How do prayer chains work?

[Goodbook]

Forgive me if a stupid question but what is a prayer chain, and how does it work?
i was asked if Im on the prayer chain and I had no idea what it was.

Is it just someone emails you prayer requests and once you receive them you pray about it. What do you do once youve done that?

 

[Goodbook]

Or you supposed to fwd it on to everyone you know? Or just ppl in church or what.

Is it kinda like a chain letter, but I hated getting those and they never worked anyway. How is a prayer chain different?

 

[Sketcher]

It goes like this:

You sign up to be on the chain. Someone else on the chain calls you with a prayer request. You pray, and call one more person on the chain. That person prays, and calls the next person on the chain, etc.

 

[Goodbook]

Do you always call that person, what if they not home? Then what. What if the chain breaks down? How many people can be on the chain?

And does it work?

 

[Ken Behrens]

Most of the time, you call the next person down after the one not home. But different chains have different rules. Same with how many; as with any group, small ones are more intimate, larger ones have more people to pray, so seem stronger from a numerical point of view.

They work as well as can be expected. Everything we do is based on one of Christ's commands. This is based on praying together. Meeting together to pray would probably be better, but not praying at all would be catastrophic. The prayer chain is a social arrangement, so people can share prayer in a timely fashion. The person with the need for prayer knows that many people are praying, and in fact many people agree on the prayer (invoking the other promise "if two or three together agree...").

In the days before internet (and after the invention of the telephone), the prayer chain was probably the most expedient method of getting people together to pray in times of immediate need. I suspect now texting has it beat by a mile. In the days before telephones, the church bell summoned everyone in times of crisis to pray together.

Prayer works. It has been proven scientifically a number of times. Your decision to join or start a prayer chain also needs to be based on your specific gifts that lead you to choose who to pray with, how to pray, what size groups you relate to more, etc.

 

[Goodbook]

Think in my church its done via email or telephone as the oldies havent got the hang of texting yet.

But txting is probably the most efficient, although, it does cost money to send a txt unless you on a free plan. Not everyone checks their email everyday all the time. And with telephone nowadays not everyone has their own landline or is at home...

The only concern I might have is the praying in secret bit with requests because it might be a sensitive issue needs to be prayed about and you dont want everyone to know all the details. Like you would not want what could become in the wrong hands gossip to be prayed about. I suppose thats an element of trust and also confessing faults to one another so you can be healed though.

With telephone you can pray out loud together when you call someone, with txting someone might get it but obviously you cant be sure they really prayed about the issue there and then.

 

[Goodbook]

Im really bummed because I post a prayer request on the forum but then got people trying to argue with me instead of praying about the issue. All I asked for was prayer it wasnt a rant.

I hope prayer chains are not like that and you can be free to put in a request and have it prayed for with nobody hassling you about it.

 

[Ken Behrens]

Im really bummed because I post a prayer request on the forum but then got people trying to argue with me instead of praying about the issue. All I asked for was prayer it wasnt a rant.

I hope prayer chains are not like that and you can be free to put in a request and have it prayed for with nobody hassling you about it.

You can say that about any group of people from churches to garden clubs to informal gatherings of non-believers in the local bar. Just try the group, and if it is not to your liking, find a different group.

 

[rob_aston]

Forgive me if a stupid question

intelligent question and our lovely Lord

 

[mina]

They are used to help spread the news quickly that someone is in immediate need of prayer.

 

[Goodbook]

I think im grouped out.

Maybe just go to my prayer closet and pray in secret. When Jesus asked his disciples to pray for him they just fell asleep. I bet he was annoyed.