When we lived in Ann Arbor, I was the coordinator of the email prayer chain at our church. I also worked at St. Joseph’s hospital, so frequently I’d get prayer requests for people in our hospital, and I’d go visit them. One evening, I received a prayer request to pray for Cheryl, this 19-year-old young lady who was critically injured in a car accident. I emailed everyone on our prayer chain to pray for her, and the next day, as I was driving to work, I found myself praying for her.

I thought I’d go visit her before going to my office. As I was praying, I got a sense that she was going to be OK, and then I saw a picture in my mind of her at the scene of the accident. Jesus was standing over her, like protecting her or something. I had a knowing that Cheryl saw Jesus, even though she was unconscious at the time.

When I arrived at the intensive care unit, a very nice nurse led me back to Cheryl’s cubicle. She was on life support, and comatose, and her body was puffed up and swollen. Just as I took her hand to pray for her, her parents and their pastor entered the room. I didn’t know them (or Cheryl, for that matter), so I introduced myself, and told them how it came about that I was there. They were very appreciative, and so I suggested we all join hands in a circle surrounding Cheryl, so we could pray for her. I had a hold of her left hand, the pastor was holding her right hand, and her parents were in the middle, completing the circle. We all prayed, and I left after a few minutes.

I went up to my office and went about my daily routine. Several days later, I wanted to check up on Cheryl, but I found out she was no longer in ICU. She had been transferred to a regular room, since she had come out of her coma and was doing better!

I walked to her room, and as I entered, her parents looked up and smiled. “Hi- we forget your name, but we want to thank you for your prayers. Cheryl, this lady prayed for you the day after your accident.”

Cheryl looked up at me, and didn’t recognize me, but that is to be expected. I told her I was glad she was better, and I mentioned that it was her friend at work who put her name on our prayer chain. “Do you remember anything about the accident?” I asked.

“No, I don’t even remember being in ICU.”

“Oh,” I said. “Well, then, you probably don’t remember who was standing next to you at the accident site.”

Cheryl looked at me with intense eyes, and very hesitantly said, “Oh, wow- you know, don’t you? I saw Jesus. He was standing next to me. He told me everything would be all right.”

“Yeah- yeah! I saw Him in my mind standing over you. Awesome, huh?” We all got teary eyed, and I left that room, that day, loving how awesome our God is.