Courtney Pray Duke was 29 years old, married to her childhood sweetheart and raising three young children when her life changed forever. But long before the accident that would take her husband’s life, God was already preparing her heart in ways she couldn’t yet understand.
Today, Courtney’s story is one of profound loss—and even greater resurrection hope. It’s a reminder that Jesus doesn’t just meet us after the breaking. He often meets us before, during and long after—lifting us when we don’t have the strength to stand.
You can listen to the entire conversation between Crystal Thornton and Courtney Pray Duke in the podcast below.
Living the dream—until everything changed
In 2012, Courtney and her husband Andrew were living what she describes as “the dream.” They had been married for over a decade, served together in worship ministry and were raising three children—ages 8, 6 and 2.
Life wasn’t perfect, but it was full. They were obeying God, enjoying their family and moving forward with plans for the future.
Then came a Tuesday morning that would quietly mark the beginning of everything.
On August 21, 2012, after dropping her kids off at school, Courtney returned home, grabbed her coffee and Bible and went back to her bedroom—expecting nothing more than an ordinary moment with God.
Instead, she says she felt the presence of God so strongly she couldn’t remain standing.
“I literally couldn’t stand,” Courtney recalled. “My only response was to get down on my face and say, ‘God, I don’t know what You’re doing, but I see You, I feel Your presence and I surrender.’”
That moment marked her. In the weeks and months that followed, Courtney sensed the Holy Spirit stirring something deep in her heart—preparing her for something she didn’t yet understand.
She shared it all with Andrew, who supported her with grace and faith, encouraging her to step forward without fear.
Looking back, Courtney believes God was teaching her to recognize His voice, so she would know it was Him holding her when the fire came.
The day before Thanksgiving
Three months later, on November 21—the day before Thanksgiving—everything changed.
It was a beautiful day. Blue skies. Vibrant leaves. The whole family home for the holiday.
Andrew, an avid cyclist, planned to ride 75 miles—his time to clear his mind and spend time with Jesus. Before leaving, he paused and asked Courtney a simple question:
“Is there anything I can do for you to make your day more enjoyable?”
They exchanged “I love you” and he walked out the door.
Courtney whispered a familiar prayer:
“Lord, please protect him.”
Hours later, the phone rang.
Andrew had been in an accident.
As Courtney rushed toward the hospital with her children in the car—pleading out loud for God to keep her husband alive—Andrew’s father called and asked her to pull over.
Then he said the words that shattered her world:
“Andrew is with Jesus.”
Courtney fell to the pavement, unable to breathe, overwhelmed by grief and disbelief.
Moments later, she faced the unthinkable: telling her children.
“Daddy’s with Jesus,” she said, the only words she knew to be true.
In an instant, Courtney became a single mother holding three grieving children, begging God to help them survive a life she never imagined.
Meeting Jesus in the aftermath
Sitting in the trauma unit, disoriented and broken, Courtney realized the date, November 21.
Exactly three months after the holy encounter in her bedroom.
“Really, God?” she wrestled. “Is this what You were preparing me for? I think You picked the wrong girl.”
And yet, even in those immediate hours, Courtney says she felt the presence of God in a way she never had before—an all-surpassing, unexplainable peace that held her steady.
Everything she had believed about Jesus—everything that once lived in theory—was now being tested in the fire.
“It was like my faith was growing legs,” she said.
At the end of her strength, Jesus met her with kindness, mercy and nearness, filling their home, comforting her children and holding her through the darkest nights.
A feast for a starving soul
In the season Courtney calls "the breaking," God met her through His Word.
Scripture became her lifeline, “a feast for my starving soul.”
She clung to promises like:
- I will never leave you or forsake you.
- I am with you.
- I am fighting for you.
And when she didn’t know how to pray, she trained her heart to whisper one simple declaration:
“God, I trust You.”
At stoplights.
In the driveway, seeing Andrew’s untouched car.
While tucking in children crying, “I miss Daddy.”
In those small, painful, ordinary moments, God’s love became more real than anything she could see.
The Valley of Dry Bones
Healing didn’t happen all at once.
A few days after Christmas, leaving Andrew’s grave in freezing weather, Courtney cried out to God:
“You’re going to have to breathe life into me, because if You don’t, I’m not going to make it.”
Days later, at a Passion Conference, she heard Ezekiel 37: The Valley of Dry Bones.
Courtney knew instantly: "That’s me."
As Scripture described God breathing life into what once lay dead, she sensed hope rising.
“Courtney, you’re going to make it,” she felt God say. “You’re not going to die in this pit.”
That moment became the catalyst—not the end of grief, but the beginning of healing.
The quiet work of the making
The years that followed were slow and unseen.
“The phone wasn’t ringing. People were moving on,” Courtney said. “But God was still working.”
She compares it to diamonds formed deep underground, where it’s dark, the pressure is intense, and nothing happens overnight.
Every day required surrender.
Every day required trust.
And every day, God was making something beautiful out of broken pieces.
“And She Got Up”
Ten years later, Courtney walked through her neighborhood thanking God for a life she never imagined: remarriage, a new baby and sending her firstborn to college.
She asked God for Scripture that reflected what He had done.
She opened her Bible to Matthew 9—the moment Jesus took a young girl by the hand.
“And she got up.”
“I am the ‘she,’” Courtney realized.
And then she understood—it wasn’t just her.
The she is every woman whose life has fallen apart.
The she is anyone buried under grief.
The she is the one still lying in the ashes.
Jesus is still taking people by the hand.
And He is still raising them to life.
For the one still in the breaking
Courtney’s message is simple and sure:
Jesus will not let go of you.
“There is nothing you can do to make Him love you less,” she said. “And nothing you can do to make Him love you more.”
There is no expiration date on getting up.
Every day, God’s mercies are new.
Even if resurrection comes one small step at a time, Jesus is able.
Courtney’s life today looks nothing like what she once dreamed.
“But it is more beautiful than I could have imagined,” she says.
Because Jesus doesn’t waste pain.
And He still specializes in resurrection.
![[Photo Credit: Courtney Pray Duke] Courtney Pray Duke Author of "And She Got Up" available February 24, 2026](https://cdn.corpemf.com/news/112444.jpg)
Courtney Pray Duke is the author of "And She Got Up"—a powerful journey through the breaking, the making, the rising and the sending, revealing the miraculous ways Jesus lifts us when we can’t lift ourselves. The book will be available February 24, 2026. Learn more at CourtneyPrayDuke.com.
I’m Crystal Thornton for K-LOVE News.
To read and hear more stories of how God meets us in the breaking and raises us to new life, go to KLOVE.com/GodStories.
