PRAY is an acrostic to remember when thinking about how to expand the reach and influence of your ministry on Facebook.  Here are the four steps to follow:

Personal

Relational

Actual

You

Each of these steps taken together can turn even a small ministry into a world changing force.

Last April 1, a ministry of 70 men, HERDSaturday at the Saddleback Church Lake Forest campus,  put the PRAY acrostic into practice with a day of fasting and prayer on Facebook.   In a single day they had reached over 50,000 with prayer requests from around the globe.  At the time, I wrote an article (link here) about what had achieved and now that they are gearing up for this April 1, you can easily learn lessons from their full year of experience.  Here is what PRAY looks like in real life:

Be PERSONAL:  “Fasting is a practical key for men because you can fast off anything.  We have guys fasting off dairy, television, soda, whatever you need to give up so that you can focus on God,” HERDSaturday Pastor Steve Komanapalli said.  “It deepens our commitment to God, to those we pray for, and to each other.”

Be RELATIONAL: Connect people together “This is the easiest step of all,” said Robert Sturm, the HERDSATURDAY team leader for the Day of Prayer and Fasting.  “When people ask for prayer, that is what we try and do right away, personally and specifically, with a prayer written in the comments as we say it.”

Be ACTUAL:  Immediately pray for people when you see the request, and then quickly post what you prayed.  Just like in their Saturday meetings where men sit at tables, listen, share, and pray, the only way people can be reassured that you are ACTUALLY praying for them is to do it right away while you are in the moment.  “Praying right now and posting that on Facebook, instead of posting, ‘I’ll pray for you’ makes all the difference – it makes prayer actual in their situation,” said a HERDSaturday Facebook leader Eric Fazekas. “It’s helpful to know you aren’t not alone, when you’re praying through something. Facebook has been so effective with us because it’s a place we meet, wherever we are, when we need help, or want to help, in real-time.  It’s a call to action.”

YOU:  Almost always post and interact as yourself.  When you sit with God, you don’t sit with Him in the name of a ministry, church, or Facebook page, you come to Him personally.  Do the same in your posting by making sure to post personally how you prayed.

By opening the event wall, linked here, early, the men are already making prayer for those in need.  The men were eager to get rolling because it is now engrained in their culture.  Click here to leave your request or to pray for someone in need right now http://on.fb.me/zJkvNe.

“For two years now, we as a group have really dug in and used Facebook to help grow leaders daily by being there for each other.  As a result, our Saturday ministry is much deeper because every man knows he is a key disciple we count on to help in the service,” said Komanapalli.

Check out and like Saddleback’s HERDSaturday http://on.fb.me/efovJN, HERDSaturday’s Podcast http://bit.ly/h57iL7 , HERDSaturday’s Podcast on Facebook: http://bit.ly/ef7S8Z    For more on Pastor Steve Komanapalli, follow him on Twitter at http://bit.ly/hERl69.