The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 1 plus 8 plus 4 letter word A MERCEDES BENZ
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
A
M
E
R
C
E
D
E
S
B
E
N
Z
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "prayed for by 22 down 22" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case prayed for by 22 down 22 = a mercedes benz.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.