Posting A Prayer Plants A Seed of Hope on Social Media
Now more than ever, words on a screen are often our primary means of communication and expression. Headlines on the TV enrage us, a text message from a loved one makes us smile, and an email can encourage a shift in daily habits.An email from NDP caused a shift in Carolyn’s life when she received the newsletter outlining the Nehemiah Response. The initiative aimed to wade into the chaos of social media and plant seeds of God’s hope to soothe and encourage a place full of flaring tempers and division.
“I thought ‘this sounds important, Facebook is so negative,’” said Carolyn, a prayer leader in Southern Pennsylvania.
Carolyn forwarded the email to Susan, a friend and prayer partner. The two women spend time in prayer with their church prayer group, so it was a natural response for the women to post a verse and a prayer on social media each day. However, Susan needed a bit of time to get on board—she had recently decided to limit her time on social media after noticing herself spending too much time scrolling. Before the Nehemiah Response initiative, she only logged into Facebook to engage in livestreamed church services.
“I prayed about joining in the Nehemiah Response, and felt like it was something I could do,” Susan said. “Now, I’m glad I did it.”
Through prayer, the Lord moved in her heart to use the platform as a place of encouragement and ministry without getting distracted by the negativity. Susan then committed to posting a scripture and prayer each day and lifting up the prayers others like Carolyn shared.
“My first post, a distant cousin who is not a believer shared the post, then ‘liked’ others,” Susan said. “I’m grateful she even read the prayer!”
The seed of God’s love was planted, and Susan saw a small “bloom” from her cousin’s response! Carolyn had a similar experience from her network on social media. A variety of people commented their prayerful agreement on her posts, while others shared her prayer to their own pages.
“What a great opportunity for prayerful atmosphere of hope, and respond to the Lord’s call on our lives,” Carolyn said.
Their time of dedicated prayer challenged the two women in different ways. Carolyn felt God pressing her heart to pray for deep repentance within the Church and a call to participate in more prayer with other believers.
“It grieves my heart that the church is largely not concerned with obedience,” Carolyn said. “Prayer is such a vital thing.”
By spending time in prayer, believers feel the weight of God’s glory and the need to repent and step closer into a reflection of Christ’s holiness. Prayer is the way the seed of faith is watered in order to grow and bear fruit. For Susan, the invitation to participate in the Nehemiah Response revealed a new way to add a dimension to her prayer life.
“I’ve grown in my prayer life and being able to express myself in prayer,” Susan said.
Praise God for the way the Holy Spirit and truth of His Word can turn the strife of social media into an atmosphere of hope in Christ and move the hearts of believers closer to the heart of the Father!
“As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Matthew 13:23
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