A prayer of faith. A story of providence
Have you ever prayed for someone, for years maybe, and you just do not know if those prayers are getting through? Getting through to God? Or to the person for whom you are praying for?
What do we do when God wakes us up in the middle of the night compelling us to pray for someone? Maybe, someone, we have not thought of in years?
What do we do when we have reached the proverbial end of our own rope?
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The short answer to these questions is: We pray.
Paul gently reminds us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV) “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
How do we persist? How do we continue to pray seemingly when there is no answer? How do we rejoice always?
We pray in faith, trusting in Him even when we cannot see Him at work.
During my battle with cancer, God answered prayers regularly, and oftentimes He was moving to answer prayer before I even knew I needed to pray. My hope in sharing this story of answered prayer which can be found in more detail in my book, Providence, is that the story will be “a word in due season” (Prov 15:23b) for those who need to hear it.
When I was initially diagnosed with cancer, I was 31 years old and in peak physical condition. I was hiking fifteen plus miles at high altitudes every week. Other than my cancer I was physically healthy. The doctors saw an opportunity to kill the cancer cells left post-surgery quickly and decisively. Since I was so healthy, and in such great shape, and they had a set protocol to follow, the doctors believed they could cure me with an aggressive chemotherapy regimen.
The chemo regimen, besides making me quite ill physically (this is an understatement), had the side effect of causing deep depressions. One night in the middle of a heavy chemo cycle, a dark blanket of depression wrapped its heavy arms around me. That night, I laid in bed being pulled under physically, and mentally by a sensation of sinking deeper and deeper until I was in despair.
In my despair, a picture of Peter sinking beneath the waves popped into my head. And like him, the only prayer I could faintly whisper was, “Save me.”
Seventeen hundred miles away, a godly woman, an old friend from my youth was awakened out of sleep. God put it on her heart to pray for me like I was her own child. Obeying, she got out of bed and knelt in prayer until she believed God released her.
Almost instantly after my prayer, and as my friend began to pray, the despair lifted. In the light of that new night, a picture and a thought of my friend entered my mind for the first time in years. I had no idea why. Days later, I spoke with my mom who had met our old friend at church. I mentioned how our friend had been on my mind. My mom told me why. Our friend had shared with her about God waking her and her prayer for me. Later on, we were able to meet in person and share both sides of this story, and we rejoiced.
God answers prayer.
I have trusted Jesus Christ for salvation and my everyday life for over twenty years now. I have known who Christ is for longer but it was not until my late twenties that I trusted Him for everything. And in trusting Him, I have learned that He does not always answer prayer in the way we expect, not always when we want, or precisely how we desire, but He does answer in His timing and in His Divine will.
We may not see the results of our prayers, not in this life anyway, but we must always forge ahead. We must always pray in faithful expectation He will answer us in His will.
And for those who have or are praying fervently for loved ones, never give up hope.
And should any reader find themselves overtook by a sudden urge to pray for someone, maybe even in the middle of the night, do not hesitate, do not doubt, get to praying. Your prayer is needed!
God bless!
Jeff Parker is the author of the Vide Press title, Providence. He is a follower of Christ, a husband, a father, and a sometimes public speaker. A native of Indiana, he lives on a small farm with his family, where they find joy and have fun pursuing faith and creativity.
