“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—” (1Tim 2:1, NIV2)

Marsha W. of Racine Wisconsin, was on her way to one of her night classes. She had been living with her elderly grandparents since she went back to school in Chicago, and things seemed to be working out well. Her campus was on the city’s lakefront, and several hospital and emergency centers were nearby, so traffic jams and noise were common. Tonight, as she waited for the lights to change, she saw an ambulance zig-zagging ahead of her, apparently caught in the crush of stalled vehicles. This could be dangerous, she realized. If there was too much time lost in traffic, the patient could die.

“Then I remembered something,” she says. “When I was a child, we were told to pray whenever we heard a siren, for the victim and the paramedics as well.” It had been years since she had done so, but now Marsha fell back on her old habit, and whispered a prayer for everyone involved. Traffic started to move again, and she lost sight of the flashing lights. Hopefully, things would be okay.

Several hours later, Marsha arrived home and was surprised to find a neighbor in her grandparents’ apartment. Where were they? What was going on? “Not to worry,” the neighbor reassured Marsha. “Your grandparents are at the hospital–he has had a heart attack, and she went with him.”

“Are they okay?” Marsha was stunned. “They are. Your grandmother said that the traffic was terrible at first, but everything suddenly smoothed out, and they got to the emergency room in record time.”

Record time? Marsha thought of the lone vehicle she’d seen, struggling through the crowded streets. Had it been transporting her grandparents? She might never know. How glad she was that she had taken the opportunity to whisper that hasty but heartfelt plea. Who could measure the power of prayer?

Joan Anderson Copyrighted by Joan Wester Anderson, used with permission. Originally appeared on the Where Angels Walk website.