The power of shared prayer
By Rev. Rick King
Aug. 4, 2022
The notification on my phone was a number I didn’t recognize, but the person had left a voicemail. I listened to the message as the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Deputy informed me that Ron Prill had died.
The first thing I did after calling Ron’s wife, Charleen, was text Jan Blomberg a prayer request for the Prill family, which the Prayer Ministry Team would lift up at its monthly meeting on Zoom.
Most churches have prayer networks, whether phone, text, or email “prayer chains,” or actual groups that pray regularly virtually or in person.
In a wonderful little book called “A Physician’s Witness to the Power of Shared Prayer,” Dr. William F. Haynes, Jr., writes, “Praying with someone has a healing quality greater than praying for someone. It develops an authentic spiritual relationship. In my view, it is better than saying, ‘I’ll pray for you in church,’ or ‘I’ll have my prayer group put your name on our list.’”
Within my first two weeks of starting at Falcon Heights Church in November 2017, the Prayer Ministry Team invited me to their monthly meeting, at that time held in member Helen Brown’s home because she had health challenges herself.
The power of prayer is often referred to only in supernatural terms, and if you don’t believe in the regular occurrence of the supernatural, you’re unlikely to give this power much credence. But my own experience of prayer, especially prayer shared with one or more people together, is that the power of prayer is such a natural power that it doesn’t even need to be supernatural!
The group tends to be small, between three and five people, and lately has been gathering on Zoom because of COVID-19 concerns and physical challenges that make getting to an in-person meeting difficult.
Charleen Prill is a member of the team—and is now on the receiving end of the prayers of the group with whom she has prayed on behalf of others for years for inner healing, hope, a breakthrough, and sustenance through times like the death of a spouse, friend, or family member.
The Prayer Ministry Team continues its blessed work so quietly and behind the scenes that we often hardly know it’s there, except as evidenced by the Prayer List that Jan manages and the part of that list that is published in the worship bulletin and on the website.
But our ranks could use more participants. Whether you are an experienced pray-er on behalf of others, or have never engaged in intercessory prayer singly or in a group—no prior experience is necessary, because we learn by doing it, together.
If you’d like to find out more about the Prayer Ministry of Falcon Heights Church, contact Jan Blomberg at [email protected] or 612-805-8006.
Discover the power of shared prayer!