Power of Prayer

I sat across the long solid wood mahogany table with a lump in my throat. I could see the lips of the lawyer moving but I had stopped hearing the words she spoke after she had said, “I believe it will cost conservatively $25,000 to get your son in the right school placement.”

  Did she just say $25,000?
  We didn’t have $25,000. Nowhere even close.

    After the lawyer shook my hand and said, “ I look forward to hearing from you soon,”  I stumbled to the car in a haze of anxiety. I knew our son needed a different school placement but I had no idea how we would be able to afford this lawyer to help us get what he needed. I felt utterly helpless.

  Over a sink full dishes, I relayed the news from the lawyer to my husband that evening.  He shook his head and said “We don’t have the money to hire her.” Tears streamed down my face as I said, “I know… but what are we going to do? Our son needs help.”
   
  For several nights I tossed and turned in my bed. My mind was preoccupied with trying to find a way to come up with the money to hire the lawyer. What could we sell? Should we take out a loan? Could I pick up another part-time job to make it work? I battled through many sleepless nights... and on one particular sleepless night, I remembered that Her Life Speaks took prayer requests through their website online. So, I hopped on the site and asked for prayer.

  Within less than 24 hours, I received beautiful prayers through emails of women I had never met. I wrote every verse down in a journal we keep for our family. I was moved by the prayers that the Her Life Speaks prayer team sent me. I could tell that they had really heard my cry and they had taken time to wait on Jesus to see what they should pray for. As I read through their prayers,  I realized that we were not alone this fight for our son. Others had kindly volunteered to stand with us. This not only encouraged me…it empowered to believe that God would do something miraculous on our son’s behalf.

  My husband and I decided to not use the lawyer but to simply ask our school district if they would be willing to pay for our son to go out of district for his education. If you are familiar with special needs education and IEP’s, you are probably saying to yourself, “That’s crazy! Districts rarely if ever agree to an out of district placement on their dime!” It’s true. They usually don’t... but we believed Psalm 121 for our son’s school situation:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains--
   where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
   the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip--
   he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
   will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you--
   the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
   nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm--
   he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
   both now and forevermore.

   We walked into our IEP meeting and we asked the school district to send our son out of district for his schooling at the district’s expense. Without hesitation, they said “yes!” Not only did they say “yes”, they were so kind and helpful in helping make the transition as soon and as smooth as possible! There was no denying it:  God had made a way! He had been our great Help!

    I am so thankful for Her Life Speak’s firm belief in the power of prayer and for their willingness to stand with me in prayer.   At times in life, we may feel helpless… but we are never hopeless. Prayer opens the door for all kinds of miraculous possibilities. We can put our hope in the Lord who can make anything possible!

​Noelle Rhodes