Prayer requests.

That’s the topic, not the substance, of this post.

What do you do when someone asks for prayers? 

• Do you agree, "Yes, I’ll pray for you?"  And do you always follow through? 
• Do you pray once or do you continue to pray regularly for the same intention?  Do the intentions "expire?"
• Do you pray right away or do you save it for later, for a regular prayer time?
• Do you formulate a prayer in your own words (O God, please heal Mrs. X of her heart condition) or do you simply offer a memorized prayer, or a rosary, etc.? 
• Do you collect prayer intentions in a little book and pray for "all the intentions" from time to time? 
• Is the answer different for different circumstances?   If a friend asks you, personally, for prayers, do you offer something different than you would for a forwarded e-mail?  Are you ever moved to offer prayers for someone you don’t know when you hear or read about them in the newspaper?
• Ever gone the distance and fasted for someone, or offered up other corporeal suffering for them?

I never used to know exactly what to do with prayer requests — I usually tried to save them for my regular prayer time, but often forgot about them, and would feel guilty about it.  Also I was reluctant to pray for people, sometimes, on the questionable grounds of "Gosh, if I prayed for everybody who needs it, I’d never have time to stop." 

Then I tried a suggestion (I believe it originated with Fr. John Corapi) that impressed me with its simplicity:  If someone requests a prayer, pray for them immediately.  And then consider it done, or if you like, leave it in God’s hands. 

The idea is to recite a short prayer, of the type that in Catholic jargon is called an ejaculation:  utterances that are used punctuate the day, each lasting less than a breath.  An example might be:  O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on (name).   Or:  Lord, bless  (name) with peace and strength.  Or a favorite saint might be invoked:  Saint Michael the Archangel, be (name)‘s protection.

I like the prayer that was originally suggested:  I place you in the enclosed garden of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  It applies to nearly all circumstances; it is quick to say and easy to remember.  With this interior act, I accept the prayer request and entrust it in turn to the prayers of Our Blessed Mother (Behold, your mother: John 19:27).

Now here is the strange bit.   It takes less than three seconds to pray this prayer, and it can be done silently.  Yet every time I pray it, in the instant before I begin, I feel a strong internal resistance to praying it.  There’s no reason, no rationalization, just a sudden feeling of distaste.  I can’t remember an occasion when I haven’t shaken it off, though.