If You Post It, They Will Pray
Posted on December 3rd, 2008 by The Reformer into the Other Blogs, Christian Pop Culture categoryI was reading though the New York Times today and found this article highlighting some pretty interesting websites. Apparently there are a number of prayer sites including prayabout.com, ipraytoday.com, and ourprayer.org where people can anonymously post prayer request with the goal of having others pray for them. According to the article, the company that runs one of these sites gets almost 2 million prayer requests a year. Although I get the idea and think using the web for social networking and community building is a good thing, I'm still baffled at the number of "crazy" Christians that are out there. I don't get why so many people seek God like a candy giver. Praying for health, safety, and guidance is one thing, but asking God to help your husband listen to his psychiatrist or asking to get an A on an exam seems a bit out there to me. Maybe I'm the only one, but I like to believe that God's got my life under His complete control and my praying should be focused on God's work in others lives more then my own. Any thoughts?
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December 8th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
“Give us this day our daily bread,” as well as other Scriptures, teach that Christians are supposed to make their personal needs known to God. I pray very specifically every time I commute by bicycle to work - something along the lines of “Lord, please keep me safe on the roads. May I not be hit or threatened or harassed.” I do agree with you, though, that in many cases we have been trained by bad teachers to ask for the wrong things.
December 8th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
God wants to hear everything thats on our minds. I have too prayed for things like “God please help me pass that final exam” or other personal needs. It’s gives me a boost of confidence and I still trust the sovereignity of God even if I fail the test. However, the attitude is that prayer shouldnt be manipulative or formulaic such as if you pray a certain way or do certain “prophetic” acts, God will do what you want to do. The idea of manipulating God is a pagan idea.
We should pray for everything whether it is personal needs or something else. Prayer is a journey of faith. While praying we grow.
I dont like things that make intercessory prayer into a spectacle or use it to focus on self.
December 9th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Exactly my point. When did prayer become such a self absorbed act of using God like an ATM machine?
May 25th, 2010 at 11:08 pm
I have a hard time when people will ask for prayer for/about things/situations THEY haven’t covered in prayer themselves. A friend of mine once asked me, after I asked yet again for prayer for something specific, if I have been praying regarding that situation as much as I’ve been asking other people to do it. It really made me wonder… do I rely on others to pray, thus passing on my relationship with God to someone else’s responsibility? I believe that goes contrary to the entire reason for prayer. Prayer is a conversation, a relationship-building exercise, a time to submit, to grow, to learn, and to show our complete dependence on the Lord. NOW, I see absolutely NO problem in asking others to pray with us (or for us - or a situation). But, I do believe it is wrong, misleading, and selfish to ask others to pray when we don’t. Any thoughts?
May 26th, 2010 at 6:42 am
I would agree that a lot of prayer is focused on getting ‘things’ so we can consume them…that is the prosperity gospel in a nutshell.
If following Jesus is what a Christian life is about, we should be doing the things He asked us to do. He taught the disciples to pray the Lord’s prayer. I don’t think of it as a ‘formula’, but a living exercise.
From the ‘Lord’s Prayer’, I see a focus of honoring the Father, asking for His will to be done, His Kingdom to come, asking for ‘daily bread’, which I regard as requesting spiritual guidance,(see John 4:32-34) asking for forgiveness for our sins, and protection from temptation and evil.
You could all pray for me to be more consistent in the above!
May 26th, 2010 at 8:01 am
NSQ, good observations! I think the whole “prayer covering” thing at CBC went sidewise when leaders gave their “intercessors” a laundry list of things to pray for. I believe it is biblical to pray for spiritual leaders, but I started ignoring their lists, and asking the Lord what He would like me to pray for them. I think they would have cringed if they knew some of the things I ended up praying for them. LOL
Yeah, and the whole idea that “people are praying for me (their job), so I can do my job (leading)” is just nuts. That’s corporate thinking… hence, City Business…
May 28th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
I guess this is ok - it seems a little shallow to me. It’s missing the relationship element though. But it’s better than not reaching toward God at all I guess. Not being God, I can’t pass judgment on it, like whether He receives the prayers or not. If it’s the only kind of prayer a person knows, why not? However, just because there are 2 million requests a year doesn’t necessarily make it the healthiest form of prayer, but whatever. It seems like you’d get a hunger for some real compassion eventually like the real human interaction you get when you are praying with someone in person.
I agree with you, Reformer, in the sense that’s it’s always good to look beyond ourselves and pray for others. But the fact that God has my life under control is what drives me to Him in prayer for myself. The knowledge that He cares deeply about what happens to me and what matters to me is what draws me to share my needs with him - it’s the basis for the intimacy between us. When I do release my personal needs to Him in prayer, often out of desperation, I finally sense the peace that passes understanding the Bible speaks of and I’m released from the burden of theneed itself even if the circumstances haven’t changed yet.
It’s good to try not to be self absorbed but sometimes that line of thought can begin to create a distance between God and us if we feel it’s selfish to pray for ourselves. I’ve always felt that the Lord wants his children to come freely to Him whether in need or in worship. That’s probably one of the points Jesus was making when He said “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” If he felt this way about little children, and regards us as his children and wants us to approach him like a child does unrestrained by adult protocols, don’t you feel it’s safe to say he would never chide us when we present to him our personal needs?
Sorry if it seems like I’m making too big an issue of this - but it’s one of my triggers when someone says I should pray like this or that - had too much of that in former world so I’m probably overstating what’s obvious.
May 28th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
You can say that again!! Our former (MFI) senior pastor who taught alot on prayer, considering himself an expert - or, at least, had found a niche in the MFI world where he could shine. For awhile it was compelling to believe we could change the world through prayer. But eventually all his rules of having to speak it out (or God wouldn’t hear) and turn to the North, South East and West to call in the lost, in addition to the chidings that we needed to get our minds off ourself and on others (when mainly he wanted prayer for himself and his family and the leaders of the US Govt) pretty much took the joy and freedom out of it.
Essentially he ruined prayer for us. It’s taken this long for some of us to get back to our roots of prayer (roots established long before we ever met him thank you) and what it’s really all about. Hopefully all the legalism and false humility has been stripped away, and it’s good just to pray whenever the need arises and not have rules about it.
May 28th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Just one more thought:
In a healthy environment we end up praying for others naturally when we are in relationship with them. We care what happens to them and are moved to pray out of compassion. How can we not when we listen to their stories?
If we just do it instead of talking about how to do it, prayer happens. (not saying we shouldn’t discuss, just emphasizing the ‘do it’ part)
June 8th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
These are great points, DeTox. And thanks for the encouragement regarding prayer for our own needs. I seriously feel like I have so much baggage and confusion to be broken of… it’s overwhelming. So many things I thought were “gospel truth” turn out to be “principles” I have been taught all my life - and am only beginning to understand how iron-fisted I’ve been raised in the church. I am very strong in my convictions, pretty stubborn when someone tries to get me to do something I don’t feel comfortable doing - it’s a quality that has turned from stubbornness to determination and strength, but also a quality that makes it hard for me to accept change, criticism, correction, and anything contrary to what I’ve been spoon-fed all my life (both good AND bad). Those around me know - if something’s not right in my life, I’d rather figure it out on my own and ask God to help me… rather than have them point it out - not always the best thing. Little by little, as I read my Bible on my own, talk with friends who see my weaknesses and gently guide me to grow in the Lord, and find answers to questions I never dared ask, I’m beginning to feel a freedom and peace and joy I haven’t felt in years. It’s awesome! I now enter the service with much more discernment, intent on reaching people… and not just drinking everything I’m told in the sermons - and the worship, though both are great in their own ways. See?! I am still not sure what I believe… or what is right. God only knows. Anyway, I veer off-topic yet again. Prayer and constantly talking with God has begun to open my eyes. I learn more each day, and the more I learn, the more I know I lack in understanding. But honestly, those conversations with God can make all the difference - and I’m learning it’s okay to trust God with my own needs (in addition to those of others).
June 25th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
That will always be key NSQ - staying connected with God personally and being free to run into his arms, so to speak, with our needs. He is the only one capable of meeting them anyway, right?! Jesus is the one who encouraged us to be like children in approaching him. Children who aren’t hindered by abuse and fear, lots of rules and regulation.
The longer I’m away from the former church, the more freedom I have that way. Prayer has had to be redone. Slowly but surely though it’s happening again - simplicity in prayer is returning and hearing the Lord’s voice in the word. For awhile there I thought I’d never be able to read the Bible without hearing the influencial voice of the pastor I used to worship. In order to get his voice out of my mind I avoided the Bible for a time. But as life would have it, I had to turn to it since I was needy. And when I did, lo and behold, the still small voice of the true Father was there after all.
July 5th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
So true.
I have felt the same way, but GUESS WHAT?! I have a new church! I have attended one service and love it. I’m going to get involved in a Bible study there, it’s super close to where I live, the pastor’s sermons are solid & Bible-soaked (imagine: a message on the Bible - and applicable principles based on it… rather than principles with the Bible based on the agenda/message intended to get across). It’s the coolest thing. They don’t collect tithes, but rather have buckets in the back for it, as you walk out. No pressure and it can be between you and God - kind of like the churches that do communion with individual prayer and allow plenty of time, rather than CBC’s version, where everyone eats together and then drinks together with NO time to actually thank Jesus for His sacrifice (or even think about it) before the pastor goes up and makes everyone do something. It was aggravating.
The worship was very different, but very genuine. I got the impression that one of the worship leaders (there were technically several) was up there to show off (seriously… stop smiling at everyone ALL the time and “almost” winking), but you just choose to ignore him. Everyone has issues and I’m afraid I deal with pride and insecurities more than I ever thought possible. I shouldn’t be the one to judge. It just reminds me that my own heart isn’t in the right place often.
I just wanted to share the good news. I really am excited. They have a solid children’s ministry program, everyone’s super friendly and as far as I could tell, no one was putting on airs… they really were genuine with the people they interacted with before, during, and after the services. Many people seem to know many people, even though it is still a rather large church (not nearly as big as CBC). I also have some very dear friends who attend… on a different service than I went to, but I’ll probably start going “with” them.
Got all excited when the pastor would read entire passages and explain them, tell how they applied to today’s life, how they applied during the culture of the day, and tie everything together so well… without numbers.
No 1, 2, 3, 4, a, b, c, or incompletely finished messages.
Have a great day, y’all!
July 6th, 2010 at 9:20 am
This is TRULY exciting news NSQ! So glad you are free of that world of dysfunction and happy you found a group of people who sound like their main focus is JESUS (concept!) and seeking Him. We experience the same at ‘The Good Church’ we migrated to here in Boise. It’s still Christian culture but for the most part the intent is to help you walk with the Lord in the Light and in the Word, chapter by chapter (instead of topical study) and WITHOUT all the legalism. Not that all topical study is bad, but like you mentioned about CBC - the MFI way of supporting their strange doctrine was given mainly through topical study.
The worship at our church is sincere too and it’s been so refreshing bcz there’s an absense of hype. It’s more contemplative, as is communion, and like you say, gives you time to actually connect with the Lord (imagine that!). Howevr, when people from our old church visit they say they like to listen to Bob but feel that there’s something amiss with the worship. That’s bcz they are so used to the hype they experience across town - actually they are addicted to that and think it’s the only way to reach God (like it’s up to us or something)(i.e. singing a chorus 10 times with that escalating crescendo so you can hear the ‘word’ properly when you are done i.e. a mind-control tactic if you ask us. At least that’s what we remember. Maybe they don’t do that so much now with their new YOUNG CROP of cool and trendy worship leaders– to give a benefit of the doubt)
One thing to mention about the guy that seems show-offy, it could just be his personality to be so perky. However, I understand your feeling especially since you are a trained musician and worship leader you feel strongly about the presentation and whether they are performing or worshipping. No matter what, it’s just where he is in his walk… At our church he’d probably be perceived as too showy too and wouldn’t last very long mainly bcz that style doesn’t fit with the overall desire to make worship a personal connection with Jesus even if in a big group setting.
What we have gained from going to our new church (which isn’t so new anymore - it’s been 5 years!) is the benefit of the Lord correcting our perceptions in so many areas that were out of wack bcz of the old church’s cult-like dysfunction. It’s like now we get to see how it’s done right now and it gives us hope that all is not lost in the body of Christ. It’s taken quite abit of time, but one by one the Lord has been showing us how the healthy Christians do things and it’s been healing for us. We felt early on to take our time in getting involved and to be led by the spirit on that rather than give into the pressure by the needs they tell us about in the announcements. We’ve talked about that at length here and on our blog so won’t bog you down with all that. Each person needs to do as he/she feels led.
Anyway, Congrats to YOU!! Keep us posted on your journey! So cool you took the plunge!
Your friends in detox and freedom!