PELL CITY, Ala., (BP) — To help meet the needs of fellow classmates, 16-year-old junior Brianna Farris started a “prayer locker” ministry at her school — Pell City High School.
Students can write down and leave requests of any nature in the locker. Brianna then takes them home and prays for them individually.
Brianna said she first had the idea to start a prayer ministry when she often found herself serving as a shoulder for her friends to cry on.
“I would always go home and pray for them [her friends] as well, so I got the idea of people being able to drop prayers or anything that they want to discuss in my locker,” Brianna said.
When Brianna went to her mother, Candace Farris, with the idea, her mother warned her that it may cause controversy among students who do not believe in prayer.
“When she first told me she was feeling led to do the prayer locker, I asked her what she would do if she got an ugly note,” Candace said. “She thought about it for a minute and said ‘Well, I would pray for them too.’ Then I knew she would be able to handle it.”
Brianna said she could not shake the idea or get rid of the desire to start a prayer ministry.
“I felt that I was being led to do this,” Brianna said. “If someone feels the need to put a mean note in my locker, then maybe they are trying to reach out and ask for prayers or help too.”
Brianna started the locker by simple putting a note on the outside indicating that students could drop prayer requests in the locker, submitted anonymously or with a name.
Because the locker was arranged by Brianna and not sponsored by faculty the school administration allowed it, reported the Dothan Eagle.
The locker saw immediate success, garnering anywhere from five to 10 prayers each week.
Brianna estimated that the reaction from students was about 95 percent positive and 5 percent uncertain or skeptical, but not outright negative.
“It just took off,” Brianna said. “I did not know it would do so well.”
“We never imagined how many people she would touch and lives she would impact,” Candace added.
Brianna said she also rewrites the requests she receives, labels them with her school name and leaves them in the prayer basket at the church she attends with her family, Mt. Zion Free Will Baptist Church in Pell City, so the congregation can join in on praying for the students.
Mt. Zion pastor Michael Barber said the entire congregation is excited for Brianna and her efforts to minister to her school.
“We are really proud of her at the church,” Barber said. “For a young person to really appreciate the power of prayer, but also in a setting with her peers, just says a lot about her walk with the Lord as well. I’m very proud of her.”
Source: Baptist Press
All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source