Does Prayer make a difference??

I had a visit today.  I won’t name the visitor for now, but he is a friend and a member of Ebenezer.  He told a story that needs to be retold again and again.  For now, let’s call him “Norm.”

Norm’s career was in an industry that took him all over the world.  He did a lot of work in Europe, and that is where this TRUE story is set.  Through his travels he met a young man who was a card-carrying Marxist.  Let’s call him “Sam.”  Sam had no concept of God, and never wanted one.  In Norm’s travels, some of those with whom he worked started calling him “the Preacher” because of his willingness to share his faith.  (Let’s stop right here:  He was NOT a spy or was not working for OSS or the CIA.  He was working in textiles!!)

In spite of Norm’s religious believes, he and Sam became friends.  They both understood where the other stood with their beliefs, and yet they maintained a friendship that would last well past Norm’s retirement.  That is where the story gets interesting …

Norm came to prayer meeting one night, many years ago.  He told us that his friend Sam, in a European nation, had been diagnosed with colon cancer and wanted us to add him to the church prayer list.  He also expressed concern that the medical care in this country might not be as good as what Sam could receive in America.  We began to pray for Sam, because we knew it meant so much to Norm.

There are a couple of miracles in this story.   One of them is that Sam recovered well, and is still alive and healthy today.  But the next is really where the power of God and the power of prayer intersect…  Sam, this card-carrying Marxist, is now in a relationship with Jesus Christ!!  And HE now prays for Norm and others all around him!!  The seeds were sown when Norm told Sam that a church in Florence, SC, was praying for him.  This puzzled Sam… WHY would they care about him??  WHAT would motivate them to pray for him??

I don’t know the details of the journey.  Maybe Sam will tell us one day.  But Norm is OVERJOYED today, because his friend Sam is SAVED!!!  And Norm attributes this to the POWER OF GOD and the POWER OF PRAYER.

Don’t EVER think your prayers do not matter!!  You never know what GOD will do!!

James 5:15  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.