A prayer of agreement is a prayer in which the heartfelt desires of two or more Christians merge. There are no restrictions on the number of worshipers and their location. The prayer is said at a predetermined time with a predetermined duration.
With the blessing of the priest, the Orthodox agree on what and in what order they read and with what request they conclude their prayer. Many Christians who have had such a prayer experience confirm its miraculous power with their healing. Believers make such a joint request quite often, because prayer by agreement for the health of a sick person is considered the most effective.
Jesus said this about praying together:
Truly I also tell you that if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, then whatever they ask will be done for them by My Father in heaven, for where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them. (Matthew 18, 19-20)
How does prayer by agreement for the health of a sick person help?
Prayer can help in any difficult life situation, especially when it comes to the health of the Orthodox Christian himself or his loved ones. Prayer for an agreement on health can concern not only physical health, but also mental health and purity of thoughts. The holy righteous John of Kronstadt said: “If you pray for others, all of Heaven will intercede for you.”
The Orthodox cite a huge number of facts of God's help after prayer by agreement. Most of this evidence, of course, confirms numerous miracles of healing. The help of the Lord our God after prayer by agreement for the sick is limitless. He is involved in everything, from getting rid of hatred and ending with the healing of incurable diseases, according to doctors.
What do they pray for?
More or less, a tradition has developed to perform such a prayer, as a rule, in case of some serious, even critical situation that arises in life. It is necessary, however, to understand: such prayer, even the most fervent, is not a replacement for church commemoration, but an addition to it. Therefore, many of those who perform it also try to write the names of those for whom they pray in notes, serve magpies , and prayer services.
About the health of the sick person
As a rule, several people agree to take on the work and agree to beg Christ for the preservation of life and the healing of a sick person. Most often, a loved one or the sick person can ask for such a prayer.
About marriage
Girls and women looking for a “soul mate” often turn to fellow believers for support.
Photo by Natalia Vetoshkina
About children
Quite often, believers unite at the request of parents, begging God to guide a teenager or an over-aged “child” who is entangled in the networks of passion (for example, drunkenness, drug addiction, gambling addiction, etc.) on the path of truth.
Help Heal Babies
Among humble appeals to the Lord, a special place is occupied by prayer by agreement for a sick baby. There are no stronger words than the words of a mother addressed to God with a request for the health of her children. The prayers of parents protect their children not only from physical suffering, but also, first of all, from birth they protect the soul of the child, helping him to follow the path prepared by God.
The Lord protects a person from an unbearable burden and gives only what a person is able to bear. In prayer, Orthodox Christians strengthen their faith and gain strength to survive current events.
What the priests say
Pastors have mixed opinions about this practice.
Archpriest Nikolai Sokolov (rector of the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, Moscow):
“I noticed that when people begin to pray earnestly and this request pleases God, then everything happens and happens very quickly. Particularly dear to me are the cases when, after prayer, peace comes to the family by agreement. When mother and daughter did not talk, there was complete discord, but something happens and everything changes. Recently we prayed for the health of one seriously ill baby and the Lord sent good doctors. Although the child did not receive complete healing, the situation became significantly easier and the parents were able to prolong his life. I can list such stories endlessly, since in my practice as a priest, prayer by agreement is quite popular.”
But the opinion is the opposite. Says the prot. Alexy Uminsky, rector of the Church of St. Trinity in Khokhly, in an interview on July 24, 2022 :
“... some hobby groups gather, they read endless akathists about someone getting married or going to college, or about something else altogether. And all this is called prayer by agreement. This is pure magic and complete heresy. This is not a prayer. Because that's not how they pray. God does not need people to pray in any special, intense way.
Prayer reaches God in a completely different way. There is no need to strain, there is no need to gather in some groups of the population so that at the same time the same prayer is heard from everyone, as if this will begin to work on its own. Who do you take God for?”
How to read a prayer?
Prayer by agreement, like any Orthodox prayer, is said humbly, with hope in the will of the Lord. The choice of prayer text by agreement is quite wide, but more significant is the strength of the spiritual impulse and the depth of heartfelt experience with which the believer turns to the Lord our God.
God has his own plan for each person, which is sometimes difficult to discern behind the changing difficulties of life. It is not enough to just believe in God, you need to trust him with your life. God hears every request of the Orthodox and knows best how to help them achieve what they want. Even when it seems like your prayers are falling on deaf ears, they are not.
There are two immutable truths at work in every appeal to the Lord and His Son Jesus:
- "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)
- “According to your faith, be it done to you” (Matthew 9:29)
It is not given to people to know which way God will lead them to what they want - this is the Will of God. Our Lord knows better whether our request is worthy of an answer and whether what we ask really needs to be given in exactly the way mentioned in the prayer. Often God answers a humble request in a slightly different way, but with abundance and all His inherent generosity.
Father's blessing
Modern pastors strongly recommend, if possible, to take a priestly blessing for this work. It is better if it is given by a confessor, or a priest to whom the believer goes to confession, an acquaintance:
- with the spiritual dispensation of those who are going to perform prayer;
- with circumstances that, in the opinion of people, require God's help, can determine whether prayer is done “for the sake of blessed guilt,” that is, whether it is really necessary to “knock on the doors of God’s mercy,” or whether it is necessary to simply wait for His will to be done.
Text of prayer by agreement
In Russian
With deep faith in the immutability of Your words and with hope for Your immeasurable mercy towards us, we humbly ask You to hear Your servants (names) who have agreed to jointly ask You: Lord, let Your Holy will be done. Enlighten us, strengthen us and help us in everything for the benefit of people and for Your glory, Lord. Grant us, Lord God our Savior, to follow You, helping our neighbors to follow the path of salvation, doing works of faith, so that with Your help and by Your mercy our efforts serve to increase good and decrease evil in deeds, words and thoughts. Amen.
In Church Slavonic
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Thou hast declared with Thy most pure lips: “Amen, I say to you, that if two of you take counsel on earth about every thing, and if you ask for it, you will have it from My Father who is in Heaven: where are the two? or three gathered in My name, I am I in the midst of them.” Thy words are immutable, O Lord, Thy mercy is unconditional and Thy love for mankind has no end. For this reason, we pray to Thee: grant to us, Thy servants (names), who have agreed to ask Thee (request), the fulfillment of our request. But not as we want, but as You want. Thy will be done forever. Amen.
Origin
Its basis is the words spoken by the Lord :
“Truly I also say to you that if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven, for where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:19-20).
Prayer of the Church
For most of the history of the Church, the theological interpretation of the words of Jesus Christ was very clear: we are talking about conciliar prayer, that is, performed during worship , when believers gather in the temple.
Photo from the archive of the press service of the Udmurt diocese
Not only the liturgical practice itself is based on these words to this day, but also, for example, special intensified prayers (the text of which is approved by the clergy) performed at services in recent years:
- about peace in Ukraine, the unity of the Church (petitions for this began to be raised after the aggravation of the church and also political situation in the neighboring country);
- “prayer during the spread of a harmful epidemic, what is it?”
Cell room
However, about 100 years ago, the practice of private joint prayer of several believers, performed at the same time, most often without a general meeting in a temple or someone’s home, also arose. Often people can be separated by distance, sometimes very significant. It is this kind of prayer that is now understood as performed “by agreement.”
It is believed that one of the first to introduce such prayers among his spiritual children was Archpriest. Valentin Amfitheatrov, a famous Moscow shepherd (1836-1908), the text of this short prayer is attributed to him.
Prayer by agreement: text
Prayer to the Mother of God before Her icon “Healer”
Accept, O All-Blessed and All-Powerful Lady Theotokos the Virgin, these prayers, now offered to You with tears from us, Your unworthy servants, who send up the singing of Your celibate image with tenderness, as if You yourself are here and heed our prayer. For every request you fulfill, you alleviate sorrows, you grant health to the weak, you heal the weakened and sick, you drive away demons from demons, you deliver the offended from insults, you cleanse lepers and you are kind to little children; Moreover, O Lady, Lady Theotokos, you free us from bonds and prisons and heal all manifold passions: for all things are possible through Your intercession to Your Son, Christ our God. Oh, All-Singing Mother, Most Holy Theotokos! Do not cease to pray for us, Your unworthy servants, who glorify You and honor You, and who worship Your Most Pure Image with tenderness, and who have irrevocable hope and undoubted faith in You, the Ever-Virgin, Most Glorious and Immaculate, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
A spiritual beacon for people around the world
A truly prayerful appeal to God by consent serves as a spiritual beacon. Prayer by agreement unites the whole world. The spiritual beacon resource was created by Orthodox Christians who consider themselves the spiritual children of Father Vladimir, the discoverer of the miraculous power of prayer, the shepherd of the Russian Orthodox Church. Now, in the world of the digital age, there is no need, as our ancestors did, to travel long distances to resolve an exciting issue. This prayer is no exception. To quickly join the ranks of prayer workers, you just need to turn to a spiritual beacon for help.
Prayer to the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon
O great saint of Christ, passion-bearer and merciful physician, Panteleimon! Have mercy on me, a sinful slave, hear my groaning and cry, propitiate the heavenly, supreme Physician of our souls and bodies, Christ our God, may He grant me healing from the illness that oppresses me. Accept the unworthy prayer of the most sinful man above all, visit me with a gracious visit, do not disdain my sinful wounds, anoint me with the oil of your mercy and heal me; Yes, healthy in soul and body, I will be able to spend the rest of my days, by the grace of God, in repentance and pleasing God and will be worthy to receive a good end to my life. Hey, servant of God! Pray to Christ God, that through your intercession he may grant me health to my body and salvation to my soul.
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When a Prayer Call Doesn't Live Up to Expectations
It would seem that such a perfect and fantastic phenomenon should delight everyone, and we could have lived in paradise long ago if only everything were so simple. And this doubt is not in vain. There are a number of “disadvantages” that come with a prayer request by consent. They may be inconvenient for many people, but this in no way diminishes her dignity. It’s just almost impossible to please the vast majority of people; just remember Jesus Christ, the founder of Orthodoxy, who did not please almost the entire Jewish society, although he never did any harm to anyone. The inconvenience is as follows:
- Does not guarantee receipt of the specific thing or phenomenon in life that is asked for;
- There is no specific time frame for when help will arrive;
- You can pray for a very long time, but a person will be left without asking.
It is important for the person praying or praying to remember that compliance with all the conditions for obtaining the desired result from prayer does not contradict those moments when prayer does not give the desired result. There are a number of explanations for this, most of which you can try to count:
- a person asks for something that is not useful to him, maybe even harmful (while praying, he begins to realize this as God’s answer to his request);
- inappropriate time (God knows best about the timing to accept a gift, it takes time to mature to accept it);
- God wants to give man something better (the longer the prayer is offered, the greater the gift will be sent from the Almighty);
- Pride and self-love (petitions are made for one’s own good, in the name of satisfying selfish needs and have nothing to do with God).
Cathedral prayer
The full form of the name is conciliar prayer by agreement . It is defined as a joint, churchly, spiritually uniting many people together with their common desire for God and mutual assistance to each other. Morning and evening worship in church is also prayer by consent. It is not at all necessary to invent any new forms. Going to church and praying for your family at the Sunday Liturgy is a great benefit both for each person and for the entire nation as a whole. The Lord will hear just as well, the main thing is that it be conciliar, in one church body.
Prayer for health for the sick
In order to be able to pray a prayer of conciliation for the sick, prayers for health are ordered in the church. It usually contains the names of the closest relatives. the priest prays together with the believers akathist for health to one of the saints or Jesus Christ, at the end they say prayer words and list the names of all those who need help. It is important to remain attentive in order to realize the full power of prayer together and receive help.
In the note, you need to note before the name of the sick person the abbreviated form of the word “sick”; this is required by church practice. By praying in church, a person is protected from the influence of evil spirits, which cannot be said about independent or joint prayer outside the walls of a church meeting.
A comforting conclusion follows from this: perhaps everyone can find harmony, happiness and well-being in the family, and truly only within the walls of a church meeting. This cannot be done in any other way, with the exception of very devoted spiritual holy elders who could live for a long time in the desert without compromising their own soul health.
Of course, you can take a more difficult path and pray together with one of your family and friends; this will also be saving, but it does not guarantee that the person will not change his mind or change his mind. Dark forces will influence such people very strongly. It’s much easier to go to church; evil spirits cannot get in there; it’s much more reliable and effective.
