Pray, pray, pray

          Prayer is an essential part of Christian living.  Among other things the Bible tells us to pray without ceasing, ask and you shall receive, the prayer of the upright pleases Him,  the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  There is no question that believers are told to pray.

          But do we?  Since prayer is such a personal thing there is no real way to answer that question.  Saying that we pray is an easy response, but is it the correct response?  Telling somebody we are praying for them is a great response, but are we?

          Corporate prayer is another matter to consider.  What has happened to all the church prayer meetings.  We used to meet together to pray two evenings a week but now we don't meet for prayer at all.  Prayer from the pulpit on Sunday is often now limited and formal.  Many times those prayers are read and their flowing style might even tickle our ears, but is it really from the heart?

          We have days of national prayer but do we ever hear of days of fasting and prayer?  Do we ever hear of long nights of folks bringing needs before the Lord?  I'm not saying these don't exist or are not effective, I just don't seem to recall hearing about them or seeing results like I read about in earlier years.

          Back in the 1970's we had friends from Ohio visiting with us at Pinebrook.  Sitting around the swimming pool they shared about the prayer chains being run in their church.  We were impressed by what we heard and the Lord led us to start the same thing in our church.  We did and have directed them, in various forms, for over 50 years since then.

          Our chains began using the telephone.  Folks were asked to relay the message to the next person on the list.  If somebody didn't answer they were required to try the next person until the message was relayed.  Each person was required to write down the message and then repeat it to the caller.  The last person was to call us so we could verify that the message was relayed correctly.  It was the best thing that we could do under the circumstances but there were a few who would often add to or modify the request.  And sometimes the chain was broken.

           And as we grew we added more chains.  Once we had three chains with up to ten folks on each.  One of the challenges was to try to set up the chains so that nobody had to make a toll call.

          A few decades later the computer took the place of the telephone.  As more folks purchased computers we changed to e-mail prayer chains, the practice we still use today.  Unfortunately we have some folks who still do not have or use a computer.  Those are asked to find someone on the chain who will call them personally with the requests.

          And we have several rules that we insist upon.  For example, we will only post a request if the person being prayed for gives permission.  No notes from social media.  We also reserve the right to edit them.  My years of doing rewrites for area newspapers gave me some skills which are useful here.  We also limit some types of requests.

          Now this type of chain has been very useful  Requests vary.  In the last few weeks we have prayed for folks having surgery, folks going to the ER or the hospital, folks being treated for cancer, those who are grieving the deaths of family or friends, those who have important decisions to make, those who have unspoken needs and a variety of other needs.  As of this date we have processed 33 requests in the past 18 days.

          We presently have 103 addresses on our chain so with families involved we may have twice that number involved.  Are they all praying?  Possibly not, but that is beyond our control.  That is between them and the  Lord.  Unfortunately there are always some folks who just want to know what is happening.

          I am also aware that there are probably few real "prayer warriors" today.  For that reason I tend to share my personal requests with a small group of friends who I know will pray faithfully.  Over the years I have had several folks who took prayer seriously but  many of them have passed on.

          The Lord provides the challenge to us to pray.  We need to obey and seek the provision which He has promised.

1.   I have a Savior, He's pleading in glory,

A dear, loving Savior, tho' earth-friends be few;

And now He is watching in tenderness o'er me:

And O that my Savior were your Savior too!

Refrain:

For you I am praying, for you I am praying,

For you I am praying, I'm praying for you.

2.   I have a Father: to me He has given

A hope for eternity, blessed and true;

And soon He will call me to meet Him in heaven,

But O may He lead you to go with me too!

3.   I have a robe: 'tis resplendent in whiteness,

Awaiting in glory my wondering view;

O when I receive it all shining in brightness,

Dear friend, could I see you receiving one too!

4.   I have a peace: it is calm as a river,

A peace that the friends of this world never knew;

My Savior alone is its Author and Giver,

And O could I know it was given to you!

5.   When Jesus has found you, tell others the story,

That my loving Savior is your Savior too;

Then pray that your Savior may bring them to glory,

And prayer will be answered, 'twas answered for you!