Beyond casual socializing

On social media the other day, I saw a friend of my parents make a post where she mentioned she would be praying for the next hour and welcomed anyone to submit prayer requests in the comments. She also noted that she prayed other times than just that one hour so people could feel free to leave a comment even after the hour was up. That post reminded me that when I was a kid, the senior pastor of my church created what was called The Watchman Prayer ministry.

The pastor created a system where congregants could sign up for one hour each week and commit to praying during that time. The goal was to have enough people sign up to pray that every hour of every week had someone praying. Each person would call the person after them when their hour was up and “pass their watch” to the next person. At the time, my mom stayed home with us kids, so I remember the sound of the handheld, landline phone ringing at the same time each week as the person before her handed the prayerful watchmen duties over to her. As time went on, I remember that they built a level of community between them that included praying for specific prayer requests they each had as well. Our families became good friends. I remember that years later, in the hospital the night my mom passed away, that same prayer partner of hers from all those years ago was standing right near our family in those dark moments.

Eventually, when I began working at that church where I grew up, I signed up for an hour to pray each week and joined my church community in prayer. I don’t remember at which point of my life that ministry dissipated—I’m guessing around the time landlines became less popular, and cellular companies began charging for minutes, and the tech world began to boom, and we all became just a little bit busier each time technology advanced…

I still see those social media posts of that family friend—each week, at the same hour, she’s continued to take up her watch even after all these years. When I see those posts, it reminds me of the power of prayer and the power of prayer within community. While that specific ministry didn’t last forever, the knowledge and understanding of how important prayer is has lasted forever. That understanding and knowledge can be found exponentially in the lives of those individuals, their families, and their friends. It’s still passed on from person to person and generation to generation. There are people I know from that community that can still reach out randomly, regardless of how long it’s been, and ask for prayer and vice versa. I’ve learned over the years that relationships that are connected through prayer can span across time and space because of their meaning.

The relationships I gained while our church prioritized the importance of prayer are relationships I can lean on today—and it’s been over 20 years! Prayer not only connects us to God but can act as a tether amongst God’s people as well. It can be scary though… to share not only good things to pray for, but the bad, sad, and maddening things as well. That’s why having a trusted community to pray with and for is so vital. I hope if you haven’t yet found a safe and trusting community that includes praying for each other, that you reach out and begin the hard work of building that community. I hope that if reading this brings a certain community of yours to mind, that you check-in with them so you know the best way to lift them up in prayer. When we pray, we fortify ourselves and each other as we face life’s ups and downs together. Know that I am praying for you specifically as I write this—I pray that God grants you the bravery to pray for those in your community and to be prayed for as well.