[PetrZimin]

I will answer seriously.

First, religiously I don't completely understand praying for others. I mean, Christ and other people in the Bible did, so it must be a good idea, but I don't necessarily understand it all.

As far as it goes, in Christianity God does change what He will do based upon the response of people. For example, Moses prayed and God spared Israel. Or Jonah preached, the people of Ninevah repented and prayed to be spared, and God spared Ninevah.

We don't ever see God forcing people to be Christians, for example. So I think that some prayers that people pray for others aren't the sort that will be positively answered.

Praying to God does unite the person praying to Him. Praying to God gets you in tune more spiritually, represents seeking Him, and is communication. Obviously, for the religious person, praying is key.

Finally, secularly, what does it mean? It means that the person who is offering to pray for you cares about you, cares about what you are going through, and wants the best for you. It is sort of like "I hope the best for you" or "good luck" to the atheist.

I say both. Most of the time, I don't pray for others. I say good luck/etc instead.

JM