Is it ok to place a price tag on the importance of prayer?

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Permalink Reply by Mary O on February 23, 2012 at 11:07am

Hi Brother Chip,

Prayer is priceless. It's like a sweet sacrifice, a sweet savor. I don't know what I'd do without it. Sometimes I will look at prayer requests and pray for a while. People never know that I'm praying. They know I'm on the webiste, I think they can tell that.

Something that I discovered is that if God knows you have some spontenaity, He will call on you to pray for people. It can be very dynamic. Countless times and it doesn't matter the hour, God has asked me to pray. It matters so much to Him, that He'll wake me up. I stay awake until God says it's okay and I know that person is all right. It usually lasts for about an hour or so.

One evening it happened for my daughter. I heard her cry out to me twice. I knew she was in trouble. She was living about an hour away at that time. I woke up and woke Gary and we prayed. We got the call she was in the hospital in serious condition. When we got there, I told her I had heard her cry for help and that we were praying for her. She had tears in her eyes. It was a moving moment. 

I can't imagine charging for prayers.

Love and God bless,

Mary

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Permalink Reply by Carla on February 23, 2012 at 2:17pm

Hey Chip.

 

Clearly it's not okay...

 

Here is a prayer ministry that does offer prayer coast to coast.  If you are unable to get the support you need from us here, these people have their prayer lines open 24/7.  My mom used to volunteer here.

 

Here's the link:  http://crossroads.ca/prayer-centre/about

 

Blessings, Carla

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Permalink Reply by Mary O on February 24, 2012 at 7:03am

I think Chip was trying to draw attention to the fact that there are a few ministries that ask for donations for prayers. I can think of two ministries right now. And people support these ministries and sing the praises of the ministers. I had one of them send me a sample of holy oil or blessed oil once and then they asked for a donation if I wanted more. Is that extortion? Okay, maybe it's too heavy to think that way. Are they frustrating God's people and causing them to hate God's blessing? Do they cause God's people to think the only way to get God's blessing is to buy the oil? I'm just posing the questions. Personal opinion, I think it's a shameful.

Love and God bless,

Mary

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Permalink Reply by Bruce on February 27, 2012 at 4:04am

if churches gave more they would receive more -non believers see them as money grabbers, Hard to break through those thoughts when you see some of the churches and the wealth of ministers

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Permalink Reply by Bruce on February 27, 2012 at 4:00am

that is terrible that they sent that - the request for money for prayers

genuine prayer does not come with a cost but comes out of love

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Permalink Reply by Mary O on March 1, 2012 at 10:54am

Hi Chipster, God bless!

I'm glad you posed the question. I don't know if anyone else felt tested, but I didn't feel tested. 

The anointed oil that was sent to me was water. There are many fine ministries which have to ask for donations. It takes money to keep them going. The ministry I talked about wasn't one of them.

You said the message you got rubbed you the wrong way, I think it was the Holy Spirit telling you to beware. Because God will tell you when something doesn't ring true. You can put your donation elsewhere in a true ministry. You want the money to go towards the furtherance of the gospel and helping people.

Love,

Mary

 

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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on March 2, 2012 at 5:46am

Thanks Chip from bringing this topic up. There are those in the family who fall for almost anything for various reasons, so it is very good to point out some of this hideous practices, which are not being done by legitimate ministries, but people who know that there are those in the human race that will pay any price to silence their conscious or get some relief from whatever hardship they are going through.

 

This sounds to me more like a scam than an actual ministry. If a so call “minister of God” falls to such tactics, they will answer to our Lord for it.

 

It is very good to bring out issues such as this one, so the ones among us with needs or/and a giving heart do not fall for such charlatans.

 

Blessings beloved

 

⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. Matthew 10:8

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Permalink Reply by Charles Burwell on March 2, 2012 at 6:14am

Dear Chip

 

Your question reminds me of a young man I was couselling when I was living in DC.  He told me one day that he had just come from having a mass performed for his mother.  I naturally asked hm what he meant by that.  He told me that the priest would perform some kind of prayer / ceremony ( I never could get a clear picture of what he was describing )  so that the mother would be healed.

 

He then went on to tell me that he father gave the priest $500. I was stunned and asked him to clarify what he meant.  He said that you give the money and they say /perform ( whichever ) the mass .  

 

I then asked  " You mean that you paid him to pray for your mother?

He said " Well not exactly."

 

I then asked if the priest would have said / performed , the mass if he hadn't been given the money and he said "no."

I then said that it sounds like he " bought " the mass.  He had no response except to shrug his shoulders and say ," I guess ".  

 

Needless to say I was stunned but just let it go at that.

 

To me it sounded like the old practice of the  selling of " indulgences " that Martin Luther so strongly opposed in  his thesis  to the church of his time. I realize that the indulgences were not the same as prayer but the same ungodly principle was there.

 

It also reminds me of the man in the book of acts who tried to 'buy ' the ability to lay hands on people and for  them to receive the Holy Spirit.   I think that Peter's response fits that situation and the one you're describing .  

He  ( Peter )  told Simon " Your money perish with you, .." .

 

I , personally , wouldn't put much confidence in the prayers of someone who requested money to pray for me.

But that's just my opinion.

 

God bless 

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Permalink Reply by God's Helper on March 2, 2012 at 9:26pm

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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on March 3, 2012 at 4:30am

Chip,

I guess I put a very high value on prayer because.....

I never ask someone whose heart I don't know, to pray for me. How would I know that they would pray for something I really need? There could be someone praying against me instead. They might not consider what I am asking as essential and unintentionally (or otherwise) pray for something different than I need. I only ask certain people to stand in agreement with me for a particular thing because others may not be in agreement with me. I expect my prayers to be answered with a positive answer and I stand on my own prayers. I pray for others as they ask me, and if I don't know them well, I talk to God about how I would feel in their shoes. I rarely pray a blanket prayer except in situation like traveling mercies. I also watch for answers to my prayers to see if what I prayed is God's Will for the person I'm praying for.

An example is...I have two sons in the automotive sales industry. One has been very successful, the other...not so much. The one that is not so successful quit the dealership he was working for and has been searching for a job in another area. Because he hasn't found anything, he took a one week gig on a sale. On his 4th day, he had success...after he had asked me to pray for him!  Now, I don't believe God wants him in that career field but He is with him . God knows he needs to bring in some money but I believe he wants him to continue to search for something else. The income from this sale will help buy him some time while he keeps looking for something else to do.

Generic prayers, even where you believe these *paid for* prayers will bring answers,  fail if the person praying doesn't know what to pray for. Jesus tells us in His Word that we don't receive what we need because we don't know how to pray as we ought. So how can a person, that doesn't know your needs, pray for you? We were asked to pray for a man who was burnt in a fire and our prayers were answered because we knew his need, knew that he was needed by his family. But there are many times that what we need can only be prayed for by ourselves and those who know us and know our hearts. 

These people who are willing to pray for money don't know us or our hearts...they simply know their needs and their own hearts so my question is...how do they know what to pray? I also believe they have put a price tag on God and His responses to prayer.

Blessings, my brother.....

Rita

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