The Unexpected Prayer Partner

I had worked with Sue and she had been intrigued by my faith in God. She had often come into my office to spur me to talk about God. Sue also shared with me that she wished that she had the same faith. She shared with me how her Dad had survived being a Jewish prisoner in a concentration camp. She expressed her desire to have faith in God like I did. She had been amazed when God had answered my prayers and my Dad’s cancer had gone into remission against all odds. She was excited to see God work yet still afraid to trust Him totally. On more than one occasion, she had mentioned her friend Nancy. She said I should meet Nancy sometime.

After transferring to a new position, I didn’t see Sue. But the Lord brought her to mind often and it brought me comfort to know that Sue still had her friend Nancy to show her the way to Jesus.

One day, I received a telephone call from Sue. This was surprising because we had never socialized outside of work. Sue and I had had many conversations about my faith but she had never accepted him as her Lord and Savior.

Being a good friend, Sue reached out to find help for a friend in need. As I listened Sue explained that Nancy’s dad had been diagnosed with cancer. She said, “I just know if you call and pray with her, her dad will get better just like your dad.” Sue recognized her limitation of reaching God’s throne room and so she turned to me. She asked, “Ginger, will you call Nancy?” She had written my name on a post-it and had told her friend Nancy to expect a call from me.

When I called Nancy, I learned that she was a strong believer in Jesus and we bonded immediately.
God touched my heart the first time I spoke to Nancy. He filled my heart with love and compassion far beyond my own ability to love. As I prayed with this new friend, my sister in the Lord, we trusted God to do what was right. We were expecting a miracle.

Over the next three months we cried, laughed, poured our hearts out to each other and to God. We praised Him for bringing us together. Nancy and I spoke often and prayed with each other over the telephone. She became one of the closest prayer partners that I have ever had.

One day Nancy called and said, “What’s going on? Why haven’t you called?” I had dreaded talking to her. I didn’t want to discourage her. My dad’s cancer had returned. Once again we cried and prayed asking the Lord to heal both of our dads.
However, it soon became evident that it wasn’t God’s plan to heal Nancy’s dad, at least not on this side of eternity. My heart grieved for her and I held her up before the Lord constantly. I thanked God for the privilege of being God’s human touch to Nancy during this difficult time.

During the last few days of her father’s life, Nancy although a strong believer was not able to pray on her own. I read the word of God to her and prayed with her. I could not offer any words of encouragement of my own but I did have the Living Word of God to read to her.

When the Lord decided to take Nancy’s dad home, I knew that I would go to her dad’s memorial service. As I spoke to Nancy, it dawned on me that I did not know what she looked like. The Lord had brought us together yet we had never met in person. Nancy said, “Ginger, you’ll know me when you see me. I am tall and I have blond hair.” As I walked into the funeral home and looked around, I spotted a short petite brunette. I walked up to her and said, “You are Nancy.” She smiled and said, “Ginger.” We embraced. It was only two months later when the Lord used Nancy to minister to me when He took my Dad home also. Sometimes when the hurt is so deep that we cannot pray and our eyes hurt from crying so much that we cannot read the Word of God, it is then that we allow the Lord to minister to us through another believer.

Only three short months earlier even though I felt I’d known Nancy all of my life, we had spoken for the first time As I hung up the telephone, Nancy’s words played back over in my mind. “Ginger, you started out being just a name on a post-it and now you are in my book permanently.” I understood so well what she meant and I loved it!

In God’s mystery and providence, He has chosen Sue to bring Nancy and I together. Nancy and I continue to pray for our friend Sue and we trust her to the Lord to complete the story.