Some, however, urge that we ought not to pray for others, thus:
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.