The Power of Prayer

A dear friend of mine had terrible news this week that no mother should ever have to hear. Her 8 year old son has a brain tumor. Her son is just a grade ahead of our oldest at the same school, she teaches my youngest in Sunday school and we serve on a church ministry team together. News around our church spread fast and the family was overwhelmed by the amount of support they received. This is one of those moments where most of us struggle with what to do. He is not my son, but I have wept and prayed for him as if he was. I felt my heart break for my friend's pain of having to see her oldest child go through this. I wanted to go down to the hospital, to bring them cookies or a book, to take their youngest to the park or go and get their mail or mow their yard. Just do something...anything. Maybe it's just our nature, especially as moms, to feel like if we are doing something, we have control. "If I'm outside with my children, nothing will happen to them". Any one of us who has watched their child fall off the swing knows that is not true. No, we don't have control. God gives us responsibilities, not control. God knows we don't have control. He says so in 1 Timothy 6:15 "God....is the blessed controller of all things, the king over all kings and the master of all masters". So what do we do? We, as Christians, instinctively pray. So we did. My friend's son was scheduled for surgery this morning so a group of about 20 of us moms and all our kids headed to a local park at 10 a.m., the time of his surgery, and we prayed. We prayed for his safety, we prayed for his healing, we prayed for peace and strength and skilled surgeons hands. We prayed through crying and long pauses to gain composure. We prayed specific prayers and we also prayed for God's will to be done. I was so blessed to be a part of it. To watch these women cry out to God on behalf of this family, each in their own unique way of praying was powerful and something I will never forget. I kept thinking that just this time last week my friend was at the beach with her family, playing and enjoying the last few weeks of summer. She couldn't possibly have known this was how much her life was going to change in a week; but God knew. God walks before us and that brings comfort to me. No matter whether you see the storms in your life rolling in, or they pop up out of nowhere and throw you around, God is with you. He has walked before you, is walking with you now, and will walk with you tomorrow. His love and grace never changes, and He doesn't love you any less because He has allowed something tragic to happen to you. (The child's surgery went well and they are pretty sure his tumor is benign. They will know more in the coming days and then he will have another surgery to completely remove the tumor. Thank you God, for your grace and mercy and love.)