Praying for Others Made the Difference for Prisoner

Inmate Roland Harris felt “stupid and unloved” until he was given an opportunity to pray for people he didn’t even know.

The 47-year-old former drug addict spent much of his lifetime in prison, where he received his first copy of the Today devotional.

While filling out the order form to receive the booklet each month, Harris noticed a checkbox to sign up for being a prayer partner.

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure what that was,” admits Harris, “but I was ‘down’ to pray, so I checked the box.”

Then he noticed that as he prayed for others, “things started happening,” he says. “I haven’t been a Christian very long. But my faith was growing as my prayer life grew.”

As a prayer partner for Back to God Ministries International, Harris receives a list of prayer requests each month. People from around the world who respond to BTGMI outreach send prayer needs, and staff member Courtney Jacob compiles the requests.

She then sends the list to more than 700 faithful prayer partners who have committed to pray for the people whose lives are being touched by the ministry.

“We receive prayer requests each month by letter or email and on our websites and social media pages,” says Jacob who is prayer ministry coordinator for ReFrame Media, BTGMI English outreach.

“These individuals trust our ministry enough to share the prayers of their hearts and we take this seriously. I’m thankful our dedicated prayer partners know the power of prayer and partner with us to do the important work of keeping the requests we receive lifted up before the Lord.”

For Harris, praying for others has made a difference in his own life. “I was given self-respect and it was a gift from God. Courtney wrote that I was a prayer missionary. She helped me learn how important prayer—and praying for others—is in our relationship with God.”

And Harris is sharing the blessing of prayer with other inmates in the faith-based unit where he lives. “I pray over these in the morning, and every once in a while I put them in the prayer folder so our prayer group (56 men, also inmates) can pray over them too,” he told Jacob.

“So rest assured every request you send will be completely covered in prayer.”

If you feel God calling you to join the team of people praying for hurting souls who have contacted BTGMI, contact [email protected] or sign up on the web at backtogod.net/get-involved/for-you.