AUBURN, CA - Every healthy church congregation has members who stand out as faithful prayer warriors. At Sierra Christian Fellowship, it seems no one exemplifies this calling more than Raymond Schultz. Schultz demonstrated true spiritual commitment this past Sunday when he snuck in a silent prayer right before reassuring his friend, Hank O'Neil, that he had been praying for him.

Schultz and O'Neil attend a weekly home fellowship together, where they regularly share prayer requests with others in the group. During a recent gathering, O'Neil had shared a specific request with Schultz, who then committed to pray for him for an indeterminate amount of time.

"When I asked Ray to keep me in his prayers, I was worried that he would completely forget about it," O'Neil admits, "but when we made eye contact from across the Fellowship Hall this Sunday, I saw a brief look of panic in his eyes. Naturally, I assumed he was being suddenly overwhelmed by memories of all the hundreds of prayers he'd probably prayed for me during the past week."

As if that wasn't enough, Schultz continued to pray even as the two friends approached each other to catch up.

"He tried to hide it," O'Neil continues, "but I could see him close his eyes and whisper yet another prayer for me as I walked over to give him a side hug. I knew that hasty prayer was just the tip of the iceberg for this faithful prayer warrior!"

When asked just how many times he had prayed for O'Neil, Schultz closed his eyes and whispered unintelligibly before humbly stating, "Oh, multiple times, definitely."