Praying for the good cause for the wrong reason

[Pinkie Pie]

Hello everyone, it's my first post but I've been "lurking" here for quite a long time .

Let's say that there is a man who is very wealthy thanks to scams/cheating/stealing/whatever. It is of course a sin. You want to pray for him to change his ways, but you feel deep inside that you don't really condemn the sin, but you are jealous of his wealth. Envy is also a sin.

So is it okay to pray for him to stop sinning (which is a good thing, I guess) even though you know that you do it only because of jealousy (which is a bad thing). What if you know that you are jealous and you know it is wrong and you try to overcome it?

I'm sorry if this question was asked here before, I didn't find it.

[Contra Mundum]

Praying for the sinner to repent and stop sinning is a good thing. Even if the motive -envy- is not a good one, through prayer the heart of that person will likely change. Because if we sincerely pray to God for someone, we will also be changed and grow in holiness.

[TheRealJuliane]

Prayer is always a good thing. When you pray for this person, pray for yourself as well, that your intentions may be pure. Ask the saints to pray for you so that your envy will be relieved.

[Pinkie Pie]

Thank you for your answers.

In case you were wondering, it was just a hypothetical question which has been "buggering" me for quite a long time, but these answers were really helpful nonetheless!