In Christian faith you normal pray/ask God to protect/provide/grant something to loved ones or a group of people, even if they are a large group.
Metta Bhavana is more meant as a far reaching 'radiating kindness' across all beings on earth, as in to visualize literally everyone and wished them all well with deep warmth.
The purpose is more to love equally those who you would previously classify as loved ones versus people you don't like or don't care about. Which obviously is impossible for a normal human being unless you completely allow for some sort of 'death of ego'.
The very word "loving-kindness" was devised in English as a translation of the Hebrew chesed ("charity") e.g. in Psalm 50/51: "Haue mercie vpon mee, O God, according to thy louingkindnesse" (chesed). So in Biblical and Christian tradition God's mercy is ultimately seen as an aspect of His loving-kindness.
A Christian must try to imitate Christ (e.g. read the Thomas Kempis book), Christ is God, God loves everyone. We Christians must love every person on Earth, as Christ loves them, every single one of them, including the worst assassin. What's the difference?
I meant the purpose of a prayer for others (in the Catholic sense) is a request to God. I pray that my brother is granted X I pray that my children remain safe, etc.
What you describe there in that we should love all equally is Christian thinking as per the Gospel, which I agree has many similarities with that Budhist meditation exercise but is not specific to a prayer for other people.
But you must act on this love, and there are many ways, through our daily actions, but also through prayer. I think it should come quite natural to any devout Christian.
My whole point is that I find it interesting, and surprising, how western psychologists are taking concepts from eastern religion, completely ignoring the western religious tradition.
Often they're "completely ignoring" the Eastern tradition as well. Meditation in a strict sense is not even that widespread in Eastern practice; it's generally practiced by monks, or perhaps by laity on a rare, focused spiritual retreat - so quite similar to mystical contemplative prayer in the West.
Metta Bhavana is more meant as a far reaching 'radiating kindness' across all beings on earth, as in to visualize literally everyone and wished them all well with deep warmth.
The purpose is more to love equally those who you would previously classify as loved ones versus people you don't like or don't care about. Which obviously is impossible for a normal human being unless you completely allow for some sort of 'death of ego'.