The Power of Prayer

The power of prayer will never cease to amaze me.

Today, our family experienced an answered prayer. It was in the form of a simple email and could easily be dismissed as a happy coincidence, but I know it was God. Our family has been waiting for approval for a scholarship fund for over a month. For weeks, my husband has been on phone calls and answering emails, attempting to do whatever it takes to receive this fund. With what felt like a never-ending hamster wheel with no real solution, the frustration started weighing heavy on us.

Initially, we were told this scholarship was available to us. We were told we wouldn't have to worry about out-of-pocket payments, which was a huge blessing and motivating factor as we navigated sending our son to a new school. As the doors continued to open effortlessly for this move to occur, it made it easy for us to trust that God was leading the way. As time began to pass, we began to hit a snag in what seemed like a flawless plan. Suddenly, we were told we hadn't met the deadline for the scholarship, and the window of time had passed us by. Call after call and email after email were of no help.

Everyone we spoke with didn't know how to help us. After talking directly with a supervisor, hoping it would be an easy fix, we were told, "I am sorry. The scholarship will be available next year, but you must pay this school year's balance out of pocket. Our hands are tied."

It's hard being told one thing only to be told another. While this extra expense isn't entirely out of our budget and is something we would be able to pay over time, it still was a significant expense that we had not planned for. As we expressed our woes with some of our friends from church, they shared our sentiments, encouraged us, and mentioned they would pray for us. Wouldn't you know? Two days later, we received an email stating we had been given the full amount for the scholarship.

THE FULL AMOUNT!

My husband and I exchanged glances in our shocked state, and I immediately asked, did you talk to anyone else after the last conversation with the supervisor? I immediately knew from his facial expressions that his answer was no. As we chatted about it, we both were in amazement and a little confused about how this happened, seeing as every other conversation about this scholarship seemed bleak.

As we continued our day, I didn't give the scholarship much thought. We had a jam-packed day of appointments that kept my mind preoccupied. Later on, after finally arriving home, the idea of the scholarship came to mind. I knew I needed to share with our friends who had encouraged us only a few days prior. I grabbed my phone to share the good news, and a thought came to me as I typed my message to her.

"I didn't pray for this."

The scholarship we were so dead set on receiving never entered into my prayers. I didn't beg and plead with God to make this happen. I didn't even go to him when it wouldn't happen. It's safe to say I wasn't seeking God with the outcome. We prayed for discernment on moving schools and felt at peace about moving forward. We watched as God seemed to be making a way, and unfortunately, that's when I took my eyes off of Him. With each failed conversation and every no, I focused on my growing frustration and settled in.

After typing the text to my sweet friend, I decided to be honest with her.

"I didn't pray about this scholarship out of frustration, and it's safe to say the same thing about my husband's prayers. So, if you guys prayed about this scholarship, God heard your prayers and answered them."

She immediately responded, "Wow! That's amazing! God is so good. I knew He had His hand over it. We did pray for you guys the other day after chatting."

I thanked her for praying on our behalf, and everything clicked. The words ye of little faith kept echoing in my mind. And just as I began beating myself up for my lack of faith in the situation, she immediately sent another text.

"It's easy for us to become frustrated in circumstances that are out of our control, yet God keeps showing His faithfulness and gives grace."

As I read and re-read her text, I couldn't help but praise God for answering my friend's intercessional prayer, and what's more... I couldn't help but praise God for placing such a sweet friend in my life.

This answered prayer goes to show just how much your circle matters. Life can be challenging, and there will be moments bound to sweep us off our feet. There will be seasons where we struggle to pray or even know what to say to God. In moments like these, God uses the people around us. It's why being a part of a body of believers is so important. It's also why investing in the church body and serving is much better than just attending once a week. We need each other as we go through this life.

We need community.

We need honest, authentic friendships versus acquaintances and pleasantries.

We need friends who will pray on our behalf.

We need people to speak the truth and repeatedly point us back to Christ when our emotions try to derail us.

And ultimately, we must trust that God works all things for good, regardless of the outcome.

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