Prayer Request? Here’s a Way We Can Pray for Each Other

Image: Schoenstatt Unity Cross used with permission

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.                (Rom 12:9-13)

It’s been pecking away at my brain for quite some time – years and years, actually. More correctly, I should say that God has been pecking away at my brain for years and years leading me in a direction that I chose to ignore.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that I’ve somehow become a “prayer magnet,” and I’m not even sure why that is. I’m approached all the time by people seeking me out and asking me to pray for them or for someone they know who is in need of prayer. One person even referred to me as an “outstanding pray-er.” This isn’t something I pursued; it’s something that came to me time and again.

Of course, I’d always promise to pray for their intention and then I would follow through on it.After I prayed, I never really did anything more with it. And yet, I kept feeling that there was a reason I had become a “prayer magnet,” that God was trying to tell me something that he wanted me to do something. Alas, I was too busy, too lazy, too distracted, and too chicken to answer the call.

That has changed.

I figured out a way to do something concrete with this magnetic field, so to speak, that seems to surround me. I’ve set up a Prayer Requests page on my website that will allow folks to enter their prayer requests, participate in praying for others’ requests, and list ways in which their prayer requests have been answered.

I pray that it will become the impetus for a virtual prayer community at MargeFenelon.com.

I spoke about this new ministry of mine this morning on Relevant Radio’s Morning Air Show.

You can listen to the podcast here.

Since I initiated Prayer Requests, the requests have been flowing in from all kinds of people with all kinds of crosses – some are indeed quite heavy.

Please pray for healing from this autoimmune disease affecting my spine and possibly optic nerves. Thank you.

I am the mother of four children and I need a miracle for one of them.

My daughter […] was in a car accident two weeks after her college graduation and this has left her paralyzed from the neck down, a quadriplegic. She has no use of her hands either and thus cannot provide any care for herself. I am her only caregiver.

Pls pray that my relationship is restored with b quickly that we are both humbled and forgive each other and all fears fall away and our love is renewed. May communication start between us.
Pls also pray for my son for everything. May he return home to me and find the Lord.

 My son […] has been suffering with horrible back pain for over a year. Has had major surgery without any  help or relief. Has gone through a heartbreaking divorce and is broke body and spirit and  a broken heart.  Because he can’t take pain medication [adverse reactions] he’s become very dependent on [alcohol] for his relief. His drinking is not for fun nor is he having any. His pain sometimes is so great he just has to do something. But the dangers of the alcohol are very much a problem as well.

And that’s just a sampling!

I invite you to visit Prayer Requests and to submit your intentions. I promise I’ll pray for you and will carry your intentions with me as I journey on my Marian Pilgrimage and elsewhere.

It’s quite easy: simply fill out the form and click Submit. No identifying factors ever accompany any of the requests, and so your privacy will be maintained. Name and email are necessary only for administrative purposes.

Additionally, I invite you to pray for other requests on the page, even if only a quick, spontaneous prayer uttered as you glance down the list of requests. We are all children of God, and when we gather in prayer (even virtually) great things happen! When you pray for a request, please click the Pray button next to it so that the person making the request will see that the intention has been prayed for. There’s even a Praise Reports form for sharing the joys of answered prayers!

One more thing. Please consider sharing this post via email, word-of-mouth, and on your social media. There are so very many people out there in need of prayer, and I need your help both in reaching out to them and in praying for them.

Won’t you join me?

Praying for the living and the dead is one of the Spiritual Works of Mercy, and part of our Christian obligation to our Lord and to each other. “The Spiritual Works of Mercy have long been a part of the Christian tradition, appearing in the works of theologians and spiritual writers throughout history.  Just as Jesus attended to the spiritual well-being of those he ministered to, these Spiritual Works of Mercy guide us to ‘help our neighbor in their spiritual needs’,” according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Prayer is powerful, consoling, and healing. Let’s spread this holy balm so that others may reap its benefits!

But we beseech you, brethren, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.  And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.  See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.  Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit, ²⁰ do not despise prophesying, ²¹ but test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thes 5:12-22)