<p>1:11 <i>You also helping together on our behalf by your prayers, so that it works out that for the gift bestowed upon us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf- </i>Paul has in view an upcoming evil that he needed deliverance from. He asks them to pray for him, on the basis that the gift of salvation would then lead to all who had prayed for it then thanking God for it, and thus God would be glorified. But to describe his hoped for deliverance as a &quot;gift&quot; may seem strange- until we realize that Paul is framing all this in language he would later use of his pet project, the Jerusalem poor fund. His idea was that if there were many contributions towards that &quot;gift&quot;, then there would be many praises given for it. And he paves the way for that by asking them to pray for his deliverance, that he may be given a gift of deliverance, and they would all praise God for it afterwards.</p><p>The idea of &ldquo;helped&hellip; by prayer for us&rdquo; (2 Cor. 1:11 AV) sounds as if Paul&rsquo;s unaided prayers had less power than when the Corinthians were praying for him too. Stephen believed this to the point that he could pray for the forgiveness of his murderers, fully believing God could hear and grant such forgiveness. Job believed this, in that he prayed God would forgive his children in case they sinned. The friends mocked this in Job 5:4; 8:4; 17:5 and 20:10, saying that the children of the foolish die for their <i>own</i> sins, whereas, by implication, Job had figured that <i>his</i> prayers and sacrifices could gain <i>them </i>forgiveness. Yet in the end, Yahweh stated that Job had understood Him and His principles right, whereas the friends hadn&rsquo;t.</p>