HOW? You cannot purchase one of these prayer banners for your own church; but just like salvation, it depends only on the grace of God freely given for you to receive it.

The Fellowship of John 17:21, through the generous donations of interested fellow-believers and churches, is gifting the costs of your prayer banner to Christian churches by applying these three rules:

Your church can only receive a Prayer Banner as a free gift from other believers given by the grace of God in their hearts to you. If your church has received one already, we ask only that you consider displaying it where Christians gather for worship as a reminder to make Jesus' prayer in John 17:21 your very own.

You cannot buy a Prayer Banner for your own church, you can only Pay it Forward to others. If you haven't yet been nominated by another church to receive one, then tell us so when you place your order to Pay it Forward to any church of your choice, and we'll also send a Prayer Banner of the same type to your church as well, prepaid through the generosity of our other donors. Unless you tell us otherwise, we'll send one only to the church you nominate.

If you choose to participate as a banner donor in this John 17:21 Fellowship Prayer Banner Project, you "Pay it Forward" to the next Christian church where it will be received as a free gift of brotherly and sisterly love from other believers. You pay to give a prayer banner to any other church of your choosing (or if you like, we will choose one for you).

The 'Pay it Forward' Idea for Christian Unity

If it works for fast food (see N.Y.Times article), why can't it work if we focus here on providing the real, spiritual food; food that lasts and truly satisfies?

When we send the Prayer Banner, we'll include a written explanation to the receiver telling how this Prayer Banner ministry works and directing them to this website, but it's entirely up to them to contact us if they want to Pay it Forward by ordering a Prayer Banner to be sent to another church.

We won't otherwise contact them or push them to get involved. Our Prayer Banners are provided at no cost to the receiver, fully paid in advance by the generosity of our donors, including shipping and handling (which by the way, normally takes 2 to 3 weeks.)

We have no desire to 'sell' anything; in fact, it's absolutely critical that this 'Pay it Forward' ministry can only work if each Prayer Banner is freely given with Jesus' love for all believers coming from the hearts of the senders: " 34 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35 NivUS)

If the church you nominate happens to be inspired by your gift to continue in blessing others and Pay it Forward again, it makes it possible for yet another group of believers down the line to receive a FREE* prayer banner from them, creating a 'ripple effect' that we pray may go on and on.

You could nominate a church from your own fellowship of faith to receive a prayer banner, if you like. That may be where you'd like to get the movement started first. Or you could nominate a church from a different denomination than yours; in a faith group you know to be Christ-centered, but whose non-essential doctrines are not the same as your own, requiring you "to stretch a little" in exercising your Christian love, so that the gift might be even more surprising and unexpected.

When we send the Prayer Banner, we'd like to let them know it came from you, or you can remain anonymous if you really prefer. Either way, we'll let the receiver know the gift is being freely provided by believers to believers, with no strings attached, to glorify our Lord, from your hearts to theirs, in one shared, holy love for all believers in Jesus.