Can I Crowdsource Prayer?

I confess: prayer is a mystery to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I pray. I pray a lot. I have a strong devotional life that I cherish and protect. The mystery to me is this whole thing of getting many people to pray for the same thing. Is Critical Mass a spiritual necessity? Is crowdsourcing a viable option for getting prayers answered? Does God have a set of balances that can be tipped one way or another if only enough people pray? Is there a tipping point in prayer? I know it is not as simplistic as my knuckheaded questions imply but still, I am at a loss.

I don’t know how it works. I don’t know why it works. I just know that it works. This is no mystery to me.

The Apostle Paul would often include in his letters a request for the churches pray for him.  Look at passages like 2 Corinthians 1:8-11,

8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. (ESV)

Paul was pretty emphatic; “you also must help us by prayer”.  Paul saw prayer support as vital to ministry fruitfulness.

When I pastored New Life Foursquare Church I had a number of people I prayed with: staff, home church (small group) leaders, I even had a group of dedicated intercessors who were my “Pastor’s Prayer Partners.” I would meet with my prayer partners ever Sunday before church. It was life giving.  They would pray with me on Sundays and for me throughout the week.

This past Tuesday, during my morning prayer time, I became acutely aware of a real deficit in my life: I have not cultivated a new set of prayer partners: people who are surrounding me with prayer, people I can rely on when going into the front lines of ministry, people who have my back covered and my hands lifted up (see Exodus 17:8-13).

I was feeling pressured on this because next week I am going into one of the most critical ministry weeks I have had in a very long time. My week begins in Kiev, Ukraine, where we will be gathering about 30 key leaders from the Russian-speaking world (Russian is the 5^th most spoken language in the world). We will be gathering together to chart a fresh course for leadership development and church planting in the Russian-speaking world. My week will end in Sweden where I will be spending a few days working on pioneering a Foursquare presence in Sweden.

Both of these are spiritually monumental events. I need your prayers. The people I will be working with need your prayers. “You also must help us by prayer”.

So the last few days I have been thinking about this dilemma. How do I cultivate prayer support for our ministry when we are on the road all the time? Do I just hope people out there are praying for us? Do I create some type of a program or ministry plan? What is the solution?

I would love to hear from you. Do you have any ideas?