Prayer matters, gives hope
Lisa, Lucas, and Amy are names that come to mind when I recall answered prayers for healing. These three were healed from leukemia. I think of baby Kaitlyn S. who is now a woman of 20 who has had two heart transplants, the first when she was a newborn, the second at the precious age of five or six. She, too, is proof that God answers prayers for life. There is Keith who was resuscitated twice in one night; once it took about ten minutes. When you think about it, he shouldn’t be here, but he is. He is another answered prayer, the one for second chances. Gary is another person who was ill for months who is healthy and doing well today.
In the Bible, Hezekiah and Nebuchadnezzar got extended life and second chances. (See 2 Kings 20:1-11, 2 Chronicles 32:24-26, Isaiah 38, Daniel 4.)
Ron, Jeanette K., Jeanette C., Kay, Samson, and others come to mind when I think of people who lost their battles with cancer. Others suffered with other sicknesses. Some went fast, while others lived years.
I pray daily for a growing list of sick people, in addition to people wrestling with other stressful situations. Sometimes there is no change. Sometimes they improve. Sometimes they get worse. Sometimes I hear nothing at all and wonder if they still need prayer.
Despite how I feel about progress, I know without a doubt that God is involved in the story. He knows how each person’s story works into the grand story. He knows how long each person’s life will be and about their struggles and joys. He understands our grief and our anguished cries of why.
When I succumb to despair, I question if there is a point to all this prayer. Yet I rally myself up with what else can I do? What else can I offer? Without prayer, there is no hope, so I persevere in prayer though often I feel helpless in the situation. It isn’t in our strength that prayers are answered. No, it is in our weaknesses that we cry out, humbly acknowledging that we can do nothing with these circumstances. We know the One who can do something though so we keep coming to Him. Since He knows best, we can rest. Struggling and wearing ourselves out doesn’t help us, nor does it help the ones we are interceding for. No matter the outcome, I will trust Him.
Where does my hope come from? It comes from God, my helper, maker of heaven and Earth.
6 Replies to “Prayer matters, gives hope”
Amen. My hope comes from the Lord. 🙂
Thanks, Melissa, we encourage each other and others as we stand together with the Lord. 🙂
Well said Michelle. My family has been the grateful recipient of your prayers for many years…including people and animals!!! When I get so stressed that even praying becomes difficult, it really means everything to know that other people are standing in the gap during those times.
Thank you, Deb. You are welcome. I know you pray for us, as well, and you are so right; it is a great comfort to know that others stand in the gap for us.
Michelle, you can add me to your list of those healed of cancer. We were attending Christ the King Community Church in Stoughton at the time, and the ladies of the church set up a 24-hour prayer chain. I have been cancer-free for 21 years now, so you know how important prayer is to me, and why I pray for a long list of people every day.
Praise God! Thanks for sharing. I did not know this. I am very thankful that you have been cancer-free for 21 years! Thank you for your faithful prayers for so many also.