Novenas
A novena is nine days of asking for one thing. The form comes from the nine days the apostles spent in the upper room between the Ascension and Pentecost, which is the only novena described in Scripture.
Effective without promises. Nothing here guarantees an outcome. Nine days of showing up changes the person praying at least as much as anything else, and that is not a consolation prize — it is most of what the form is for.