Living prayer
Volunteers in S.C., nation serve Lord through toll-free anonymous prayer line
Inside a hotel room at the S.C. United Methodist Men’s spiritual retreat, two men sit quietly around a lamp-lit table, a telephone at the ready.
On a tidy clipboard they track information: the first name only of their callers, their city and the most important thing: their prayer request. Then the phone rings, and the subdued chatter stills. A volunteer answers the phone, pauses, then asks whether there is anything specific he can pray about with her. This caller, Janice from Georgia, is worried about her relationship with her boyfriend, and wants the Lord to unite them.
The volunteer says a brief, gentle prayer with her, reminds her that God loves her, and hangs up the phone.
And just like that, another call to the Upper Room Living Prayer Center is complete.
Every day, in hotel rooms, churches and homes across the nation, men and women prayer volunteers report for duty armed with some basic training and a love for the Lord. Faithfully, they answer calls and pray with a person. They only track the essentials: name if given, city, prayer needed. The calls are completely anonymous, and the requests vary from health problems to spiritual trials to grief and more.
“Some are just lonely people, while others are very serious,” said Clayton Easter, longtime S.C. UM prayer advocate. “One lady who called just had a family situation, she was weeping on the phone, and it was very emotional.”
The Upper Room Living Prayer Center has existed since 1977 to help disciples of Christ experience the living, transformative power of prayer. It is a way, through a special toll-free number, for the thousands who need prayer to connect with prayer partners who are called and trained to meet their needs.
More than 200 volunteers across the country, including many groups and individuals in South Carolina, give their time and their Spirit-filled hearts to offer up prayer with callers who reach out in need. The toll-free number is open 8 a.m. to midnight EST every day, and a caller simply dials the number and is connected anonymously with a person somewhere in the nation who prays with them.
The prayer line number can be forwarded anywhere the volunteer choses: a mobile number, a home, an office or a church. Some individual volunteers give two hours a week from the privacy of their home. Others have a once-a-month shift in a room with other prayer volunteers at their church.
“It’s a blessing for us,” Easter said. “And anyone can do it—at their home, at their church, from retreats.”
The S.C. UMM is a prayer partner, also, and frequently offers prayer room training and opportunities when they gather for events like the recent spiritual retreat, Feb. 28 to March 2 in Myrtle Beach. During the prayer room time at the UMM retreat, the volunteers had an opportunity to pray with 20 people.
Prayers volunteers are needed, whether in groups, as couples or as individuals. To sign up as a volunteer, call toll-free 877-899-2780, ext. 7215. To request anonymous prayer, call 800-251-2468 or visit prayer-center.upperroom.org.
by Jessica Connor
