I’ve observed that the more we become like Jesus the more we pray for others. He prayed for Peter, who was Satan’s target, that his faith not fail (Luke 22:31-32). In John 17, he prayed for his apostles and all of those believers who accepted Him through the work of the apostles. He prayed for his murderers at the cross that the Father may forgive them (Luke 23:34). This suggests that there was no personal vengeance toward them and that if they knew who He truly was, they would not have had Him put to death. Even though arriving to that conclusion was impossible with a hardened heart, He still did not hold it against them. Of course, later when the apostles preached the word in Jerusalem, many Jews were convicted of killing their Messiah and were pricked in the heart.
Paul, also, exhibits great care and concern for others that are expressed in prayer (Romans 9:2-3; 10:1). In Philippians 1:3-4 Paul wrote, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy” and in verses 9-11, he specifies, “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Similarly, we have a mention of his prayers to the saints in Colossae. Chapter 1 and verses 9-12 reads, “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
To Thessalonica, he writes, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Here’s another text showing the imminence of Christ’s parousia.) Then he writes in his second letter to them, “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” One thing must stand out in the prayers that we have listed, here. Paul mentions very specific and distinct petitions on behalf of the saints. We would do well to work harder at naming the specific individuals along with the specific requests when we pray to the Father.