Prayers are invisible arrows that we aim directly at God.
These arrows do not always reach their target. In times of need and despair, we often find that there is no answer, no matter how fervently we pray. We feel thrown back on ourselves. Is there something wrong with our prayers when they have no tangible result?
There is a spiritual law in the world of prayer: the more selfless, the more effective. As long as we only pray with wishes and desires for ourselves, we stay trapped in our own world. Prayers only find their way to God when we can say with full conviction: whatever happens, Your will be done! Selfless intercession can work wonders. It is then no longer like an arrow aimed at God, who is supposed to do the work for us, but more of a force that envelops the other person, as if with an invisible protective cloak. Is there perhaps so much suffering in the world because we have forgotten how to pray for others? How many people remain out in the cold all their lives because no one prays for them?
Shortly before his death, Christ gave us the High Priestly Prayer: “I pray for them, and I pray not for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.” (John 17:9) He gives us everything in this prayer. However, without our selfless help, this prayer will not help, and without His help, our intercession will not be fulfilled. But we—Christ and us, together—we can move mountains with the combined power of our prayer. Even if it seems that there is no future for countless people, the power of our prayer will protect them—not only in their lives but also in death, when all suffering has come to an end.
Image Ulrich Schulz, Christus! [Christ!], 2011. Spatula, absorbent cotton. Canvas, glue, ash, marble, pigments.
