1. We are bound in our prayer to follow the norm which our Lord delivered to us; but in the Lord's Prayer we pray for ourselves and not for others, for we say: Give us this day our daily bread, etc.
But S. Cyprian says:[152] "We do not say my Father, but our Father, neither do we say Give me, but give us; and this because the Teacher of Unity did not wish prayer to be made privately, viz., that each should pray for himself alone; for He wished one to pray for all since He in His single Person had borne all."
2. Again, we pray in order to be heard; but one of the conditions for our prayer to be heard is that a man should pray for himself. Thus on the words: If ye ask the Father anything in My Name He will give it you,[153] S. Augustine says:[154] "All are heard for themselves, but not for all in general, hence He does not say simply: He will give it, but He will give it you."
But to pray for oneself is a condition attaching to prayer; not indeed a condition affecting its merit, but a condition which is necessary if we would ensure the attainment of what we ask. For it sometimes happens that prayer made for another does not avail even though it be devout and persevering and for things pertaining to a man's salvation; and this is because of the existence of some hindrance on the part of him for whom we pray, as we read in Jeremias[155]: If Moses and Samuel shall stand before Me, My soul is not towards this people. None the less, such prayer will be meritorious on the part of him who prays, for he prays out of charity; thus on the words, And my prayer shall be turned into my bosom,[156] the Interlinear Gloss has: "That is, and even though it avail not for them, yet shall I not be without my reward."
3. Lastly, we are forbidden to pray for others if they are wicked, according to the words: Do not thou pray for this people ... and do not withstand Me, for I will not hear thee.[157] And, on the other hand, we ought not to pray for them if they are good, for in that case they will be heard when they pray for themselves.
But we have to pray even for sinners, that they may be converted, and for the good, that they may persevere and make progress. Our prayers for sinners, however, are not heard for all, but for some. For they are heard for those who are predestined, not for those who are foreknown as reprobate; just in the same way as when we correct our brethren, such corrections avail among the predestinate but not among the reprobate, according to the words: No man can correct whom He hath despised.[158] Wherefore also it is said: He that knoweth his brother to sin a sin that is not unto death, let him ask, and life shall be given to him who sinneth not to death.[159] But just as we can refuse to no one, as long as he liveth on this earth, the benefit of correction—for we cannot distinguish between the predestinate and the reprobate, as S. Augustine says[160]—so neither can we refuse to anyone the suffrage of our prayers.
And for good men we have to pray, and this for a threefold reason: firstly, because the prayers of many are more easily heard; thus on the words: I beseech ye therefore, help me in your prayers for me,[161] the Ordinary Gloss of S. Ambrose says: "Well does the Apostle ask his inferiors to pray for him; for even the very least become great when many in number, and when gathered together with one mind; and it is impossible that the prayers of many should not avail" to obtain, that is, what is obtainable. And secondly, that thanks may be returned by many for the benefits conferred by God upon the just, for these same benefits tend to the profit of many—as is evident from the Apostle's words to the Corinthians.[162] And thirdly, that those who are greater may not therefore be proud, but may realize that they need the suffrages of their inferiors.
"Father, I will that where I am they also whom Thou hast given Me may be with Me; that they may see My glory, which Thou hast given Me: because Thou hast loved Me before the foundation of the world."[163]