How to Organize a Church Prayer Chain
Philippians 4:6 says "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." This verse points to one of the many reasons why churches say individual and corporate prayer matters: it is commanded by God. A church prayer chain organizes like-minded believers into a systematic rotation of prayer to address requests to God. A chain involves the whole body of the church in this work, and it need not be difficult.
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Instructions
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Person by Person
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Gather the names and phone numbers of everyone who will commit to praying when contacted. Include a secondary contact number.
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Organize a "tree of information". Begin with the church's elders or deacons. Instruct them to pray about the request, then call the next "link" in the chain, which should consist of Sunday School teachers. These leaders should be well-connected to the other links in the chain, namely the Sunday School attendees.
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Request the Sunday School teachers to call the members of the chain in their class. They likely have a good relationship with them and would understand the easiest times and methods to get a hold of their students.
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Document the items in the chain on a website dedicated to updates. Be considerate to privacy concerns where necessary.
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Watch for breaks in the chain. Verify with members periodically that they have received the request and have prayed about it.
Automated
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Use technology to become more efficient. Investigate and subscribe to an auto-dialer program such as One Call Now that will broadcast a recorded prayer request to a large number of parishioners at once. Verify and understand the costs regarding numbers of dials the service will offer at what price.
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Request chain members to give all contact numbers that they want auto-dialed to inform them of prayer requests. Publish phone number addition and subtraction information on your church website.
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Broadcast requests as they come in. Everyone on the list can pray at once.
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Contact church members and patrons throughout the world to be on your chain. These these services are operated by VoIP, an Internet-based service that is not bound by long-distance restraints.
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Consider using social media as well because some members will respond more efficiently in these arenas.
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Tips & Warnings
Keep up-to-date phone number lists.
Document answers to prayer.
Meet and share about the ministry often.
Avoid gossip per 1Timothy 3:11, among other verses.
Respect privacy.
References
Resources
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