My best friend and I had had a major falling out.
It started while we were out jogging together and my friend said something that bothered me.
I responded with a comment that I intended to be insulting.
Our relationship as friends spiraled down from there.
Over the next two months I learned what it means to lose a great friend.
Working from home with limited social contacts, losing a good friend proved to be especially difficult for me.
In the time that it took for our relationship as friends to self-destruct, I developed a very heavy heart.
After we had stopped talking and our relationship as friends had ended it occurred to me that I had never prayed about our situation.
Believing that God's will is God's will and that what we want is not important, I rarely pray for a specific result or outcome.
In this case a quiet voice suggested that I should simply pray for my good friend.
That night when I went to bed I said a short, but heartfelt, prayer for my friend and his wife and their unborn child.
That night I experienced a minor miracle.
I do not know if my prayer had any effect or impact on my best friend.
I do know though that that night I experienced first hand what our prayers for others can sometimes do for us.
As soon as I finished praying for my friend and his family - the heavy heart I'd had for months left me.
Gone to was any anger or resentment that I had felt towards my friend and neighbor.
All that remained was the strength I had gained by having such a good friend.
A few days later I wrote to my friend and told him about my prayer and how it had unexpectedly affected me in such a good way.
I mentioned in my note that while I loved him as a brother, I would not be writing or calling him in the immediate future.
I let him know that I wasn't giving up on him as a friend but that I was leaving things in his hands and that I hoped he would keep in touch.
Two weeks later my best friend and his wife approached me in church and we talked for a while.
Two days after that my friend and neighbor called to see if I'd like to get together for lunch.
All is well with my soul.