Are children's prayers more efficacious? It would seem so, because they are purer and more innocent.
See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
What did Fathers, Doctors of the Church, or other saintly Catholic theologians have to say about the efficacy of children's prayers?
Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., Le virtù eroiche nei bambini [Children's Heroic Virtues] pp. 26-7:
Their prayers have a special efficacy, as His Holiness Pius XII has often said recently, and the Lord Who inspires these prayers of the children also answers them with supreme benevolence.
It is necessary to have recourse to the intercession of those who are already in Heaven in order to obtain, as the Fatima children did, the conversion of sinners and the peace of the world.
When we adults think about this peace, we often have our minds preoccupied by economic, political, philosophical calculations, and by the persuasion of the superiority of our point of view, and therefore this truth of faith — that is, that wars are caused by the sins of men — does not penetrate deeply enough into us. On the contrary, sometimes certain very good children who do not have these human concerns, under the light of the Holy Spirit, are so compelled by this simple and profound truth that they think of nothing else; therefore, their prayer is true, elevating the mind to God, humble and trusting; therefore, it pleases the Lord greatly and is quickly and largely heard.
Le loro preghiere hanno una efficacia speciale come spesso ed anche recentemente ha detto Sua Santità Pio XII, e il Signore che ispira queste preghiere dei fanciulli le esaudisce anche con somma benevolenza.
Bisogna ricorrere all'intercessione di coloro che sono già in Cielo per ottenere, come facevano i fanciulli di Fatima, la conversione dei peccatori e la pace del mondo.
Quando noi adulti pensiamo a questa pace spesso abbiamo la mente preoccupata da calcoli economici, politici, filosofici, e dalla persuasione della superiorità del nostro punto di vista, e perciò non penetra abbastanza profondamente in noi questa verità della fede, che cioè le guerre sono causate dai peccati degli uomini. Al contrario talvolta certi buonissimi fanciulli che non hanno queste umane preoccupazioni, sotto la luce dello Spirito Santo sono talmente soggiogali da questa semplice e profonda verità che non pensano ad altro; quindi la loro preghiera è una vera ed alla elevazione della mente a Dio, umile e fiduciosa, e perciò piace grandemente al Signore e presto e largamente viene esaudita.
A Catholic poet of Southern India summarises the specialness of children's prayer thus: It was a time of severe drought and the people of a village lined up to pray together on a mountain. All were amused to see a boy carrying a big umbrella neatly folded and packed. Many mocked at him. He calmly replied: "I am going uphill to pray for rain, and I am sure it will rain on my way downhill." So, when children pray they do so without an iota of doubt, true to their innocence and trust in God. In fact when Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, he started with 'Abun',the Aramaic counterpart of 'Daddy'. That signifies that we should be ' like children' ( Mtt 18:3) while praying !
Most grown-ups are 'afraid' to pray aloud for something which they feel improbable. On a train through a remote area, I saw a child loudly praying for net connectivity, and believe me, she got it!
