The Power of Prayer, Near and Far

Each and every night since our eight-year-old daughter, Erin, had been diagnosed with Fanconi anemia—a rare, life-threatening blood disease—I had stood over her bed while she slept and begged God, Please, please spare her.

My husband and I weren’t the only ones praying. Our whole family—Erin’s grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins—and all of our friends were too. Our church had even held special prayer services for her.

Yet with her body no longer pro­ducing healthy blood cells, Erin faded by the day. It was terrible to see our soccer-playing dynamo grow too weak to even go to the playground.

Now her only hope was a bone-marrow transplant. Even that wasn’t a sure thing. Her doctors had warned my husband and me that our daughter might not survive the pre-operative round of radiation and chemotherapy.

A few days before Erin’s procedures, I sat at the kitchen table reading my usual daily devotional. I’d remained faithful in my prayers for God’s mercy. Everyone else had too. If only there was something more I could do, I thought, turning the page in my book. There at the bottom was the announcement for Guideposts’ Thanksgiving Day of Prayer, inviting people to share their prayer requests.

I had seen the announcement dozens of times over the years in Daily Guideposts, but I had always dismissed the idea of sending a prayer request to people I didn’t know. Now, though, the thought of all those prayers coming from both near and far was comforting. I grabbed a piece of paper, wrote out my request for Erin’s full recovery and sent her picture along with the letter.

My daughter made it through the procedure, and her bone-marrow transplant was a complete success. Today Erin is a healthy, happy 13-year-old.

The other day, as Erin came in from a soccer game, I came upon that familiar Thanksgiving Day of Prayer announcement again, in the latest issue of Guideposts magazine. Now I’m writing another letter. This time it’s a note of thanksgiving for all of those strangers whose prayers made such a difference in our lives.

OurPrayer celebrates Thanksgiving Day of Prayer on November 22nd. To request prayer for this special event, visit http://www.ourprayerthanksgiving.org.