There were certain people who would write to the Promised Messiahas for prayers, and they would receive a written response to the effect that a prayer has been made for them. However, after this, they would write back saying:
“There has been no benefit. There are only two cases: either you have not prayed or if you have, you have not done so with full attention.”
One day, Hazrat Maulvi Abdul Karim Sahibra submitted this matter to the Promised Messiah, on whom be peace and blessings, who said:
“It appears that there is a dire need to write about the subject of prayer once again. It seems that previous explanations have been insufficient. Prayer is a very delicate matter. One condition is that a firm connection must exist between the person who makes a request for prayer and the supplicant to whom the request is made. This is to the extent that the former’s grief becomes the latter’s grief, and his joy becomes the other’s joy. Just as the cries of an infant make its mother unbearably restless, and milk begins to flow forth in her bosom, in the same way, the plight of the one who makes a request for prayer and their cry for help must move the person to whom a request is made, so that the latter is wholly overcome by emotion and supplicates with a sense of resolve.”
(Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, Malfuzat, Vol. 2, pp. 41-42)