Back in the early sixties, I remember seeing a giant billboard on the side of the road that said, “Prayer Changes Things!”

Most of the country was attending church in those days and had a general belief in the value of prayer. Today things are different, but the power of prayer still stands. I believe it with my whole heart.

Looking back on the last two months, I can tell God has been listening to the cries of his people by the list of umpteen answered prayers we’ve seen. Unable to close myself away to pray privately for my regular prayer time because of wanting to be at Nate’s side, I agonized over how everything that needed to be covered in prayer would get covered. But one day, stressing about this, I sensed the Lord letting me know, “I’ve got other people standing in the gap for you during these weeks. They’re doing all the praying for you. Your place is with Nate.”

I can’t explain my relief. And my gratitude to all of those praying people abounds. I can’t count the number who said, “We are praying for your family daily.” To pray for something every single day is a commitment of massive proportions, and we felt the power of it.

Here are just a few items prayed for by others that were answered with God’s enthusiastic “OK!”

• Our old house in Illinois sold after four and a half years of trying, just in time to move and get settled into the Michigan cottage before Nate’s cancer hit us. We unpacked the last box a few days before his diagnosis.

• All seven of our children, two in-law kids and two grandkids ended up under our Michigan roof within a few days of Nate’s cancer diagnosis on Sept. 22. (See Oct. 4 blog.)

• Nate’s cancer was excruciatingly fast, but had it been many months, certainly our children could not have remained at home, together, with us. Would they have been on hand during the critical days leading up to Nate’s passing? Most likely not.

• Our family had not expected to be all together even once during 2009 because of being located from England to Florida to California to Tennessee to Illinois, yet we were in the same place at the same time for over five weeks.

• All 13 of us were together to say our goodbyes to Nate, listening to each other’s messages of loving farewell and praying together over him. After a busy day of running and doing, when the moment came, we were all right there.

• All of us were in good health throughout Nate’s illness, even the babies. Had someone been down with a cold or the flu, that one would have been excluded, as a safeguard to Nate.

• The two pregnancies of our daughter and daughter-in-law were timed by God to be early enough for them to remain with us for over five weeks. Had either of them been a little farther along, the couples might not have been able to travel from England and Florida to stay with us.

• At the moment of Nate’s death, I was able to hold his hand and talk to him, just as I’d hoped.

• Nate died at home. After three falls and many near-misses, he could easily have broken a hip or his weakened pelvis and landed in the hospital. Had that happened, we would not have been with him nearly as much, and probably never once in the hospital room all together.

• On the days of the wake and funeral, the weather was spectacular, exceptional for early November in Chicago, two gorgeous days of sunshine and 72 degrees. Participating in a graveside service would have been much sadder in a cold rain.

• Both sets of in-law parents were able to join us, traveling from Florida and England to do so.

• Responses after the funeral have shown us that God did bring exactly those he wanted to be there.

• God sustained me to the end, including the last three nights in a chair at Nate’s bedside, despite short sleep virtually every night. Although I looked bad, I felt as though I’d had a good night, even on only 4-5 hours of sleep every night for weeks.

Each one of these things was a specific prayer request other people had prayed for us, and each was answered far past our expectations. I am thankful beyond measure for praying friends, and a remarkable phenomenon was the kindness of total strangers praying for our family. Many emailed me or left blog comments telling how their small group, Bible study or prayer meetings were praying for us, people I’d never met but who were willing to approach God’s throne on our behalf. I marvel at such willingness to serve the Lord and us in this way. One day when we’ve all gone to heaven, I hope to meet and chat with each one. We’ll smile at each other and nod saying, “Prayer changed things!”

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.” (Philippians 4:6-7)