DFUMC
Prayer Ministry

Connect for Prayer Ministry

By Pastor Suzy Todd

October 13 2024

Prayer has been an important part of the Christian faith since the faith’s inception.

Jesus taught in Matthew 6:5-6: 

“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul teaches us to pray without ceasing. And James tells us in 5:16 to pray for one another. Prayer was important to that early church; and it is still an important part of congregational care. We pray for each other. 

Because God is omniscient, the person praying does not need to know the specifics of a person’s needs.

There was an interesting book that I read 10 or 15 years ago.  The author, River Jordan, commits to praying for people she encounters in public, not in the way warned about in Matthew 6, but privately, specifically and personally. The book is titled Praying for Strangers.

I recommend it. 

Heed a Call to Prayer Ministry at Dearborn First UMC

Many of you have told me about your active prayer lives. Some of you willingly submit prayer requests on a regular basis.

But we lack a system for comprehensively and confidentially conveying prayer requests and following up on them. 

I am interested in working with a team of people to develop a more structured and effective prayer ministry. The new ministry will build a Prayer Team and a Prayer Chain.

Prayer Requests will continue to come into the church through prayer cards, phone, email and website. The requester decides the confidentiality level by asking for it to be shared with the pastor only, the pastor and prayer team, or the pastor, prayer team and prayer chain. 

Need Prayer?

The PRAYER CHAIN will be a publication for concerns that the requester wants widely disbursed. It will be done via email on a weekly basis, or when an emergent need arises. Any details that the requester includes will be forwarded on to the prayer chain, as will any subsequent updates to the prayer concern. 

If you are interested in being on the Prayer Chain, please subscribe in one of the following ways:

1) Subscribe online using the form at DearbornFirstUMC.org/prayer-chain
2) OR Email Erin in the church office at office@dearbornfirstumc.org, with “prayer chain” in the subject
3) OR Call Erin during business hours (M - Th, 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.) at 313-563-5200, ext. 0

Get DFUMC’s
Prayer Chain

The PRAYER TEAM will be a group of people who:

  • Meet once a month to pray in community for the prayer concerns

  • Are included on the prayer chain mailing list

  • Are responsible for collating the list of people to be prayed for at the meeting

In addition to these personal prayer concerns, the prayer team will pray for more topical issues like war, addiction, military personnel, mental health, gun violence, the congregational health, the community, etc.

Each member of the team is asked to select a person from the prayer list to follow up with via phone, personal visit or card sent during that month. 

Since prayer is most powerful when it moves the person praying to action, it is my hope that receiving these prayer concerns will lead the congregation to reach out to those requesting prayer. In reaching out, you offer companionship and grow in compassion for each other.

If you are interested in being on the Prayer Team, please e-mail me (Pastor Suzy) at: pastor@dearbornfirstumc.org and put “prayer team” in the subject line.

Join DFUMC’s Prayer Team

6-Week Prayer Small Group Sessions starting in January.

Lastly, I will be offering a prayer small group for six weeks beginning January 6, 2025. We will meet in person from 6:00 – 7:30PM  Mondays.

I look forward to seeing how this new ministry grows!

Pastor Suzy