Power of Prayer

It is days like today where I am grateful that I have a knowledge of prayer. I know that I have a Heavenly Father who is always ready to listen when I'm ready to talk. He is always there when I need Him. I have faith that He is there and that He will help. I have gone through the moments when I have prayed and the answers have come in the most bizarre way, or the answers I seek have not come for an extended period of time, or I have received answers but not ones I had hoped for. The important thing is that I believe in the power of prayer. 

My first experience isn't even my own but it is one that I would like to always remember.

It is from my Grandma McLaughlin and I am retelling it as I remember. 

My grandma has struggled with psoriasis for almost 60 years. There have been times it was worse than others but it is something she has had to deal with most of her life. There were times that I remember her being almost depressed. There were the memories we would share and as the day would come to a close and we would say our goodbyes, it almost felt like we were having to say goodbye forever. Luckily she has found happiness again since then. But last year my grandma went to her weekly bible study group and she asked the ladies there to say a prayer for her. This is how I know that my grandma also has faith in the power of prayer, because she asked for that little extra help. About a week later Pappap out of nowhere asked if they could start eating blueberries. That is where it all started. For over a year my grandma has been eating a handful of blueberries everyday, and on Christmas day she shared with us that her psoriasis is cleared up and she feels amazing! 

Pappap has no idea why he wanted to start eating blueberries, but I believe it was inspired to help answer Grandma's prayers. 

There are many people who could try and argue me on my beliefs, saying things like, "why wasn't that prayer answered many years ago and grandma would have felt better much earlier in life?" I get the why questions a lot, and I don't know everything but I have a pretty good idea that God needed her to go through certain trials in her life to learn certain lessons that otherwise would not have been learned. Anyone can ask why bad things happen to good people, and as bad as they may seem at the time, they are really for our good. I believe that each of us has a certain plan and things we need to learn while here on earth. Maybe Grandma found even more joy and happiness then she would have otherwise. Maybe it was to help show her the power of prayer. Whatever it is I am glad she went through her trial but I'm even more excited that now she has found a solution!

My second story is not as big as the first but it is another great reminder that God hears our every prayer, not just the big ones. 

Today I was outside in the backyard with Dad and Kevin shooting Dads muzzleloader. We had our fun and cleaned up and went inside. When dad was taking apart the gun to clean it he realized that a wedge piece that holds the barrel in was missing. He asked Kevin and I if we had seen it and since we hadn't we all went outside in search of it. We do have some snow on the ground but it is slowly melting away.  We searched for about 10 minutes with no luck. As I was searching I silently just said a quiet prayer to help us find this missing piece. There was no doubt in my mind that God would willing me help me since I had done my part in asking and having faith. Not even a minute later I found it sitting on the ground near some mud.

Would I have found it had I not said a prayer? Probably eventually we would have. But the point is that it was found after I had prayed. Either way it amazed me yet again the love that God has for me enough to help us find a small piece of a gun. 

I am grateful for the knowledge I have and the power of prayer!