The Power of Prayer

At the parent’s appreciation banquet I attended this weekend, several couples were honored for overcoming hardships as they parent. The first of these couples talked about how their child was born early, and that it was especially challenging for them. They spoke about how the event tested their faith in ways that they didn’t know was possible, but that their faith and belief in their religion came out stronger because of this. Another honoree was a single father talking about raising three daughters on his own, and how he is doing his best to raise them well, instilling values in them that honor God. The final couple that received awards was a couple, who during the course of their speech revealed that they were Catholic. However, what was most interesting to me was that they talked about the power of prayer, but also the uncertainty within prayer. How do you know that you are praying for the right thing/asking for the right outcome? How do you know that it’s working? How do you know that your prayer has been answered? But they continued, and talked about the inner peace that comes when a prayer has been answered. The specific quote that I remember she said was “we all pray to the same God.” This seemed to really resonate with the crowd gathered, and really enforced what I have learned is a common belief throughout this community: we are more similar than we are different.