n all my years of praying, whether for myself or others, I’ve learned that it is not always the answer that matters most. Prayer itself can have an incredible impact on the life of a believer. Furthermore, the simple act of telling someone you prayed for them can impact that person in a way they will never forget.

Prayer relieves burdens

Whether we are carrying a heavy load of our own or worrying about someone else, God never intended we shoulder the burden alone. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

When my good friend, Patrick, was diagnosed with cancer, I was floored. The knowledge that he faced a difficult battle and an uncertain future was distressing, and the realization that I might lose a good friend was devastating. I was incredibly worried for him and deeply burdened. I immediately turned to prayer, speaking health and healing for Patrick, asking the Lord to destroy the cancer. Knowing that the Lord cares, I was able to cast my anxiety upon him.

Instantly the burden became the Lord’s. Well, actually the burden was always his but, through prayer, he lifted the burden from my shoulders. Knowing I can trust in the Lord’s power and timing, I relaxed a little.

When I let Patrick know that I prayed for him, I had no idea that it might relieve some of his burden as well. He told me, “Knowing someone prays for me reassures me that God is hearing prayers about me. Sometimes I am just too troubled or panicked or anxious to stop and pray for myself.”

Prayer unites God’s children

When we pray for someone, and when someone prays for us, we experience the kinship of a united need. Through the Holy Spirit we come together in prayer. In fact, it is the Holy Spirit who helps us to pray at all, for “… We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” (Romans 8:26)

Amazingly, a few months after my friend was diagnosed with cancer, my teenage son was also diagnosed with cancer. Talk about not having the words to express my anguish! The Holy Spirit’s groans that words cannot express were vital to me.

But it was not just the Holy Spirit that was interceding for my son. Friends and family came together in a prayer chain that, through the Internet, literally stretched around the world. Every one of their prayers provided comfort to me. They joined me in faith that my son would recover. I felt loved by God and by those people. It was as if we were all, Holy Spirit included, standing in a circle, holding hands in expectation of God’s answers.

Prayer provides love and encouragement

What if no one had told my son and me over those many months that they were praying for my son? What if we had never received a card or letter expressing the love and concern of a praying friend? It would not have affected my faith in the Lord’s power to heal, but that did not mean we did not need their prayers and could not benefit by knowing about them.

If they had not let us know they were praying, we would have missed out on the kinship provided through shared prayer. We would have been without that comforting arm around our shoulders, the encouragement and support of partners in prayer. We would not have known that they took time out of their busy schedules to talk to God about my son.

In sharing with us that they prayed for my son, they also helped my son to feel special and loved. This is an impact of prayer that can never be replaced by an assumption that friends and loved ones are praying.

Answers to prayer are always comforting

My experience with prayer has taught me that God’s answers come in three forms: “yes,” “no” and “wait.” In my son’s case, the answer was yes. After only three radiation treatments and four rounds of chemotherapy over the course of four months, my son was free of cancer. He remains in total remission to this day. My friends and family rejoiced with us in receiving the answer we longed for.

One of my son’s hospital roommates, however, lost a three-year battle with cancer. God’s answer to his prayer for healing may have been a “no,” but that did not stop his parents from rejoicing in the Lord. Their son is in heaven! Those of us who prayed for him were able to come together and rejoice that he suffered no longer and that his family was able to rest.

The answer to my prayers for Patrick has been to wait. As much as I desperately longed for his instant healing, the Lord had other plans for him. He continues to receive and recover from chemotherapy and its side effects, but his faith in God has never wavered. His spiritual maturity has been an example to me, showing me that it is not always the answer to prayer that matters, but the communion with the Holy Spirit that impacts the life of a believer most. I rejoice with him in God’s answer to prayer by sustaining him through desperate times.

Prayer is the awesome privilege and ability to communicate with the Creator of man. It is an opportunity to shed burdens and accept that God cares for us. And when believers come together, united in faith, to pray for each other, God blesses each of them. We join each other in the understanding that God is working in our lives and is always in control of every situation. And when we take time out to tell our loved ones that we’re praying for them, we bless them additionally with our love, concern, support and encouragement.