Anam Cara

The Beauty of the Prayer-Gift

It is a lovely gift when a person prays for you. One of the greatest shelters in your life is the circle of invisible prayer that is gathered around you by your friends here and in the unseen world. It is a beautiful gift to draw someone into the shelter of your circle of prayer. When you are going through difficult times or marooned on some lonesome edge in your life, it is often the prayer of your friends that brings you through. When your soul turns into a wilderness, it is the prayer of others that brings you back to the hearth of warmth. I know people who have been very ill, forsaken, and damaged; the holy travellers that we call prayers have reached out to them and returned them to healing. The prayer of healing has wisdom, discernment, and power. It is unknown what prayer can actually achieve.

When you meet someone at the level of prayer, you meet them on the ground of eternity. This is the heart of all kinship and affinity. When you journey in there to meet someone, a great intimacy can awaken between you. I imagine that the dead who live in the unseen world never forget us; they are always praying for us. Perhaps this is one of the ways that they remain close to our hearts: they extend the light and warmth of prayer towards us. Prayer is the activity of the invisible world, yet its effect is actual and powerful. It is said that if you pray beside a flower it grows faster. When you bring the presence of prayer to the things you do, you do them more beautifully.