the call that reminded me I wasn’t alone

There are moments when life becomes so heavy that you don’t know where to turn. You may believe in God, know Scripture, and have people around you who care, yet still find yourself feeling completely alone.

I found myself in one of those moments during my divorce and custody battle. I was in a low place, carrying fear, grief, and uncertainty, and I didn’t know where to go with any of it.

One day, I was listening to The JOY FM and heard about a prayer line. There was a phone number you could call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and someone would be there to pray with you.

So I called.

I honestly don’t remember what I said. I don’t remember what we prayed about, or even how long we were on the phone. But I remember what mattered.

I wasn’t alone.

There was someone on the other end of the line who was compassionate and empathetic. Someone who shared my faith and was willing to pray for me and with me in the middle of my pain.

That first call stayed with me. I saved the number in my phone and called from time to time whenever life became too heavy to carry by myself.

I even shared the number with a friend who was a new Christian. I wanted him to know what I had discovered: sometimes God places someone on the other end of the line at exactly the moment you need them.

I remember calling before custody court dates. Those were some of the most difficult days of my life, filled with anxiety about what would happen and fear about what I might lose.

The battle is still not over.

I have now gone more than three and a half years without seeing my daughter. There are parts of my story that are still unresolved, prayers that are still unanswered, and wounds that are still healing.

Recently, I called the prayer line again.

This time, I had a praise report, but I also had a burden. I felt that God had placed the 70 x 7 Challenge: Walk of Forgiveness on my heart, and I needed people to pray.

When I called, I was reminded of something I had forgotten about the prayer line. My request wouldn’t simply be prayed for during that one phone call; it would continue to be prayed over by a team.

There is something powerful about that.

You can hang up the phone, go back to your life, and still know that somewhere, someone is carrying your burden before God. Someone is remembering the thing you were barely able to put into words.

That is a gift.

The 70 x 7 Challenge: Walk of Forgiveness is about more than walking 7,000 steps a day for 70 days. It is about release, healing, growth, and taking another step forward—even when you are still carrying the weight of yesterday.

And the truth is, we don’t always know what the person walking beside us is carrying.

Someone may join this challenge because they want to improve their health. Someone else may be walking through grief, divorce, depression, trauma, family conflict, or a wound they have carried for years.

Maybe someone will need to forgive.

Maybe someone will need to be forgiven.

Maybe someone will simply need to know that they are not alone.

That is why I am so honored that the Prayer Line - (877) 800-7728 - will be a ministry partner for the 70 x 7 Challenge: Walk of Forgiveness. Participants will have access to a place where they can call, share what is on their hearts, and have someone pray with them.

My first call to the prayer line did not fix my life. It did not end my divorce or resolve my custody battle. It did not make the pain disappear. But it reminded me of something I desperately needed to remember.

I wasn’t alone.

Sometimes, when you are walking through a dry and barren land, you don’t need someone to explain the wilderness to you. You just need someone to sit with you in it and remind you that God is still there.

Sometimes that person is a friend.

Sometimes it is a stranger on the other end of a phone.

And sometimes, that one prayer is enough to help you take the next step.