Spontaneous prayer sessions

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[inCULTcated]

Back when I attended Awaken Church in Columbus, Ohio, I noticed a peculiar prayer practice. At the time, I didn't think much of it, but looking back, I can't help but think that this kind of prayer was actually a cult tactic.

Every so often, the pastor would tell people to get in small groups of 2 or 3 (with whomever happened to be near us, even if they were strangers) and to pray for each other. Sometimes it was a free-for-all (asking each other for prayer requests), and sometimes we were told to pray for something somewhat specific (e.g., prayers for peace, forgiveness, etc.). I even remember one service that was nothing but a giant prayer session (no sermon or anything).

The first time I encountered one of these spontaneous prayer sessions, it felt a bit weird, but I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. (After all, what kind of Christian could possibly be against prayer?) But after I left Awaken, I learned more about the power of prayer, and it occurred to me that this kind of practice could actually put people in spiritual bondage.

When you pray, you're not just asking God for stuff. You're forming a spiritual bond with him, and if you pray with other people, you're forming spiritual bonds with them as well. There's a level of intimacy involved in prayer, which means that spontaneously jumping into prayer with strangers like this can mean rushing into a kind of intimacy that just isn't appropriate. It's not substantially different from having sex with strangers. This kind of spontaneous intimacy can be very dangerous.

I think this is also why it was so hard for me to leave, even though I never officially became a member. I felt more emotionally attached to Awaken (especially the pastors) than was reasonable, given my short time there. Even after having been out of Awaken for almost two years now, I can still feel little remnants of the spiritual bondage I was in.

Have any of you experienced this sort of thing? I don't know if it's specific to Awaken or if it's more widespread throughout GCx as a whole.

[araignee19]

Yes, I experienced that, and it always made me uncomfortable. 2-3 people is a small enough group there is a lot of pressure to “participate,” because the group falls apart without you. It’s very hard to say no, even if you are uncomfortable. This would happen during Sunday services, Friday night college services, or small group house meetings (“D-team meetings” in the lingo I knew).

We would also be “encouraged” to participate in weekly early morning prayer meetings, and in occasional (quarterly?) all night prayer meetings with D-teams.

We were also told that if you pray hard enough and with enough faith, God *will* grant your request. I’ve since learned how unbiblical that statement is.

Needless to say, to this day prayer, especially corporate prayer, makes me extremely uncomfortable. It’s something I’m trying to work through, but there was a lot of damage done to my prayer life through this group.

For context, I was at Summitview and The Rock in Ft. Collins, CO for about 5 years, leaving in 2010.

[Huldah]

Intense spontaneous prayer sessions weren't a thing back in my day, but they certainly fit the bigger pattern. GC involvement often leaves victims--even those who don't abandon Christianity--with an aversion to the Bible, or an aversion to fellowship with other Christians, and now, it seems, even an aversion to prayer. It can take a long time to recover from those feelings.

This isn't from God. This is the mark of ungodly, intrusive control. But then, we already knew that.

I'm sorry you're  both struggling with this.

[margaret]

I remember feeling the pressure to pray with people I barely knew. "Everyone pair up, 2 or 3, and pray about/for ____."  Then you'd mix it up and find another person or 2. And if you didn't participate freely and willingly, you were viewed as the weirdo.

One person that left our group after a summer program told me over coffee that she can't even pray anymore, much less read her Bible. I listened and sympathized, but couldn't really relate until I left. It took me a long time to try to start praying again. I rarely open my Bible, unless I'm looking up something very specific.

It's terrible what this group leaves with people.