PRAYING OVER A PRAYERWALL

The Contemporary Evangelical Practice of Praying Over a "Prayerwall," a Wall Upon Which Names or Pictures of People are Placed for Intercessory Prayer

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West) 

INTRODUCTION

One of the most persistent objections to the use of icons in Christian worship comes from Protestant circles, which often cite the Second Commandment as a basis for condemning the veneration of images. This argument hinges on the assumption that images inherently constitute idolatry, a position held despite the fact that the very same Scriptures that prohibit idolatry also describe God’s explicit commands to craft images for worship spaces, such as the Tabernacle and Temple. This tension reveals a fundamental inconsistency in the iconoclastic position, and one of the most striking demonstrations of this inconsistency is the practice of “praying over a prayer wall,” common in some Protestant congregations. 

THE ICONOCLASTIC MISUNDERSTANDING

Iconoclasts typically assert that any image in a place of worship is inherently an idol, drawing from the Second Commandment: 

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them" (Exodus 20:4-5). 

Yet this commandment, properly understood, condemns the worship of images, not the use of them as aids to devotion or reminders of God’s mighty acts. This is made evident when God Himself commands the making of the bronze serpent (Numbers 21:8-9), the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:18-20), and the ornate decoration of the Temple with cherubim, palm trees, and flowers (1 Kings 6:29). God did not contradict Himself in ordaining these images, for they were not made to be worshiped, but to draw the people’s minds toward the heavenly realities they signified. 

One of the most telling examples of God’s approval of religious imagery is the Temple itself, which featured twelve bronze oxen supporting the laver (1 Kings 7:25), lions and oxen decorating the carts (1 Kings 7:29), and cherubim woven into the curtains (2 Chronicles 3:14). If the presence of images itself were idolatrous, these divinely ordained structures would stand as a contradiction of God’s own law. Instead, these images served to elevate the hearts of the faithful to contemplate the glory and majesty of God. 

THE GOLDEN CALF: A FALSE GOD, NOT A FALSE IMAGE

The great sin of the Golden Calf was not merely that it was an image, but that it was proclaimed as a false god: 

"These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt" (Exodus 32:4). 

The offense was not the crafting of the calf but the declaration that it was a god and the offering of sacrifices to it. This is crucial to understanding why images in Christian worship, when used correctly, do not fall under the condemnation of idolatry. The distinction lies between creating an object for worship as a god and using an object to point to the true God. While God destroyed the golden calf, God commanded twelve brazen oxen be made to uphold the tabernacle’s baptistery, the “Bronze Laver” or the “Mikvah,” thus showing this principle clearly for us to follow. Images are not evil. Mistaking them (or anything else) for God, is wrong! 

THE IRONY OF THE PRAYER WALL 

The inconsistency of the iconoclastic argument becomes apparent when we observe certain Protestant practices, such as praying over a prayer wall. A prayer wall is typically a bulletin board or designated space where pictures of missionaries, pastors, and loved ones are displayed. Congregants often lay hands on these pictures, one by one, praying earnestly for the individuals depicted. They are not praying to these pictures, nor do they believe the pictures contain any power or divinity. Rather, the pictures serve as focal points for prayer, visual reminders of those for whom they intercede.

Yet when Orthodox Christians do the same with icons - touching, kissing, and praying before images of saints - the iconoclast reacts with horror and accuses them of idolatry. This reaction fails to grasp the theological principle that the veneration shown to the icon passes to its prototype. As St. Basil the Great explains: 

“The honor given to the image passes to the prototype” (On the Holy Spirit, 18:45). 

When an Orthodox Christian venerates an icon of Christ or a saint, it is not the wood and paint that receive honor but the reality behind the image that is acknowledged - the person depicted and, ultimately, Christ Himself, who are realities in heaven. The icon is not a god, just as the missionary’s photo on the prayer wall is not a god. Rather, both serve to make present, in a sacramental and tangible way, the memory and intercession of those depicted. 

THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS 

One profound difference between the prayer wall and the icon lies in the reality that the saints are not dead but more alive than we are in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul writes: 

"God is not the God of the dead, but of the living" (Matthew 22:32). 

And again: 

"We are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1). 

The saints, having passed from death to life, are part of the living Body of Christ. They pray with us and for us before the throne of God. Therefore, venerating an icon of St. John Chrysostom or St. Mary Magdalene is not fundamentally different from honoring the image of a living missionary. Both are members of Christ’s Church, bound together by the communion of saints, and praying for or asking for prayer from, such brothers and sisters in Christ is completely legitimate! 

The Practice of Commemorating Missionaries in Prayer through the Use of Images is a Treasured Practice in Many Conservative Protestant Churches  

Many Groups Publish Pictures of People within Their Churches for Prayer, as Books and Boards, to Highlight the Use of Images in Prayer Positively

These Icons are Often Accompanied with Images of the World, Maps of the Earth, to Highlight Locality and Reality, Just as Ancient Icons Highlighted Heavenly or Biblical Settings 

SUMMARY

The Protestant prayer wall, with its tactile engagement and intercessory intention, inadvertently mirrors the very practice it condemns in the veneration of icons. The error lies not in the prayer wall itself but in the inconsistency of condemning icons while performing an almost identical act with photographs. If one believes that praying before a missionary’s photograph is not idolatrous, then neither is praying before an image of a saint. The problem with iconoclasm is not merely its inconsistency but its impoverished understanding of the Incarnation and the redemption of creation, which allows matter to become a vehicle of divine grace. 

In the end, icon veneration is not a denial of God’s command but a fulfillment of it. It recognizes the fundamental Christian truth that God became man, sanctifying the material world and allowing even images to point to divine realities. Rather than condemning those who use icons, Protestants might consider how their own practices already affirm the principle of material aids to prayer, and how a fuller understanding of the Incarnation would deepen their worship rather than diminish it. The ancient, orthodox and Apostolic deposit of faith is the “fullness” of the Christian experience, and nothing is lost when incorporating its beliefs and practices into an already serious and vital love for the Lord Jesus Christ! 

COLLECT

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who didst sanctify the material world by the Incarnation of Thy Son, and hast given us grace to venerate holy images as witnesses of Thy wondrous works and the communion of Thy saints: Grant that we, beholding with faithful hearts the likenesses of Thy blessed ones, may be stirred to imitate their godly living, and, through their intercessions, be strengthened to follow Thee more faithfully; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.