The Power of Prayer

If you ever feel like you cry out and God doesn't hear you, then you need to keep reading. There is so much power in prayer, and God is so faithful and good to His children!

I simply must tell you an amazing story of prayer, hope, and faithfulness. It's amazing!

If you were on Facebook yesterday, you might have seen something {or a lot of things} about a shipwreck, missing people, and lots {and lots!} of request for prayer and deliverance. This just gives me goosebumps.

Yesterday, when I got home from work, I found a message from a dear friend that her son {a missionary in Papua New Guinea, a friend of Josh's, someone I've never met} had been caught in a storm; the boat had capsized and he was stranded in the ocean with several villagers, many of which could not swim. Two of the men on-board drifted fairly close to a village and contacted the missionary there for help. As it was getting dark, no rescue attempt could be made until daybreak; which meant they would be stranded on the water overnight.

After saying my own prayer for them, I shared her request on Facebook. Before I knew it, there were people who I didn't even know sharing the same thing, linking back to my own friends who continued to share it. It was out on my church's prayer chain within an hour of me hearing about it, prayer warriors were sought, and found, and for hours, those people stranded on the water were bathed in prayer.

And I was completely amazed at how quickly and wholeheartedly the children of God embraced and shared this prayer request, whether or not they were connected in any way to the people involved. Being a child of God is amazing!

As soon as day broke, rescuers mobilized and found everyone who had been stranded! They had been on the water for more than 15 hours! Requests for praises this time were spread like wildfire, as news of their safe return spread to {literally} the world.

photo courtesy of New Tribes Mission's Facebook page
I am so thankful that I serve the God that created the oceans and the stars, the wind and the waves. I am thankful that He cares about people lost in a vast ocean {even if it's not an ocean of water!}. I am thankful for His children, who embrace, lift up, and love each other, even if they have never met. I am thankful for a community of believers, a worldwide family.

Hopefully, you were encouraged by this as much as I was!

UPDATE!!! Chad's sister wrote out everything that happened from Chad's point of view. It's a little long, but it's worth reading to the end. Read the whole story HERE.

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