Praying Together — The Praise Prayer Wall

“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of…”

It’s a familiar phrase, penned by Alfred Tennyson in Idylls of the King (1859). But what a lot of people may not realize is, this isn’t just a statement of faith & confidence. When read in context, we see that it’s actually a request for intercession:

“Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of: Wherefore, let thy voice, rise like a fountain for me night and day.”

And indeed, in the next sentence he gives an even more compelling call to intercession:

“For what are men better than sheep or goats…if, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer both for themselves and those who call them friend?”

In Scripture we read Samuel’s farewell address to the Israelites in 1 Samuel 12:

“For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you...” (ESV)

And James admonishes us in James 5:16:

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (ESV).

Intercession is a priceless gift from the Father to us. God certainly doesn’t need our human power to heal, intervene or anything else. But, through intercession, He lets us be a part of the process. We are privileged to stand in the gap for one too ill or too distraught to stand for themselves. We breathe out His compassion as we lift our brothers and sisters up in prayer. And we can share in the joy of answered prayer, knowing we were faithful in our part.

I love the quote by Christian theologian, Richard J. Foster:

“If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this will lead us to prayer: Intercession is a way of loving others.”

And that is the heart of intercessory prayer and our prayer wall at Praise.

Throughout its history, Praise has always had intercessors. Sometimes they prayed together in person at prayer meetings; sometimes they used a telephone prayer chain; and more recently, especially with Covid restrictions, email was used to inform intercessors of prayer needs. But this past June, Pastor Alan implemented an online prayer wall that is available to everyone, 24/7. So far this has been used mainly by our intercessory prayer team. But we are all called to be intercessors. So, we want to introduce you to the Praise Prayer Wall, whether you use it as a prayer tool or to share a need.

Let me briefly tell you how it works:

You can access it by going to www.praise.fyi and clicking on the choice: PRAY. That will take you immediately to the prayer wall where you can see the needs that have been posted and share a new need.

In your daily prayer time, I highly encourage you to open the prayer wall and pray for the needs listed. We do our best to post updates as they come in so that you can pray over these specific needs. After you’ve prayed for a need, please click the gray “I prayed for this” button on the right. The prayer wall does not collect data of who prayed, but it allows those with needs to see how many times their request has been lifted to the Father in prayer, which can bring them great comfort and encouragement.

If you have a prayer need, on the main prayer wall page, click the turquoise button that says “Share Your Prayer Request.” It will ask for your name and email address and provide you with three options via a drop down menu:

• Option one: SHARE THIS which will share it to the prayer wall with your name (but not your email address)

• Option two: SHARE THIS ANONYMOUSLY which will share the need to the pray wall, but not share your name (only the moderator will see your name); or

• Option three: DO NOT SHARE THIS which allows only the moderator to see your request. If you choose this option, we will contact you to ask whether you want us to share it confidentially with either the pastoral staff or Praise’s Intercessory Prayer Team. You can also check the box “Email me when someone prays” to be notified when someone clicks the “I prayed for this” button.

Please note: When you submit a request, it will not appear immediately on the prayer wall. For the safety of those posting, and to eliminate spam, the moderator must approve it first. If you want to share an update, you may post it as a new request and the moderator will incorporate it in with the original request.

Three members of our intercessory prayer team kindly share brief thoughts on the prayer wall:

“Joan and I are honored to be on the Praise Prayer Team praying for prayer requests found on the Praise Prayer Wall, submitted by our Praise Community. The prayer wall is a well planned link for our Praise Community to communicate prayer requests. ‘We know where our help comes from! Not the Mountain Gods …from the God who made the mountains. He always guards us’ (Psalm 121)!”
—Bill & Joan Lindsey

“Prayer is the way we bring our requests before the throne of God. What a privilege to pray for one another. When we do this, we are lifting our brothers’ and sisters’ needs to the Father during their most vulnerable times in life. The prayer wall allows us to quickly see the needs of others rather than waiting for messages to be sent out.”
—Becky Hutchings

It’s hard to put into words what the prayer wall means to me. I appreciate knowing how I can pray for members of our church family. And when Vince was so sick it was a lifeline! Just seeing how many people were praying for him built my faith and trust in God. I check it every day for new requests and add them to the standing prayer needs!
—Patti Crunk

So, thank you, Praise Assembly, for using the prayer wall to care and pray for our church family, and to allow us to do the same for you in your time of need.

“No man can do me a truer kindness in this world than to pray for me.” —Charles Spurgeon