This is the fourth of a six-week Lenten series on prayer and social media.
“Amen!” “Yes!” “Say it!” “Come on now!” Such phrases are
commonly interjected during worship in America’s multi-hued Pentecostal and
evangelical traditions. These proclamations are often heard during the
preaching moment as well as prayer, offering instant affirmation (and at times
rebuke) to the words and prayers that are uttered. Indeed, in such call and
response traditions, it is obvious, fairly quickly in fact, whether or not a
sermon or a prayer is received and meeting the needs and expectations of the
faithful.
Tim Lehmann founded
Prayrlist as way to use social media to extend this
tradition.
Prayrlist allows
for a resounding social media experience of call and response. Prayrlist seeks
to cultivate the spiritual practice of prayer by automatically generating a daily
prayer lists from a user’s Facebook friend list. Users can input their own
specific prayer requests as well as view the prayer request/focus of others. Moreover,
in the fashion of an altar call, users can issue urgent prayer requests. These
pressing requests are immediately displayed as a special alert on the user’s
entire Prayrlist network. One’s request almost instantaneously pops up on
countless mobile phones, tablet computers, laptops, and desktops. If a Prayrlist
user is plugged in, she or he will automatically be attuned to any and all
urgent prayer request. Users can assure their Prayrlist community that they
have indeed been prayed for and/or that their prayers have been heard, received,
and affirmed. Posted interjections of “Amen!” “Yes!” and “Thank you” bombard
one’s Facebook wall. Call and response, perhaps, at its best.
The research of the New Media Project (“
How media changes American culture and religion”) has
chronicled the various ways emerging forms of media have historically altered
religious proclamation.
Moreover, in a previous blog, "
Text and Confess," I chronicled a reformed Rosh Hashanah worship service in which
congregants, instead of traditional prayer and confession, anonymously texted
their prayers and penitence onto a scrolling screen for all to see. Prayrlist
is yet another example of how social media tools are shifting the parameters of
our religious proclamations and practices. Yes even prayer.
The effect of Prayrlist and other social media on the tenor and
nature of our prayers and spiritual practices is a hotly debated topic. Nevertheless,
Prayrlist does remind me of an old adage often repeated in the faith community
of my youth: “Prayer knows no distance!” Prayer allows people, no matter the
proximity, time, and space that separate them; to come together in unity to
advocate for a certain cause. Prayrlist, possibly like never before, fulfills
this proverb before our very eyes.
Lerone A. Martin, a research fellow for the New Media Project, is Assistant Professor of American Religious History and Culture at Eden Theological Seminary in Saint Louis, MO. The New Media Project is a research project helping religious leaders become theologically savvy about technology. To request permission to repost this content, please contact newmediaproject@cts.edu.