Prayer is among the most ancient of human practices, and to this day billions of people believe in its power.
Prayer transcends religions, denominations, sects and belief systems of all kinds. It is used in a multitude of ways: to seek comfort, make a request, ask for guidance, heal and restore, express sorrow, celebrate joy, give thanks.
Prayer: Simply Talking to Someone
At its most elemental level, with everything else stripped away, praying is simply talking to someone (importantly, someone who’s always happy to listen).
A prayer chain kicks it up several levels, because it is a group of individuals who’ve decided to pray together. This, theoretically, amplifies the power of prayer.
Fulfilling a Need to Connect
Praying as a group also fulfills another of our basic human needs: to connect, both with a power greater than ourselves, and with one another.
Here are some guidelines that will help you and others in your sphere have an effective prayer chain — one that’s ready to pray for any person, or any care, at any time.
- Decide whom to include in your prayer chain. They should be dependable and willing to join in prayer, at a moment’s notice. These individuals can also expand the chain, even more, with like-minded people they know. Think about including your faith community, family, friends, neighbors and colleagues.
- Communicate prayer requests. You used to be limited to phone calls and word of mouth. Now you can post requests on someone’s CaringBridge website or other social networks, or build an email list that allows you to send prayer requests to everyone with one click.
- Prayer requests may not always come with an explanation. A patient or caregiver may prefer privacy. A request can just be a top-line explanation, such as, “Please pray for a woman who’s moving into long-term care on Monday.” Or “Add Kathy to the prayer list.”
- Share information right away. If you get word that the situation of one of your prayer recipients has changed, communicate it to everyone on your prayer chain so they can adjust their prayers.
Care to Share Your Own Tips?
Tell us how you’ve used prayer during a healing journey in the “Comments” section below.
New to CaringBridge and Wondering What We Do?
CaringBridge is a nonprofit social network dedicated to helping family and friends communicate with and support loved ones during a health crisis through the use of free, personal websites. Know someone who could benefit from starting a CaringBridge site to keep loved ones informed and get the love, and support they need?
Learn more
(SOURCE: Hope Conquers All, by Sona Mehring, Copyright 2013, Page 172.)
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We were inspired by a post in our forums (which you can see below) to make some suggestions on prayers for someone who is in a coma. If someone you know is in a coma, our hearts and prayers go out to you! This must be an extremely difficult time for you and we really pray for God to be with you and your loved one! The first prayer that comes to mind for a situation like this is the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. This chaplet was given to St. Faustina by Jesus. It is a powerful prayer that many pray for those who are very sick or dying.
Next is the St. Jude Novena. If you’ve never prayed a novena, this is the perfect time to start and the St. Jude Novena is perfect for this sort of tragic situation. St. Jude is the patron of impossible causes. Many, many people turn to St. Jude by praying for his intercession through a novena when there is a seemingly impossible situation such as a severe illness or coma.
Lastly, it is very important to pray for your loved ones’ soul. While we never know what will happen with a coma and if God will choose to heal someone or not, praying for his/her soul is the best thing to do. Pray that they will go to heaven and await you there where you will be reunited in the love of Christ.
We hope this is helpful to you during this hard time. We’re praying for you!
From our forums:
Hello, About a week ago someone very dear to me had an open heart surgery but he never woke up from it, he is still in a coma and his down left side is paralyzed. Things are not looking good at all and the doctors doesn’t know if it’s a stroke, swollen in the brain or what..
He is only in his mid twenties..
i have been praying for him but I’m starting to lose hope in his recovery.. I know that faith can make miracles happen but i am too tired and scared and am not capable of fully believe that a miracle will happen.
Please pray for him, please..
Thank you
S
Joining you with our Blessed Mother, and all the Saints to petition with us at God’s throne for the graces needed by everyone involved.
I am sorry for your tragedy. I will pray.
Thank you both for your prayers
They are going to withdraw the life support soon because the doctors says that the damages are so severe ( in both lobes of the brain) and they are irreversible..
He is in an other country at the moment, so rule differs, plus they are ot Catholics, but isn’t this act a sin? In my country it is considered a sin and is not even allowed by the law.
But in either cases, I want to thank you for your prayers for him, and would like if you could have a last prayer so that his soul will rest in peace.
Thank you so much once again
The Church does not require that people be left on extraordinary forms of life support. Removing machines that keep someone who would otherwise not be able to survive, and have not hope or recovery are not required by the Faith, we can allow nature to take it’s course. Either keeping someone on or taking them off extraordinary life support is a hard decision, but not sinful to consider of or do. It is not directly ending someone’s life.
Pope John Paul II explained the distinction between allowing to die and euthanasia in the following manner:
“Euthanasia must be distinguished from the decision to forgo so-called “aggressive medical treatment,” in other words, medical procedures which no longer correspond to the real situation of the patient, either because they are now disproportionate to any expected results or because they impose an excessive burden on the patient and his family. … To forgo extraordinary or disproportionate means is not the equivalent of suicide or euthanasia; it rather expresses acceptance of the human condition in the face of death.”
Evangelium vitae, n. 65.
My own poor prayers for you and all involved, as well as that the Angels lead him into paradise.
Thank you for explaining this to me. My knowledge is not that wide in things like that.
He passed away this friday, and it has been very hard on all of us.
But still praying for his soul.
Thank you for your prayers too, they are very much appreciated.
God bless you
www.aboutcatholics.com
Waking up from being in a comma In the hospital psych ward I looked around to try and get my bearings But I still couldn’t grasp where I was As I slowly opened my red swollen eyes To see exactly what I could see I looked into the eyes of my sister She was staring down at me She called out my name “Tina” More times than I could count I could only surmise from hearing her voice The times were an indefinite amount I heard familiar sounds that I’d heard many times before They came from my baby sister Jackie She was praying for me right there on the hospital floor I turned and I looked around the room To see who else was there I felt like I heard prayers surrounding me They were coming from everywhere I looked around and saw my dad Jeff And my Aunt Barbara and my Uncle Curt too As if in sync, they all said to me “Tina, we are all, right here for you” Those beautiful words I heard from them Gave me the strength that day to want to stay alive Because they were in that room praying for me I literally felt the presence of GOD! Prayer is so very powerful and all I had left was my faith To ensure that I would pull through So I write this poem to thank God the father My aunt, my uncle, my father, and Jackie I especially want to thank you!
Copyright © Janice Scott | Year Posted 2008
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