Have you ever questioned your ability to make a difference in someone else’s life, especially if that life is one of your children or grandchildren? Are you watching a teenage grandchild or adult child making poor choices and wandering from the faith, and wondering whether your prayers really matter? If you do, you’re not alone.

Perhaps the following true story will encourage you to not give up. It has certainly reminded me of how important our prayers really are.

Growing up in a Christian home, attending church regularly, even attending a Christian school—none of these things guarantee a genuine faith we could call our own. That was John’s reality until the day his boys’ Bible class teacher announced a special Christmas project on the last day before Christmas break.

Sent out two by two, each pair of boys were given the names of two elderly ‘shut-ins’ from their church to visit. The mission: bring some Christmas cheer to these isolated saints.

Visiting ‘old people’ was not exactly the most exciting thing John and his friend, Brian, could imagine doing the last day of school. So they decided they would visit one of the ‘shut-ins’ and then bug out for the mall for the rest of the time, telling the teacher they couldn’t find the other address.

They made their way down a winding Virginia country road to the house of Ms. Buckner, who welcomed them in. It was an awkward visit. As they tried to find an excuse to leave, Ms. Buckner asked if they could pray together. John reflects on that moment when they made their own feeble attempts at prayer, and then Ms. Buckner prayed.

At that point, I’d been in the church my whole life. I’d heard thousands of prayers. But I had never heard anything like this. I remember looking up just to make sure that Jesus wasn’t sitting next to her, because it sure sounded like He was. She spoke to God as if she knew Him, with a simultaneous confidence and humility that only comes when you’re certain you’re being heard.

Two years later John woke up with the pressing sense that he should go see Ms. Buckner again. He did. Here’s the rest of the story…

I ended up going back down that winding road to her house. “Ms. Buckner,” I said, “you probably don’t remember me, but two years ago I came here with my friend, Brian. My name is John.”

“John,” she smiled. “I prayed for you this morning.”

From that point on, Ms. Buckner became a close personal friend. In fact, she prayed for me every day for the rest of her life. To this day, I cannot imagine what she prayed me into or out of.

At age fourteen, I found myself—seemingly by chance—in the home of an 89-year-old woman I didn’t know, and didn’t particularly care to know… yet, God used her to alter the trajectory of my life. I found out later that she had actually impacted many, many others in that community as well.

If you ever find yourself tempted to think that your prayers don’t matter, or when you wonder how God could possibly use someone like you to impact a wayward child or grandchild, remember Ms. Buckner. Then, get back on your knees and pray. Who knows what trajectory could be altered as a result of your prayers.

GrandPause: The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:16)

[Who is John? He is John Stonestreet, President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview and co-host of Breakpoint Radio. Click here to read John’s article about Ms. Buckner. While you’re at it, sign up for the daily Breakpoint commentaries with John Stonestreet. These are full of valuable information and resources for understanding the culture our grandchildren must navigate today, and how to help them build a biblical worldview. You can sign up at Breakpoint.org]