Sep 03, 2010
Prayer & The Social Network
Posted by Jean Alexandre in Prayer | Comments (0)
For those of us who are regular users of social media, namely Facebook & Twitter, this kind of status update or tweet would look familiar:
About to help a family tell a their son his favorite cousin 20 yrs old was killed in Afghanistan today. Prayers appreciated *
Social media is fast becoming a great way to let others know what is on our hearts and what we are praying for. It’s not unusual for someone to ask for prayer via their social network.
Pressure to Pray
Personally I have found myself feeling overwhelmed at times with prayer requests online. I have a good number of friends on Facebook and follow even more people on Twitter. I’ve seen prayer requests that run the gamut, from “pray I pass my math test” to the example I quoted earlier. The question I find I’m asking myself is “who do I pray for, what do I pray”. Ideally I would go with my convictions but most of the time I feel like I should be praying but I’m not. When was the last time someone asked you for prayer and you respond with “I don’t feel convicted enough”. It is simply lip service when we assure people we are praying but actually are not. Sadly I have been guilty of this.
Social media can enhance a feeling of neglecting others prayer needs. The natural disasters in Haiti, Pakistan and other countries have seen an outpouring of prayer. There was a general outcry for prayer that got a whole lot more personal when people on the ground were able to access the Internet and social media. Being half Haitian myself I was personally affected and brought my concerns to Twitter, Facebook, and my blog. For friends of mine this made that tragedy resonate with them even more.
Pressure to Privilege
I’m a believer in the power of prayer to change situations, but more practically, people. A proper understanding of prayer is essential for making it less of a responsibility and more of a privilege. This isn’t “christian witchcraft”, where eloquent words make our prayers more effective. It is a matter of the heart and the heart is changed by understanding. As we encounter and engage people we should value them as they are also made in God’s image. The churched and un-churched alike are worth praying for especially if we understand this very fact. Even if we don’t have a burden for others we have the incredible privilege to bring their needs before God who does. By doing this I think we’d be surprised by how our hearts will change.
*I’d like to thank my good friend Steven Patton (@stevenpatton) for allowing me to use his tweet. He is a youth pastor at Crosspoint Church in Newport RI, hip hop artist and someone I hold in very high regard.
Posted by Jean Alexandre in Prayer
