It's very clear to all real Christians that prayer is a mostly a private matter - unless someone is suffering, and then one offers to the suffering the PROMISE of a prayer, and more importantly, the guarantee of remembrance. But God is God, and one hooks up with Him in strange ways.

Sometimes this is done right off the bat. Most of the time, it was already done before learning of the suffering. Once in a GREAT WHILE does a prayer go up on schedule.

Even more rare is a prayer for oneself, which can take many forms - the most interesting of which is a CONFRONTATION WITH GOD. Under these circumstances, one rends a piece of the Universe and becomes Master of it, and speaks with God Master to Master. The successful prayer of this type will include a sudden realization of how comical the assumed authority is, and so an insight into the nature of the problem. It's a lot of fun.