WHEN

YOU
PRAY
FOR
Every day is a new day for us and we are thankful
to God for every breath we take. Whether it is a
good time or bad time we all pray to him for our
own needs to be accomplished. Every individual is
praying for himself only and I wonder how many
of us are praying for others?
Respected YLOD, dignitaries, toastmasters,
guests and my fellow youth leaders a very warm
good evening to one and all.
A prayer is a form of communication between us
and God.
We all pray because God wants us to tell him what
is in our minds. Even though He sees and
understands our situation better than we do, but
he still wants to hear it from us in our own words.
We all perform our prayers regularly on a daily
basis, but rarely we intent to pray for others, we
are so selfish at times, knowing that when we
pray for others God will grant us more rewards
and he will treat us differently. Prophet
Mohammed has once said: when someone prays,
he should not pray only for himself but should
pray for others as well. Such prayers will be
answered.
I had many chances to pray for others, and the
best of it was the time I went for hajj. I had a

great opportunity to pray for everyone, my

parents, teachers, friends, all who have
supported me and also for the poor.
We should also pray for our enemies as
sometimes because of our prayer they may
become good.
It is true that when we pray for others we feel
better, it connects us with another person, at
least for a moment, if not for life. It improves the
life of others, at least for a little. It makes the
world a better place. And if that prayer is
answered, it can be verily multiply, and multiply.
A famous philosopher has said: "God will not give
mercy to anyone, except for those who give mercy
to other creatures.
"Necessity binds us to pray for ourselves,
fraternal charity urges us to pray for others: and
the prayer that fraternal charity proffers is
sweeter to God than that which is the outcome of
necessity."
Prayer has power. Prayer increases the sense of
sacrifices for others. It gives a chance to increase
harmony. How good it is to hear someone say, I
am praying for you! Praying for others is more
than just the best thing to do when I can't do any
more for thema last option for love when all
other options are exhaustedit is always the best
thing to do for them.

Let me tell you a story of a two men who prayed

frequently for something they needed very badly.

A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at

sea and only two men were survived and both
able to swim to a nearest small island.
The two survivors did not know what to do; they
had no other recourse but to pray to God. And to
find out whose prayer was more powerful, they
decided to divide the territory between them and
stay on the opposite sides of the island.
The first thing they prayed for was food. The next
morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree
and he was able to eat its fruit. The second man
had nothing.
Few days later, the first man decided to pray for a
wife, he was feeling lonely, the very next day,
another ship was wrecked, and only one lady was
survived who able to swam near to his side. The
other man still had nothing.
Finally, the first man decided to pray for a ship, so
he can leave the place for good. In the morning,
he found a ship docked near to his side of the
island.
The first man boarded the ship with his wife and
decided to leave the second man on the island.
He considered the other man unworthy to receive
Gods blessings, since none of his prayers had
been answered.
The ship was about to leave, and suddenly he
heard a voice from the sky booming, "Why are you
leaving your companion alone on the island?"

The first man replied, well! My blessings are

mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for
them," He does not deserve anything."
"You are mistaken!" the voice rebuked him. "He
had only one prayer, which I answered. Otherwise
you would have not received any of my
blessings."
The first man asked the voice, "What did he pray
for?"
And a reply came: "He prayed that all your
prayers to be answered"

We all should remember to pray frequently for

useful things, some people even pray for useless
things also and in a very funny way, for an
instance: A man seeks protection and safety for
his life while driving a car at the speed of 160 km
per hour. Another person would ask for a long life
& good health.
It is wonderful when you pray frequently for
something and you get it! It is a very nice feeling
to be sure that even if no one else does, there is
only one who never fails to listen to you and
grants you whatever you want. God does give you
what you want but very rarely does He give when
you want it and in the way you want it.
Dear friends, for all what we know, our blessings
are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but those
of another praying for us. If it's not your habit to
do this, I would suggest you to develop a prayer
diary that can be reviewed, so that the prayers
prayed in weeks previous can be remembered,

and given thanks for when they are answered. I

would like to conclude my speech by asking you
whether you will pray for others faithfully when
you pray for yourself?