Vayechi

When Yaakov falls ill, Yosef takes his two sons to his father for him to bless. After Yaakov gives them a beracha, he turns to Yosef and tells him that even though he, Yaakov, is about to die, Hashem will still be with Yosef and will eventually bring him back home to Eretz Yisroel . When that happens, Yaakov continues ואני נתתי לך שכם אחד על אחיך and I have given you Shechem - one portion more than your brothers אשר לקחתי מיד האמרי ברחבי ובקשתי which I took from the hand of the Emori with my sword and my bow.

‎The Targum Onkelos does not translate ברחבי ובקשתי literally, but rather בצלותי ובבעותי, with my ‎prayer and with my ‏petition.
R' Avraham Aharon of Constantin asks why did the Targum feel the need to deviate from the literal translation? Why wouldn't it mean the weapons that ‎the Jews used to destroy Shechem? He explains that had Yaakov meant it literally then he would have mentioned bow before sword. In battle, first you battle from afar with the archers or in modern day with fighter jets and then only afterwards you put in the ground troops with hand to hand combat using the sword. Since the order was switched, it meant the reference to weaponry was symbolic alluding to the weapon of prayer.

‎Rav Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik explains our two words of weapons as referring to two different types of prayer. The sword symbolizes the standard prayers that were established by the אנשי כנסת הגדולה, like the Shmona Esray ‎.The personal petitions that each person makes individually are symbolized by the bow.

The difference between the two weapons can be explained as follows: a sword itself is sharp which could harm with very minimal effort; whereas the arrow depends upon the power of the archer.
Since the tefila of Shemona Esray has inherent holiness in it, it doesn't matter who says it. Everyone's tefilos are heard, like the sharp sword. However, personal petitions are like the arrow which depends on who shoots it. The prayer is only as powerful as the one behind it, for one’s concentration and intent drives the prayer.

Rav Zilberstein tells a story of a rabbi in B’nei B’rak whose daughter didn't have children for many years. One Lag Baomer, this man's wife decided to go to the kever of רשב"י to pray for her daughter to have a child.
‎She went with her daughter to the bus station to go to Meron. After a long wait, they got on a bus which was very crowded. As the doors were closing, a man squeezed on to the bus. This man stood next to a woman who was already seated. For no apparent reason, he started harassing her, saying she took his seat. He wouldn't let up, but the woman just sat there, not saying anything. The people around her tried to rationalize with the man but to no avail. He continued to shout at the woman but she just sat there silently while he berated her. He yelled at her and embarrassed her, but she didn't say a word. When she had to get off the bus, she just stood up, left and the man took her seat.

When the bus stopped at the station, they all got off and the rabbi’s wife saw this woman who had been humiliated on the bus. She told her what הגר "ח קניבסקי said, that someone who, when they get humiliated, remain silent without retaliating have the power to pray for someone and bless them. This woman responded that she forgave the man who humiliated her. At the request of the rabbi’s wife, she blessed the daughter that she should have a child. She prayed for her and nine months later to the day, the daughter had a child.

We should realize that when it comes to personal prayers petitioning Hashem for our needs, we must have the power behind us, the right concentration and intent. Just like the woman in the story who had the power of her silence behind her, we, too, with the right force behind us, can have our prayers answered as well!