I remember towards the end of a phone call with my friend, she said, “Let's pray!”

We blessed ourselves over the phone, and I closed my eyes as she began to pray the words I needed to hear. The words that weren’t coming to me in prayer were coming out of her mouth so naturally, gently, and lovingly. I remember I kept nodding my head, saying yes to the prayer that was being said, her words bringing Jesus’ healing upon my troubled heart.

I wonder how many times people walked by the crippled man and merely glanced at him and gave him spare change, rather than taking the time to see more in him than just his physical appearance.

"Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us"" (Acts 3:4).

Perhaps this was the first time someone had acknowledged this crippled man’s presence and asked him to look up from where he was. Saints Peter and John didn’t have silver or gold to give the crippled man, but they gave him the gift of healing, powerful words: “[I]n the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk" (Acts 3:6). They believed in the power of their words and the One in Whose name they were asking to heal this man.

The crippled man leaped up, stood, and walked around. Peter and John desired more for his life than begging for alms.

My friend offered me a prayer and the confidence in her voice allowed me to receive her words of prayer and accept them as my own. After the call, I felt the effects of her prayer take shape in my demeanor. I felt sustained in my prayer life and grateful for the gift of her words.

The gift of healing words through prayer has the power to make us new. Reach out today to someone who could use the confidence in the words that you are praying to make them feel seen like the crippled man.

listen to today’s devotion

[bctt tweet="Let's pray. // Mytae Carrasco Wallace" username="blessedisshe__"]

Holy Spirit, make me confident and show me how to pray with my friends.