Faith and Facebook

You have probably noticed that I have been pretty quiet here on the ol' blog. I have started a couple of blog posts, but always seem to get interrupted by something before I can finish it and get it posted. I struggle when I am busy to organize my thoughts into something coherent that I can post here. I have plenty of ideas, just not a whole lot of time to translate those ideas into something more than a jumbled mess.

I am a little better at keeping up with things on Facebook. Yes, Facebook. When I signed up for Facebook, I thought it was pretty dumb. I had several people encouraging me to try it and I thought, "Why not? I can just join, check it out and that will be the end of that. Right?" Ha! I didn't realize how this little "social network" can suck you in. As it has been said, Facebook is like stalking - only easier. I suppose that it is just plain nosiness that makes me want to keep up on all of my friends' statuses, but I really enjoy knowing what they are up to and how they are doing. It is fun to see their photos of their lives and their kids. Many of my Facebook friends are people that I had lost track of in real life. Distance and busyness have kept us apart, but on Facebook, they are a mere click away.

There is more to this, though; something beyond the nosiness. Recently, I have had several Facebook friends going through some serious health issues within their families. I have been so blessed to have the opportunity to pray for them. Many of these friends have used this venue to keep all their friends and family updated on what is going on. This saves them much time and trouble getting information out and is a very easy way to communicate at their own convenience. I really appreciate knowing how they are doing and being able to pray in very specific ways for their needs.

I came to the realization this morning that Facebook has made me a better prayer warrior. I know this sounds a bit crazy, but hear me out. Usually, I have a little list of people that I am praying for. Sometimes it is an actual written list, but more times than not, it is just a mental one. During my morning quiet time, I go down my list and say a cursory prayer for each person listed and I am done. If, by chance, they are brought to my mind during the day, I will send up a quick prayer. Now, with Facebook, I am updated on what is going on with these friends during the day and find myself praying often during the day for them. I even notice when I am missing status updates from them and pray that everything is still ok.

So, now I am thinking about Facebook as a prayer tool and making an effort to pray for all of my online friends. What if I prayed for each friend as a read their status updates in my news feed? What if every praying person did this for each of their friends? What incredible things could happen? Would we have the power to change the world? It makes you wonder.