The Power of PrayerJuly 24, 2023

St. Paul says in his letter to the Romans [8:26-27]: “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.”

I have been reflecting on how short brief prayers are powerful. This came to me because I was in an automobile accident earlier in the year where a car ran a red light and hit me on the passenger side of my car.

Everything happened so quickly, yet for a moment time slowed. I saw the car right next to me with the front very close. I said to myself: “That shouldn’t be there.” Then I hear the loud bang and my consciousness caught up to realizing I had been hit. All I knew was that I was okay.

As I reflected afterward I sensed I was cushioned by my angels and loved ones.

Now months removed from the incident I was listening to a talk where they said we need to call our angels for help. I thought, “There was no time to call out,” but immediately it came to me that others did it for me. The people in the cars behind me saw it happening and I feel sure that they sent up an urgent prayer like: “O God, help them!” Both the other driver and I escaped injuries even though one witness told me the other driver never braked. Plus, the insurance adjuster who declared my car totaled said, “It was a miracle that she (me) wasn’t injured.”

How often do we say quick prayers when an ambulance passes or a fire truck or police car? We may think our prayers will help a little but now I say, “They help more than we know.”

Sister Mary Eileen Boyle