The heart moving to pray is itself an act of Grace. Whether the immediate purpose of the prayer, especially prayers sought for material good and outer relief is served or not, it does serve to build contact with the Divine and that is its best utility. For it is this contact which can slowly or swiftly, dissolve the knot of karma, remove the strongholds of the ego, tear the veil of ignorance. Until then man has to bear the seed of suffering regardless of his good and bad deeds. The roots of suffering are not so much in karma which is just an agency or a mechanism for the soul’s evolution. The roots of suffering are in ignorance which deviates us from the truth of our being and prompts us to karma and its consequences. The ultimate prayer should therefore be for removing our ignorance.
Apart from this ultimate possibility, prayers help us in other ways as well. They can bring down the Divine Grace which can dissolve the consequences or mitigate the effects. Even when one has to go through what one must for whatever reasons, prayers can act as a shield supporting us from within through the difficulty as well as minimise the effects which are not due to the actual crisis alone but due to our ignorant responses which multiply the suffering.
As to the collectivity, yes one can always pray if the heart is moved deeply. Whether or when they change is a different matter but it brings in us wideness and compassion which are undoubtedly beautiful divine qualities.
