Prayer Tunnel
Posted on February 11th, 2005 by Reformed Pope into the Favorites categoryWhat, exactly, is a prayer tunnel? I get prayer and I get tunnel, but “prayer tunnel” just doesn’t quite work. Does the tunnel pray? Are they praying for the tunnel? Why aren’t there prayer bridges?
Let’s set the scene for those who have never experienced a “prayer tunnel”. Two rows of “Prayer Warriors” line up facing each other. Then both sides raise their hands in an arched manor in order to create a “tunnel”. And finally, people in need of prayer move through this “tunnel”. You might have seen something like this at a high school basketball game (without the prayer, of course).
I spent some time looking in the Bible and I can’t find any examples of prayer tunnels. (Although I think that when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and he walked out of the tomb, the disciples formed a “tunnel” for him to run out of, but this was mostly just a bunch of high fives and chest bumping.) So it appears this is just another gimmick used by the church to…. Actually……I really don’t know. What is the point???
Maybe it is supposed to be like going to the drive through at Wendy’s. Sure you could dine in, but sometimes you just want to eat on the road. “Welcome to City Business Church, would you like dine in or carry out prayer today? Please pull forward through the next tunnel.”
What kind of prayer goes on in these tunnels anyway?
“JC he’s our man, if he can’t do it no one can”
“Here we go Jesus, here we go (clap, clap) Here we go Jesus, here we go (clap, clap)”
“J-E-SUS, Jesus, Jesus, He’s the best”
Disclaimer:
I believe in the power of both prayer and tunnels. I just don’t like the combination of them. Honestly now, all you who have been involved in a prayer tunnel recently, what is the point? Were you really effected or effective?
It might be fun though, the next time your pastor gets up to preach, if you all ran forward and created a prayer tunnel for him to run through before his sermon. Let him finish off by jumping through a WWJD banner. A quick chest bump with the worship leader and he is ready to go. “OK team, before I begin to preach today, I would like everyone to get in a huddle. All right, on 3…1,2,3, GO JESUS!”
This actually is a great idea, “Prayer Huddles”. Now….
“Break”
RSS feed for posts
February 11th, 2005 at 8:05 am
Hilarious
February 11th, 2005 at 11:05 am
“You guys are just bitter.” Well thats all I got. I can’t think of anything else to call you. Maybe if I wasn’t told how to think I might be a little better at forming my own opinion.
Your’s in Christ’s love,
CBC Attender
February 11th, 2005 at 12:19 pm
Reformed Pope,
I have been away from the blog for a little while now, but I’m back. It’s good to see that you are too!
February 11th, 2005 at 12:26 pm
Thank God Anonymous,
I was wondering where you’ve been.
I thought we might have lost you forever.
February 11th, 2005 at 7:25 pm
29 - For the record: 1) I just spent 1 1/2 hrs reading almost all the blogs and discovered that there seems to be very little bitterness in the blogs and a lot more of the stuff in the comments. 2)You’ve put God in a difficult situation: He’s forced by His holiness to discipline you for your words and forced by His sense of humor to reward you for your words. Here’s a serious thought to consider: “What does God do for fun?” … … …
I think He dispenses mercy and I think He is a hilarious giver of that unwarranted favor.
February 11th, 2005 at 7:25 pm
29 - For the record: 1) I just spent 1 1/2 hrs reading almost all the blogs and discovered that there seems to be very little bitterness in the blogs and a lot more of the stuff in the comments. 2)You’ve put God in a difficult situation: He’s forced by His holiness to discipline you for your words and forced by His sense of humor to reward you for your words. Here’s a serious thought to consider: “What does God do for fun?” … … …
I think He dispenses mercy and I think He is a hilarious giver of that unwarranted favor.
February 11th, 2005 at 7:25 pm
29 - For the record: 1) I just spent 1 1/2 hrs reading almost all the blogs and discovered that there seems to be very little bitterness in the blogs and a lot more of the stuff in the comments. 2)You’ve put God in a difficult situation: He’s forced by His holiness to discipline you for your words and forced by His sense of humor to reward you for your words. Here’s a serious thought to consider: “What does God do for fun?” … … …
I think He dispenses mercy and I think He is a hilarious giver of that unwarranted favor.
February 11th, 2005 at 7:53 pm
Huh??
February 11th, 2005 at 7:53 pm
Huh??
February 11th, 2005 at 7:53 pm
Huh??
February 12th, 2005 at 7:01 am
29 - Anonymous - it’s not nice to make fun of computers that stutter.
Tunnels and funnels etc are prophetic acts …acting out in the physical what you sense Jesus is doing in the spiritual. The first time Jesus is probably leading his sheep out of the “box”.
Anything that “works” i.e. leads people into His presence gets copied by the sincere and insincere
Sheep follow their masters voice…without question.
Soldiers follow commands…without question, “or people die”
Thinking for yourself is good (Berean example) but it too has its own pitfalls when pride hinders faith. One mans box is another mans freedom.
Finally Mr. Pope: would you have made fun of tunnels if they were a Kwanza tradition?
February 12th, 2005 at 11:55 am
29
Let’s see, you say:
“He’s forced by His holiness to discipline you for your words and forced by His sense of humor to reward you for your words.”
I don’t think that makes any sense at all. “He’s forced”? Why? Were you being prophetic?
“Tunnels and funnels etc are prophetic acts …acting out in the physical what you sense Jesus is doing in the spiritual”
Jesus is making a tunnel and a funnel? Sometimes I sense that God is doing the “Care Bear Stare”, how should I act that out?
“Finally Mr. Pope: would you have made fun of tunnels if they were a Kwanza tradition?”
This is a blog about Christianity not Kwanza.
February 13th, 2005 at 1:56 pm
Thank you for this blog. I think it is so hilarious and true. I left cbc a few years ago and the longer I am away from it, the more strange it all sounds. Traditions are traditions no matter where they are. What makes the prayer tunnel any different than the catholic’s traditions? It is just something we DO to try to get God’s attention. How silly is that? We have His attention, remember? He DIED to show us that. I don’t think we have to Spaz out to be with Christ. We are with Him. We are in Him. I think if He wanted a huge showcase of emotion, Jesus would have reacted differently to the Pharisies patting themselves on the back in the street.
Anyway, Sorry I’m not funny.
and Sorry for the misspelled words.
February 13th, 2005 at 4:28 pm
I love prayer tunnels. And love the the joy that happens when we share and impart to each other God’s love, by praying for one another as they walk through the tunnel.
That said, I want you to know I had a good hardy laugh as I read your tunnel post, and am surprised that anyone could read it and think you’re bitter, funny, seeking answers,yes,
but bitter? it dosen’t seem that way to me.
Anonymous
February 13th, 2005 at 5:03 pm
This is a quick response to all CAPS anonymous. He or she wrote a few days ago, I just read it today.
My thoughts on why we let the left hand know what the right hand is doing when we give can be summed up in one word. Compromise. We need that tax write off, we like mans approval.
The good news is, even though it isn’t taught or encourage to give anonymously, we can. And you can obey that scripture and give your tithe or offering or anything in cash without your name. It will cost you. It will cost you your reputation. Only God will know what you are giving and you won’t get any praise from man,or any tax write off….. you will have to be content in knowing that you are obeying God’s word and dying to that part in you that wants man’s approval …..”if any man come after me(Jesus) let him deny him self, pick up his cross, and follow me”.
February 14th, 2005 at 9:11 am
“Anonymous said…
The good news is, even though it isn’t taught or encourage to give anonymously, we can.”
Unfortunately this is not true at CBC.
I’ve always felt strange about taking a tax deduction for tithing, and having to use a tracking number on my envelopes. It took more work, but I would literally go to the bank and withdraw the exact amount for my tithe, (plus a little tip added on for my “offering”) and put it in the felt sack as cash.
Unfortunately I was an employee of CBC at the time, and after a couple months of this I got called on the carpet. It turns out that according to the Member Tithing Average printout sitting on the office administrators desk, I wasn’t making the minimum number of payments according to the salary CBC was paying me (with my sinful nature I couldn’t help but look at all the other under-paying employees highlighted in pink).
I tried to explain that I paid God anonymously in cold hard cash, but apparently the god of CBC doesn’t like that. I was informed that if I wanted to keep my job, I needed to put my cash in a tithing envelope and remember to write my assigned number on it.
All I’m saying Anonymous, is that not everyone gets to give in secret as you suggest.
February 14th, 2005 at 9:32 am
to Brian 9000:
Please tell me you are kidding, Please tell me it isn’t true. I really do not want to think that it is that bad. Please respond. Thank you
February 14th, 2005 at 10:38 am
I have no reason to make that up. At the time it was listed as a rule in the Employee Handbook, as well as other rules including not drinking, etc. I have no way of knowing if this is still the case. I can only tell you that was one of many reasons why I could no longer work there.
February 14th, 2005 at 10:41 am
I have no reason to make that up. At the time it was listed as a rule in the Employee Handbook, as well as other rules including not drinking, etc. While I have no way of knowing if this is still the case, I can only tell you that was one of many reasons why I could no longer work there.
February 14th, 2005 at 10:42 am
Sorry about the double post. This new commenting system seems to have some bugs.
February 14th, 2005 at 2:18 pm
To Brian9000,
Thank you for responding to my question…..it’s just so hard to believe, I do but I don’t want to….I am sure that their reasoning is sound and makes sense to them……it’s just so wrong. It is hard enough to do the right thing without having to fight church adminstration on top of it. We want to beleive that church is there to help us over come the flesh and to overcome the natural desires…. so that we might grow in Christ and be more like him. Yielded. I don’t need anyone to encourage me to want more money. “Give 10 and God will give you 100″ Believe me it is in me to want more, and better,and nicer, I think it is called greed. What I need is to be told to give because of love, because God cares, because God gave his life for me. Any way I am on a journey here, I
really don’t want to leave CBC but…….how can I embrace a vision that only allows me to think about today and not eternal life?
February 15th, 2005 at 1:51 pm
I hear ya, it’s not easy.
October 23rd, 2005 at 4:26 am
Hi Reformed Pope, your blog is informative. While out blog surfing today for specific info on gift basket toronto, I ended up on your page. Your Prayer Tunnel shows that I ended up a little off base, but I am certainly glad I stopped by. I will bookmark your site for a future read, and should you ever need it, there is plenty of information on this
site about gift basket toronto.
October 24th, 2005 at 1:38 am
Hi Reformed Pope, I liked your blog. Just out blog surfing looking for info on valentine gift basket when I ended up on your page. Obviously I ended up a little off base, but I am certainly glad I found it. I would like to post your link on my “favorites” page for future reference and reading. Should you ever need it, you can get specific information about valentine gift basket at the site above.
October 24th, 2005 at 1:49 am
Hi Reformed Pope, your blog is creative. Wow! As I was out blog surfing for detailed info on customer gift basket I found you rpage. Obviously I ended up a little off base, but I am certainly glad I did. If you would not mind, I would like to post your link to my “favorites” page to come back and read again sometime. Should you ever need
it, there’s lots of information on this site about customer gift basket .
November 16th, 2005 at 11:20 pm
I’m just getting to some of these postings, but I have an experience I wanted to share from a group called “Main Street” that was started by CBC in 1997. This isn’t about a “prayer tunnel” but along the same lines. I volunteered to be on the prayer team down at Main Street, and we were supposed to go on a “prayer walk,” which to me meant praying silently while walking. Kind of like meditation while on a hike or something. Well, I was mistaken! The group going on the prayer walk through the PSU park-blocks pulled out a map. Then, they asked who would like to lead the prayer walk. I said I would, but then the leader of this group told me that I didn’t have any experience with “spiritual mapping.” I didn’t know I had to have experience, or I wouldn’t have applied for the job, but whatever. Anyway, the “spiritual mapper” prayed over the map until the Holy Spirit told him where we were supposed to walk. Then, we had to stop in front of certain buildings that he felt led he was supposed to pray over. One building that was owned by PSU was supposedly previously inhabited by a molestor according to this “spiritual mapper.” I’m not sayin’ any names. The “spiritual mapper” asked that we start praying against the spirits from the person that used to live there. I got scared. It was dark & there wasn’t much light around. Plus, the way these people were talking scared me. So, I just fell behind the other prayer walkers and went home–I don’t think they noticed that I wasn’t with them when they got back to Main Street. To be honest, that was my last time going to Main Street. I was unqualified to pray, because I hadn’t been trained to be a “spiritual mapper.”
Scary!
Karli
November 19th, 2005 at 5:37 pm
Hi there Reformed Pope, I was just cruising searching for the latest information on Testimony and came across this great blog. Although Prayer Tunnel wasn’t quite what I was looking for, it has excellent articles. I see now why I found your page when I was looking for Testimony related topics. I’m glad I stopped by this is a great Blog, keep up the good work. You are most welcomed to visit my site at Testimony
November 19th, 2005 at 6:18 pm
Hi there Reformed Pope, I was just cruising searching for the latest information on Faith and came across this great blog. Although Prayer Tunnel wasn’t quite what I was looking for, it has excellent articles. I see now why I found your page when I was looking for Faith related topics. I’m glad I stopped by this is a great Blog, keep up the good work. You are most welcomed to visit my site at Faith
November 22nd, 2005 at 3:49 pm
Hi there Reformed Pope, I was just traveling through looking for some interesting stuff on Testimony and I came upon your Blog. I haven’t seen what I was after regarding Prayer Tunnel, but I’m going to carry on searching for more information on Testimony related stuff. By the way your Blogs great. You are most welcomed to visit my site at Testimony
November 30th, 2005 at 6:42 pm
Hi Reformed Pope I’ve been looking for Faith related blogs and I came across yours on Prayer Tunnel during my trawl, so I thought it would be polite to let you know about my visit. You are most welcome to come and visit me at Faith. I would also be happy to trade links with you if you are interested. Bye for now and have a nice day! Brother Roy.
November 30th, 2005 at 8:10 pm
Hi Reformed Pope I’ve been looking for Spirituality related blogs and I came across yours on Prayer Tunnel during my trawl, so I thought it would be polite to let you know about my visit. You are most welcome to come and visit me at Spirituality. I would also be happy to trade links with you if you are interested. Bye for now and have a nice day! Brother Roy.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
the place I went to - they wept whenever there’s a great “holy” spirit hovering around - then they hug and kiss