Throughout the website, I invite people to talk or pray with someone here at The Ranch. As those emails come in, they will be routed to our ministry volunteers according to the topic the visitor selects that best describes their prayer. On the volunteer application, you'll be able to choose which topics you feel comfortable with having routed to you (such as depression, financial trouble, divorce, etc.) When you receive an email with a prayer request, it will contain a link to a secure screen where you will be able to login and send a response.

As far as possible, please try to include the following three elements in your correspondence:

1) Thank them for writing and empathize with their situation. You can say something like "Thanks for writing to us here at The Ranch. I'd be glad to pray for you..." They will have already gotten an automated email as soon as they send in their request that says:

Thank you for sending your prayer request to us here at The Ranch website (www.theranch.org). Your request has been sent to one of our ministry volunteers who will begin praying for you as soon as they receive it.

We also like to send a personal reply back to every note, but sometimes it can take up to two weeks to get back with you. If for some reason you have not heard back from us within this time and you would still like a personal response, please send us another request as we do want to stay in touch. Thanks again for coming to The Ranch and letting us pray with you.

Some people write things that they have never shared with anyone in their lives. I try to handle their words as if they were treasured jewels that have been entrusted to me, and I try to let them know that I appreciate their willingness to be open.

2) Include at least one scripture. I remember one preacher saying that when he preached in prisons, he would speak some of the most profound things that he could think of, but get little more than a polite response. But whenever he quoted a scripture, he heard echoes of "Amen, Amen" all around the room. The word of God is truly "living and active" (Hebrews 4:12) and can bring about change just by quoting it.

I've talked with some people who have a deep faith, but they are unaware of some of the scriptures I'm alluding to. After telling one man 3 times that Jesus wanted him to have life abundant, but Satan wanted to keep him on a path towards death, the man asked if that was in the Bible. I pointed him to John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." I try not to assume that they know the same verses that I know, or even that they have a Bible to look up a verse. Go ahead and quote the scripture and let them know the chapter and verse in which you found it.

There are at least two easy places to look up scriptures online: bible.crosswalk.com or bible.gospelcom.net. You can then cut and paste the verses into your emails.

3) Include a prayer. It may seem awkward at first to pray online, but I assure you the Holy Spirit is not bound by time, space, nor forms of communication. These prayers are heard in heaven and felt in the lives of those to whom you write. Some of these people have not had anyone pray for them in years, if ever. It's a great blessing we can give them both here in the natural, and in the spiritual.

You can lead into a prayer in your note by simply saying something like, "Let me pray for you right here. Lord, I pray that you would..." or perhaps, "I'm going to pray and write out the prayer I'm praying for you."

Christian Worker's Handbook

To help you minister to people with various needs, we have provided an online version of the Billy Graham's Christian Worker's Handbook right on the same screen where you type your response. This handbook was developed to assist those who answer telephones after Billy Graham's TV broadcasts. Just click the link for the handbook, and you can scroll through it by topic.

The handbook gives helpful ideas for how to minister to people dealing with a wide variety of issues, such as anger, abortion, forgiveness, loneliness, depression, homosexuality, divorce, salvation and about 60 other topics. These are categorized in the same categories as the topics on our website. Each section contains insightful background information, plus several scriptures that would be appropriate and helpful to someone struggling with that issue.

You can take a look at this book here, too, to get an idea of what it contains (it's in PDF format and requires the free Adobe Acrobat reader) below:

View the Handbook online

Online Bible

We've also included on the response screen a link to an online Bible, which you can use to look up passages and "cut and paste" them into your response. Here's the Bible we link to if you'd like to take a look at the various translations offered.

Visit biblegateway.com

I often use the New International Version because it is the most common version in use today, but feel free to look through the other versions at the site and use one that you believe might truly speak to the visitor.

Chat Room

If you're interested in chatting "live" with someone, you can use the chat room at The Ranch. You don't need any special software. Just go to the "Talk" page of the website and click on the chat room. Enter a name you'd like to go by in the chat room, and you'll see the room load up automatically.

I've used the chat room frequently when someone needs a bit more interaction than by email alone. You can setup an appointment to meet them at a certain time in the chat room. (The chat sessions are logged, so if you need to erase the log, email me for the password to clear the chat session.)

I would also like to have the chat room at The Ranch open at least once or more during each day so people can have someone to talk to or pray with if need be. This would involve simply clicking on the chat room during your time slot, then you can "minimize" the chat room on your screen and do other things on your computer. If someone else enters the chat room to talk, a bell will ring to alert you that someone has entered. You could also invite a friend to come chat with you in case no one else shows up, but then if someone else does come in, you can both pray with them.

The main thing is to simply ask, "How can I help you?" or "How can I pray for you?" There may be days when no one but you shows up, but there may be days when several visitors show up at once. If you would like to volunteer for one hour a week, just let me know when you fill out the Staff Form.

See the Chat Room

Discussion Board

We've also created a discussion board where people can post their thoughts, questions, prayers, etc. It would be great if you would want to visit the discussion board from time to time to see if you can help someone who has posted a message.

See the Discussion Board

That's it for the guidelines! To help me determine which emails to route to you, please fill out the Ministry Volunteer Application.