14 February 2012
Prayer is in the news; banned from council agendas and,
according to one opinion poll, ignored by many of those calling
themselves "Christian".
Yet in time of trouble, crisis, and thanksgiving many of us do
'say a prayer'. Research conducted for the charity Tearfund in 2007
concluded that as many as 20 million adults in the UK (42% of the
population) pray.
But for those who find it difficult, the Church of England
launches a new website, www.prayoneforme.org, where
anyone can post their prayer requests and know that they will be
prayed.
"You can pray about anything," says the Revd Alison Roche, vicar
of St Christopher's parish in Leicester. "Some people think God's
only concerned with the really big things in life. But some people
pray for car parking spaces. God is concerned about the big things
in life like disasters and relationships breaking up and the very
small things. In a relationship with a human being you would
communicate on different levels. It's the same with God. So go for
it".
Prayoneforme.org, launching on Ash Wednesday (22nd February),
will be supported by church groups and prayer communities across
the Church of England. They will pray the prayers. The site will be
open throughout the year.
The site builds on the success of a similar one the Church of
England has run during Lent for the last two years. Family and
friends, healing, guidance, thanksgiving and world events where
topics for which people regularly asked for prayers.
The new site and its supporting page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/prayoneforme)
will also have short profiles about some of the people and groups
who will be praying the prayers. It will also link to information
for those wanting to know more about praying for themselves.