If you went to a catholic school at any point in your life, the importance of prayer was engraved into your soul. In school and in church, you would pray all the time, but did you ever actually get anything out of it? Were you just praying or were you actually taking to God?

I went to catholic school for a decade, but it wasn’t until I was well into my teens that I actually understood the power of prayer.

There's instances in your life when you need to sit down and just pray. Sometimes it’s all you can do.

Someone is sick, pray. You really need to pass an exam, pray. It’s been a bad day, pray. An action that seems so minuscule can change your day, your GPA or even someone's life.

One of the most amazing things I have ever experienced has been the power of prayer. It’s truly miraculous and unlike anything else.

There was a time during my freshman year of high school when I was terrifyingly sick after an appendectomy gone wrong. I had the biggest infection the doctors at my local hospital had seen in decades, and the only course of action was to pump me full of medication and wait to see if it would shrink.

It was a scary time, to say the least, but I had an army of God's children praying for me. When I was all healed up and back at school, my world turned around on it's axis when a friend informed me that the whole school had been praying for me over the announcements. I had never been held in someone's prayer intentions, let alone a whole school's.

I have no doubt in my mind that all of the prayers God received that were dedicated towards my healing were what pulled me through such a trying time. I recovered in a way even the doctors couldn't believe, and I owe that all to the power of prayer.

I want to encourage anyone who is going through a hard time to lean on God. Talk to him. He is always listening, even when you think no one else is.

If you know anyone who is hurting, ask God to help them heal. He is good.

Pray for the big things, pray for the small things, pray for everything in between. You never know how far one simple prayer can go.

The power of prayer changes lives. It changed mine and I hope it will change yours.

"You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows." -Job 22:27