Prayer for others isn’t a duty. It is a joy: a special opportunity to caress and be close to people we love. This fresh approach to intercession marks the opening words of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. No special, desperate need drove Paul to prayer. Instead Paul had cultivated the habit, whenever he thought of his dear friends in Philippi, of expressing the joyful feelings remembrance brings by offering up a prayer for them. What a simple, yet meaningful way for us to enrich our prayer lives.