If our motivation is right, than it is ok to pray for a good healthy body so that we can serve and benefit others. Prayers are ways of guiding our thoughts and energy in a certain direction and they are a technique in helping us transform our mind. By repeatedly thinking of the meaning of what we are saying or reading, we train and familiarize ourselves in a way of regarding and relating to ourselves and others. Dedication of positive potential (merit) is very important, as it prevents our positive potential from being destroyed by anger or wrong views. Dedication prayers are a way in which we ground our intention.
“When we practice bodhicitta prayers or meditations, it may look like we are alone, like we are practicing for ourselves, but we are not practicing for ourselves, and we are not alone. All beings are interconnected, and in that sense they are present or affected. Milarepa sang, "When I am alone, meditating in the mountains, all the Buddhas past, present, and future are with me. Guru Marpa is always with me. All beings are here."
We are not practicing for ourselves alone, since everybody is involved and included in the great scope of our prayers and meditations on this perfectly pure motivation. The natural outflow of so-called "solitary meditation or prayer" is spontaneous benefit for others; it's like the rays of the sun, rays which spontaneously reach out. This good heart, pure heart, vast and open mind, is called in Tibetan sem karpo, white mind. It means pure, vast, and open heart. This is innate bodhicitta. It is not something foreign to us, as we well know, yet it is something we could relate to more, cultivate, generate, and embody. We talk about vast and profound teachings of Dharma, such as Dzogchen, but without this goodness of heart, this unselfishness; it is mere chatter, gossip, and rationalization.” Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche and Lama Surya Das, Natural Great Perfection: Dzogchen Teachings and Vajra Songs
