There are a few people I’ve been praying for, for years now. The difficult truth is that with some of the people I’ve been praying for, the chances that I will know if my prayers have been efficacious are slim. I have zero contact with them.
They were once mortal enemies in my life and initially when I started praying for them, I did so a bit begrudgingly. Prayers for them did not roll off my tongue with sweet affection. They were said more so through gritted teeth.
Yet, I prayed for them because I knew that part of truly forgiving them must also include a desire for their goodness—I must will their good.
Whether or not God has answered my prayers over them, I don’t know. Like I said, I may never know in this life, but I continue on.
And I’ve notice how my prayers for them are no longer said with a half-steeled heart, but, instead, one of genuine love.
In all this time, these prayers for others’ goodness has helped my goodness in the process.
I never thought it would be possible to say this, but I now desire to see them in Heaven one day and, if I remain the only one here on earth to pray for them, I will continue in my persistence.
See, Catholic Pilgrims, those of the world see prayer as a genie-in-a-bottle type of exchange. It is a shallow, surface-level understanding and that is why so many dismiss it.
Those that trust in what Christ says, learn through the ups and downs that those who truly “seek, find; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” to a deeper understanding of love and mercy. They will grow in their understanding of God’s Will, which is one of the many benefits of prayer.
Have a blessed Thursday.
