I never prayed for anyone more than I prayed for our son, Robb, who passed away nine months ago. After he was gone, it left such a void in my life. I put away some of the written prayers and promises I used to claim for our children because it was too painful to realize I would never see those prayers answered in his life.

Then a couple of months ago, the guys from Hope Center (Christian drug and alcohol rehabilitation) started coming to Fresh Grounds on Tuesdays to join our weekly prayer group and to help clean the facility. My heart was filled with joy I couldn’t explain, and I made up my mind to memorize all their first names. I rarely forget a face but names are much harder. Yet, somehow by God’s grace, I’ve been able to greet all these guys by name on Tuesdays or sometimes at the church they attend. Seeing their eyes light up when I call them by name delights me.

I quickly began to develop a relationship with R who, on his second Tuesday at Fresh Grounds, began folding his six-foot-four-inch frame into the spot beside me on the couch each week. During prayer that day, I thought, I need to ask R where his mom and dad are in all this. I knew he was from a town near us and wondered if they were involved in his recovery.

 When prayer ended, I turned to ask him about his parents, but before I could open my mouth, he started telling me about how his dad had died a few months earlier and all the regrets he had about that.    

Eventually, I asked about his mom and learned that she had died of cancer seven years earlier. My heart was so moved for this young man who had no parents to help get him through this difficult time.

The next Tuesday, as I sat in the prayer circle at Fresh Grounds, God showed me that He was giving me many “sons” from Hope Center to love and pray for to fill the void in my life since Robb had died. I cried when I shared this with the group, and R put his arms around me and said, “Are you okay?” It was a precious moment.

I went home and started a new prayer list with the names of all the guys I’d met, including those who had already left the program without graduating. Since then I’ve added a new discipline that is helping me heal. Every time I hear a Scripture promise I would have claimed for Robb or experience regret about a prayer that it’s too late to pray for him, I turn it into prayers and promises claimed for R and my other “sons’ at Hope Center.

The last time I saw R, I knew he was considering leaving the program. He told me he had come that morning to see me “one last time,” and by the next week he was gone. So I’m asking you to join me in praying for R, that God would pursue him and protect him until he completely surrenders to Him.

If you had asked me a few months ago what I needed to fill the aching void in my heart since Robb passed away, I wouldn’t have known what to say, but God knew. He took these young men who are looking for something to fill the void in their lives and used them to fill the void in mine. God is so gracious and so good, providing just what I needed to turn my heartaches and sorrow into prayers.  

Thank you, Father, for the infinite wisdom and grace you supply as we come to you with our needs that are too deep for comprehension.  Amen.