For Jesus, and for us, prayer provides the insight and affirmation that if we do anything that is worthwhile – teaching, healing, organizing, reforming, working for good – we can never claim it as our own achievement. Rather, we can acknowledge it as a gift of God, the result of which is in God's hands. Prayer is the experience of knowing that God is the source of everything we claim as our own. To pray is to say with Jesus, “Not my will, but yours. Not my words, but yours. Not my worth, but yours. Not my glory, but yours. Not in my name, but in yours.” Henri Nouwen

When we give of ourselves, not wanting anything in return, we are truly following the commandment to love thy neighbor as thyself.