The Prayers of Christ Followers are Powerful

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
—James 5:16

Before Jesus came for me in August 2025, God placed three remarkable women in my life.

Two were fellow travelers in ACA—women who were walking beside me through the final, most intense part of my recovery journey. The third was a sweet Christian friend who was not part of Twelve Step recovery but loved Jesus deeply.

All three women loved me.

All three women prayed for me.

And all three were praying for my salvation.

They Showed Me Their Heavenly Father

My two ACA fellow travelers understood the wounds created by addiction and family dysfunction. They understood the painful work of examining our past, confronting destructive patterns, and discovering the lies we had believed about ourselves.

But there was something else about them that deeply affected me.

They did not speak only about a Higher Power. They loved God as their Heavenly Father. They loved Jesus Christ, His only Son. They trusted the Holy Spirit living within them to guide their lives and their recovery.

Their faith was not merely something they talked about. I could see it in the way they lived—and especially in the way they loved me.

They did not pressure me to believe what they believed. They did not shame me for my resistance to Jesus or try to force me through a spiritual door I was not ready to open.

They simply loved me exactly where I was.

They listened.

They encouraged me.

They walked beside me.

And they prayed.

Their love showed me something about Jesus before I was willing to know Him for myself.

Prayers from Every Part of My Journey

I believe their prayers were among the prayers Jesus answered when He came and found me.

But they were not the only prayers being lifted on my behalf.

Throughout my years in recovery, many people prayed for me according to their own understanding of a Higher Power. Some called their Higher Power God. For others, that Power may initially have been represented by a doorknob, a rock, a cloud, a tree, the recovery group, or simply something greater than themselves.

They prayed with the understanding they had.

They prayed for my healing, protection, peace, freedom, and life.

Then there was my sweet Christian friend. She was not a Twelve Stepper, but she knew Jesus. She also prayed faithfully for my salvation.

Perhaps it was the combination of all those prayers—the prayers of recovery and the prayers of Christian faith—rising together before God.

Perhaps it was there, at the intersection of recovery and redemption, that God said:

“She is ready.”

“She is ready to know My Son.”

“She is ready for her calling.”

I do not know exactly how God brought it all together. His ways are higher than mine, and I cannot see everything happening in the spiritual realm.

But I know this:

People prayed.

Jesus came.

And my life changed forever.

When Their Prayers Were Answered

When Jesus found me, these women did not respond with surprise, suspicion, or hesitation.

They cheered.

They celebrated with delight. They praised God for the mercy and grace He had poured into my life. They understood what had happened to me because they already knew the One who had come to rescue me.

Their joy confirmed something beautiful: they had not been trying to win an argument or prove that they were right. They had been praying because they loved me and wanted me to know the Savior they loved.

Their prayers were not about religious victory.

They were about my freedom.

They wanted me to know God as my Heavenly Father, Jesus as my Savior, and the Holy Spirit as my Helper and Guide.

They wanted me to experience the love, truth, and peace they had found.

When Jesus came and got me, they rejoiced because they knew the lost sheep had been found.

The Last Door I Was Determined to Avoid

For years, Jesus was the last door on the left—the door I believed I should avoid at all costs.

I had been willing to walk through many doors of recovery. I could accept a Higher Power of my own understanding. I could work Steps, attend meetings, study recovery literature, take inventory, make amends, serve others, and explore the deepest wounds of my inner world.

But Jesus?

I believed only fools walked through that door.

That was a lie from the enemy.

The enemy knew what was behind that door.

Freedom was behind that door.

Truth was behind that door.

The forgiveness I desperately needed was behind that door.

The love of the Father was behind that door.

The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit was behind that door.

My Savior was behind that door.

The enemy did not want me to open it because he knew Jesus would expose the lies that had imprisoned me from the earliest days of my life.

But while the enemy was telling me to stay away, faithful women were praying that Jesus would bring me through.

Their prayers were stronger than my resistance because the Savior answering them was stronger than the lies holding me captive.

“The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
—1 John 4:4 (NIV)

The Lies We Learn in Dysfunction

Growing up in a family affected by addiction or dysfunction can plant countless lies in a child’s heart and mind.

You may learn that you are responsible for everyone else’s feelings.

You may believe that love must be earned.

You may think you are only safe when you are in control.

You may learn to hide your needs, distrust your emotions, or stay silent to keep the peace.

You may carry shame for things that were never your fault.

You may believe that if people truly knew you, they would reject you.

These lies can follow us into adulthood. They shape our relationships, our decisions, our identity, and even our understanding of God.

Recovery helped me recognize many of those lies. It gave me language, tools, fellowship, and a path toward healing. It taught me to become honest about what happened to me and how it continued to affect my life.

But Jesus did something more.

He did not merely help me identify the prison.

He opened the door and led me out.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
—John 8:36

When Jesus Heals

When Jesus came for me, He began confronting the lies with His truth.

Where shame said, “There is something fundamentally wrong with you,” Jesus said, “LeAnn, I love you.”

Where accusation said, “You are condemned,” Scripture told me:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
—Romans 8:1

Where fear said, “You will always be trapped here,” Jesus showed me that He had come to set captives free.

Where darkness said, “There is no way out,” Jesus became the Way.

Christ heals hearts, minds, and souls. He gives us freedom from the prison of lies that began forming long before we were old enough to recognize them.

The pain no longer has to rule us.

The torment no longer owns us.

The lies no longer define us.

The chains no longer hold us.

The shame no longer names us.

The regret and guilt no longer have the final word.

Jesus does.

This does not mean every wound disappears instantly or that we never need support, recovery, wise counsel, or continued healing. It means we no longer face any of it alone. We belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit lives within us, and the work He begins in us is faithful and real.

Rivers in the Desert

Since Jesus saved me, I have been on fire with love for Him and a desire to share what He has done.

I now help lead a Life Recovery Group that feels like water in the desert—a place where people can bring their faith, wounds, questions, addictions, family pain, and need for healing into the same room.

God promised:

“See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.”
—Isaiah 43:19

That is what this group feels like to me: God making a way through the wilderness and bringing living water into dry, wounded places.

People in recovery often come to my mind—people who may be exactly where I once was. They have walked through every door except the one marked Jesus. They may still believe He is the last door on the left and that opening it would make them weak, foolish, or unsafe.

I understand that fear because I lived it.

But now I also know what is waiting on the other side.

Not condemnation.

Not humiliation.

Not the loss of everything that recovery has given us.

Jesus is waiting there with truth, mercy, freedom, and a love powerful enough to reach the deepest wounds of the human heart.

Keep Praying

If you love someone who is resisting Jesus, keep praying.

Love that person exactly where they are.

Do not force the door.

Do not shame them for their resistance.

Do not treat their salvation as an argument you must win.

Show them Jesus through your patience, kindness, truth, faithfulness, and love. Trust the Holy Spirit to work in ways you cannot see.

My fellow travelers did not save me. My Christian friend did not save me. Recovery did not save my soul.

Jesus saved me.

But He used their love and prayers to prepare my heart.

Perhaps someone you love is standing near the last door on the left right now. They may be afraid of it, angry about it, or determined never to open it.

Pray anyway.

God hears.

Jesus saves.

The Holy Spirit moves.

Hearts soften.

Lies are exposed.

Chains break.

Captives are set free.

I am living proof that no one is beyond the reach of Christ. I am also living proof that we may never know which prayer, which act of love, or which faithful fellow traveler God will use to help bring one of His lost sheep home.

At the intersection of recovery and redemption, faithful women prayed for me.

Then Jesus answered.

He came through the darkness, called me by name, and set me free.

And when He did, the women who had prayed were among the first to cheer:

Praise God for His mercy.

Praise God for His grace.

Praise God that Jesus still finds the lost, heals the brokenhearted, and sets the captives free.

The chains are gone.

The shame is gone.

The old lies no longer own me.

Jesus Christ has brought me home.

Amen.