“Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16, NIV).

At 4:15, I awakened this morning, my thoughts and heart focused on patients who had suffered bad outcomes, reviewing my decisions for each of them. Some decisions I now wish I could change. None were malpractice issues, but all were sad. At 4:17, I received a text from Mark, a colleague in medicine and partner in missions, who lives in a distant state. The text read: “Praying for you this morning. Father, please bless Al with your strength, wisdom and discernment. May he sense your presence, may he know your leading, may he hear your voice, may he sense your healing. I love my dear brother. May he know your blessing. In the wonderful, powerful name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.”

What can I take from this amazing “coincidence” in my early morning hour?

First, I can know I have a friend. That’s a big deal. As physicians, we usually try to keep our struggles to ourselves.

Do you have a friend who prays for you? Are you a friend who prays?

Secondly, I am amazed at the timing. I assume the exact timing was evidence of God’s supernatural work that cannot be explained by science and the natural world order.

Are you confident that God works in your life through supernatural means, beyond the confines of science?

Third, God spoke to my friend and led him to pray, at that time, at that point of need. God spoke, and Mark heard. God’s speaking sought out a receptive heart. Jesus repeatedly mentions the necessity of having “ears to hear.”

Does God speak to you? Do you have ears to hear, cultivated from a life that seeks His voice and walks closely in His way?

Finally, God did not simply lead my friend to pray at the very moment of my need. God heard Mark’s prayer, and He acted. I am confident my day will be swept up by God’s power because of Mark’s prayer—I have already sense God’s presence and know His healing more than when I had awakened. I am confident the rest of Mark’s prayer will be honored—that I will hear God’s voice today and follow His leading more faithfully, because Mark prayed.

Do you know that God acts in your life in part because of the prayers of others? Does He act in the lives of others because of your prayers?

Dear Father,

Thank you that you are listening, that you care, that you act and that there are those who lift me up for your blessing. Let me do the same for others.

Amen