Pray for your enemies

Matthew 5:44 tells us  that we need to pray for our enemies. So Jesus is telling us that we need to pray for those who are against us, those who don't like you, and the way I see it as those who wronged you. Man that is easier said then done. When I've done this I catch myself giving these prayers that aren't heart felt, pretty much I'm doing this because I feel like I have to even though I don't want to. So why do this? Is it because it's just something that Jesus told us to do which means we have to? Is there any benifit to praying for those who have wronged us?
I want to share the experience I had last night with this. Last night I got really sad and started to get upset. Right before I went to bed these feelings came over me I was ready to just have another night of thinking about these things, pretty much I would have these thoughts and feelings that would ruin my whole night. So after reading my bible I started to pray. I just asked God to take these thoughts and feeling away and as I was doing this I just felt like instead of praying for myself, I needed to pray for the person that made me feel this way. This time it wasn't a prayer that I didn't mean, this was a prayer that was totally heart felt and I prayed blessing and covered every area I could think of in this persons life. After I was done praying those feelings instantly went away. I had peace in my mind and peace in my heart.
I believe the reason why this happend was two things; first by praying for this person I released my thoughts and feelings and the person to the Lord, and second I acted in obedience to the Lord. I really feel that we as believers need to practice this idea of praying for our enemies not just because we have to but because it's soemthing that brings healing and benifits us. I figure if Jesus said to do it then we should do it because he knows what's best for us. I pray that we could all let our pride go and can humble ourselve to pray for those that have wronged us. Remember the second most important command that was ever given to us was to love your neighbor and your neighbor could be your enemy, so lets show our enemies love by lifting them up in prayer.