THREE ANGELS BROADCASTING NETWORK DEVOTIONAL
The Power of Prayer

By Irina Zhukova

February 27th, 2026

“But thus says the Lord: ‘Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children.’” Isaiah 49:25

I am a naval engineer in Russia and the mother of six children, four of whom already have their own families. Before I knew God, my children were the only consolation in my life since my husband drank a lot and beat me.

As a child, I was lucky to have two religious grandmothers who were real Christians. I never heard either one of them use a bad word. They never grumbled or became irritated. And although they were illiterate, they knew almost the entire books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John by heart. So from childhood, I knew God and His commandments, but still, I was not a true believer.

My sister was the first one to come to God. She began telling me about Him, so when I saw an announcement for Bible studies in my city, I began to attend. So much became clear to me. I realized that I was a sinner, and when I asked God to forgive my sins, my soul felt better.

I was baptized, and that was an unforgettable event. I was overwhelmed with happiness, and I wanted to sing and say words of love to everyone. I began attending church regularly and took my children with me, although my husband forbade me.

I began to pray for my husband constantly, and God changed my character to become calmer and more restrained. Once, knowing that he'd receive his paycheck that day, I prayed, "Lord, although he usually drinks all the money away, You know that I need to feed my children. Please make him bring it home today." Later, the doorbell rang. A co-worker had brought my husband straight home, keeping him from buying wine—despite his persistent attempts to do so.

Life with God was completely different. I knew Whom to turn to when I needed help or consolation. He gave me wisdom to educate my children and protected them from all evil. And if trouble happened, He helped me overcome it.

When my eldest son was 16 years old, he took his father's car without asking and went for a joy ride with his friends. He was gone for a long time, and I began to worry. Turning to God for help, I prayed, Lord, you know where he is. Please save him and help us find him!

The next day, a man called us and said that he took our son's documents away because he'd crashed into his car. He would give them back, but only when we'd compensated him for the damage.

But where was our son? It soon became clear that he was afraid and hiding after the incident. His friends told us that he'd probably gone to a small town where he had a friend. But besides the town name, nobody knew exactly where.

My husband and I walked down every street but couldn't find him. As we walked, I kept praying, Lord, please help us! Suddenly, I had the idea to walk to a neighboring village, and halfway down the road, we saw our car—and our son. Even my unbelieving husband saw God's hand that day!

I constantly pray for our children, and the Lord helped me raise them. Once I had a dream that my oldest was smoking, so I decided to watch him, and indeed, he was. By God's grace, I managed to intervene before it became a problem for him.

God has given us many promises for help in His Word, and I especially love Isaiah 49:25, where He promises to save our children. I ask Him to do this for me, and He has. Except for my oldest son, all my children are now believers. And as long as they are with God, I am at peace.

My children are attentive and understanding with me, and I am grateful. And, of course, I continue to pray for my husband and believe that God is working in his life, too.