Power of Prayer

It is common for people to believe that diseases can be healed through prayers. Sometimes I feel that maybe if I had prayed hard enough, my grandpa may have might have gotten over his infection and be able to return home from the hospital. However, it didn’t work out that way. God has a plan for us in the grand scheme of life, and we can’t change that even with prayer. Sometimes prayer will help and the person sick in the hospital will recover from a condition that leaves them with a miniscule chance of survival. There are certainly cases where this happens, but sometimes it’s their time to go whether we like it or not. Let’s say the person doesn’t recover. God didn’t ignore the prayers and let the person die. It was all part of his plan for that individual. When god calls us back to the Kingdom it is time for us to go.

The passing of my grandfather, “The Chief”, is still a fresh wound. His funeral was February 13^th of this year, exactly one week before we departed for Rome. A year ago he fell in his garage in the winter and was stuck there for 18 hours in the harsh Cleveland cold. He nearly froze to death in his own house before he was found and taken to the hospital. That was the last time he ever got to see home again. I remember praying for him countless nights, but he never improved. He was taken off the anti-biotics because he was not improving; only worsening. At this point it was only a matter of time. I am Catholic, but I don’t pray very often. When I do, it is for people I care about in situations out of their control, or to just simply ask God to watch over the people I care about most to keep them safe. For instances like Chief, I feel like prayer is all that I can do. It won’t change the outcome, especially if it is his time, but when you feel so helpless prayer is about the only thing you feel that helps.

I certainly believe in the power of prayer and the effect it can have in a bad or desperate situation. We often pray for those we care about most. Prayer may not cure the disease, but what it does offer is support. When I was knocked out with powerful pain meds for several weeks to sooth the agonizing pain caused by the Cleveland Clinic’s finest scraping at my bone and then replacing the missing gaps with cement, friends and family were praying for me. The effect that prayer had in this situation was that it told me that people care for my well-being. Their prayers encouraged me to want to get better. It proves that prayer can have a psychological effect on people who are sick. Prayer offers support for those who are receiving them. It makes them feel loved and want to get better for those who care about them. Prayer was made to honor God, and when it is used to praise his name, that is prayer at its strongest.