“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be known to God.” – Philippians 4: 4-6
Praying for Others
The true purpose of praying for others is to offer ourselves as channels of God’s grace. When we act as intercessor we are forming a link in the link. We are offering our hearts as channels through which the healing love of God may be directed to those for whom we are praying.
An Intercessory Prayer Chain
An intercessory prayer chain is a group of people, which has been called to the ministry of praying for others on an ongoing basis. They have committed themselves to pray regularly, confidentially and individually for the people and concerns that are requested of them.
Members of a Prayer Chain
A member of a Prayer Chain is committed to pray regularly, preferably daily, for the concerns passed on to them. They must be able to communicate effectively with others in the chain so as to be able to receive prayer requests and accurately pass them on to others in the chain.
Confidentiality
It is very important that the members of the Prayer Chain keep what they pray for confidential and to themselves. While the knowledge of some of the situations and people they pray for will be widely known, many are confidential and must not be talked about except in the context of passing the information confidentially on to another person on the chain.
Suggestions on Procedure
Any member of the Prayer Chain can initiate or receive a pray request, who will then telephone it to the next person in the chain.
If the first person cannot be reached then the next person along the chain is contacted.
This person will then pass the request to the next person on the chain, and so on until the end of the chain is reached.
As each person receives the message he/she/they puts the person or situation into their personal prayers.
Our prayers should be positive rather than negative for those we pray for.
Only first names will be passed on through the Prayer Chain, unless in exceptional cases when a person may request further description.
Please do not ask for any details. God is aware for whom we are praying for. Please contact the church office directly for any information or requests - contact info »
Prayer Chain Members: Self Care
The Prayer Chain members will meet together twice a year or as required. It is important as members of this prayer ministry that each person can take time from the prayer chain for rest and refreshment.
How to submit a name to the Prayer Chain?
If you would like to submit your name to the Prayer Chain please speak to a Prayer Chain member or/and the clergy. If you would like to submit someone else’s name - you must have that person’s permission. One does not have to be a member of this parish, Anglican, or Christian in order to be on this chain.
We share our faith/ we care for our neighbours
Some prayer chain members are visitors, send Christmas & Easter gifts, host a Thanksgiving Tea, and have created and produced the St. Barnabas prayer booklet - one for our homebound and a larger one for the parish. We also have a prayer letter once a month. A small group with lot of heart!