The Present of Prayer
It seems that medical mayhem is working overtime and my prayer book is filled with voices from friends and family asking for prayers. I like getting up early when Liesl (our new long haired mini doxie) and Thad are still asleep and wander into our office to read the day’s devotion and say my prayers. Lately, the supplications are overflowing and I am embarrassed to say, I find myself rushing through the adoration, confession, and thanksgiving to get to the plethora of needs that fill two pages of my book. I pray for houses to be sold, jobs to be found, marriages to be saved along with a myriad of medical issues.
Recently, a group of us got together via email and Facebook to sign up to say prayers for a friend who was undergoing cancer surgery. People from all over, some that didn’t even know her, signed up for times during the 72 hours prior, during and after surgery. Another friend wrote each person’s name on a colored strip of construction paper and created a paper chain which was draped around our friend’s dining room chandelier for when she returned from the hospital. The visual effect of this long, colorful paper chain of names was powerful.
Prayer is a present one gives another. Most of us will say “I wish I could do more than just pray” without realizing the power the gift of prayer bestows. Prayers for the actual person, for the nurses, the surgeon, radiology and technical support, hospital administrative staff, housekeeping; that each would use their talent, work, knowledge to help and support the patient. There is the love that is felt, the knowledge that people care, that these prayers are floating up to God and that He hears each and every one. And of course there is the hope that each prayer brings. Prayers bring about a wellness far beyond the physical to encompass the person’s mental and emotional health as well.
The Present of Prayer is so powerful that my friend said that when she went into pre-op feeling so frightened to the point of tears, the pre op nurse took her hand (yes, even during COVID) and asked her how she could help her. Even as the tears and fear spilled forth, it was then she knew that this nurse was an answer to prayer. And as she was positioned onto the operating room table she could feel the power of prayer as a sense of supernatural peace descending upon her.
My friend went into the hospital having been told by three physicians that they thought her cancer had spread and chemotherapy, radiation or both would be needed. However, one week later the pathology report was pure supernatural – no signs of metastases anywhere!
I will never again tell someone that I don’t know anything else to do but JUST pray.
For prayer is the greatest present of all.
“I believe. Forgive my unbelief. “ Mark 9:24
Thank you for reading my post. If you have found it encouraging please consider liking, commenting or sharing it. Feel free to even re-blog – may these words take flight!
I have additional insights I’d love to share with you found in the pages of my debut book: Surviving Medical Mayhem – Laughing When It Hurts. To order a copy or learn more go to my website at www.lorettaschoen.com
Blessings for Health & Wellness.