Praying for Neighbors Up Close and Personal
When a group of pastors in Collin County, TX, felt overwhelmed with the growing number of people in their community who did not know Jesus, they asked, “What if we prayed for every household by name?”
Collin County is one of the fastest-growing counties in America. Yet only an estimated 25 percent hold evangelical beliefs. Almost 50 percent profess no religion at all. So local pastors came together and dreamed about what might happen if—through prayer—God would arrange divine appointments with those who needed Christ, would restore broken relationships, and would transform neighborhoods. As a result, together they created Pray 4 Every Home.
As these more strategic prayer efforts developed in their community, they began to hear stories of answered prayer. One woman said her grown daughter had wandered from God and wasn’t sure He existed. But one day when the daughter was on her way to her mom’s house, she stopped at a traffic light and saw some young men yanking an elderly man from his car directly in front of her. He was trying to fend them off with his cane.
The daughter called 911 on her cell phone and then got out of her car to assist the elderly driver. When she did, the young men ran off. After making statements to the police, she and the man each got into their cars and left.
They kept making all the same turns all the way into the mother’s neighborhood—right onto the same street. It turned out that the mother and this man lived only a few houses apart!
When the daughter told the story, her mom pulled out her printed prayer list and found the name of the man her daughter had helped. “I’ve been praying for him. Do you think this is a coincidence, or can you see that this is God?” Mom and daughter cried together and rejoiced in the way God orchestrated the divine appointment.
Praying for Neighbors
Organizers of Pray 4 Every Home formed a partnership with Mapping Center for Evangelism and Church Growth to provide maps and demographic information to help participants pray more effectively.
When signing up for this software, you can create a personalized list and map for your neighborhood. This interactive map shows a house icon for each neighbor. When you click on an icon, you will see the name, address, and demographic information—marital status, number of children, length of residence, possible ethnicity, language spoken, and approximate ages.
You can choose to receive a daily email and prayer prompt with the names of five neighbors. In real time, you can see if any of your surrounding neighbors are also using the software and praying. If you want to customize your list, you can add other individuals or families. Your prayer progress can be recorded in an online journal.
Churches can also use the software to map out a radius of 70 miles, which is helpful in targeting specific ministry to certain areas, in encouraging neighbors to pray together, and in sending mailings specific to certain demographics.
To sign up as an individual or become a partner church, go to pray4everyhome.com.