Power of Prayer: Good Friday Day of Prayer held Friday March 25

For more than 60 years, the Guideposts’ OurPrayer Ministry has lifted up the prayer requests of millions of people with the conviction that God will respond to our heartfelt prayers, small and large.

This Friday, March 25, the prayer ministry will come together for the 46th time to hold its Good Friday Day of Prayer.

While some representatives of the massive prayer community will gather in Pawling, N.Y., to pray for thousands of people who have made prayer requests, ministry volunteers across the nation and world will also offer prayers, hope and inspiration for those who asked for prayer support.

The prayer requests — which are typically made online at the Guideposts’ website, but are sometimes mailed in — are about everything and anything: relationships and heartaches, health problems and emergencies, financial worries and employment, missing a valuable or just feeling lost.

A recent request asked for prayers for “my unborn baby that passed at 9 weeks,” as well for the family’s recovery and hope for another child.

People can file their prayer requests with the Guideposts’ ministry at www.ourprayer.org.

For those who wish to write back about their prayer requests, there is an “Answered Prayer” area. Several people have written in to thank God for events, like surviving a medical procedure or landing a job. One woman gave thanks that a beloved man in her life found “a good job” and was led “to a Godly woman.”

“I was struggling with ingratitude and very serious depression,” wrote another person named “J.” “I asked for prayer and God showed me his love through others and pointed out all His efforts to lift me. It is like the sun came out again. Thank you,” the person wrote to the OurPrayer Ministry.

“Each year, it is a great privilege to receive thousands of prayer requests from our community,” said Ty’ Ann Brown, manager of OurPrayer.

“We are delighted to stand in the gap for those who are in need” and seek God’s help for individuals facing challenges within their family, finances, health, community and beyond, she said. “God has and certainly will answer our prayers.”

The 2016 Good Friday event, which will be held all day at the Mizzentop Day School (formerly the Peale Center) in Pawling, N.Y., will include an inspirational service, uplifting materials, a space for personal reflection, a dedicated area to pray for others, and individuals who are ready to pray for people who come in person.

For these and the millions of prayer requests received each year, the OurPrayer volunteers, staff and online prayer community will carefully lift up each one, relying on the Guideposts’ prayer promise, which says: “We believe in the power of prayer and promise to pray according to the will of God as set forth in the Holy Bible. We will lift each prayer request by name and need, in Jesus’ name, without prejudice or judgment. We will keep all prayer requests confidential.”

The OurPrayer Ministry, a service of Guideposts, is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year online at www.ourprayer.org. OurPrayer is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The ministry also holds a special day of prayer around Thanksgiving.

• Cheryl Wetzstein is Special Sections Manager for TWT Media Group.