stand in the midst of the family of mankind and may receive strength from the prayers of others and may call down divine assistance for others (YOUCAT question 487).
Dig Deeper: CCC section (2634-2636) and other references here.
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