PARIS L. GRAY/Courier-Post Ryan Regina prays during morning prayer services at Living Faith Christian Center in Cherry Hill.

By KIM MULFORD
Courier-Post Columnist

Danae Wallace prays while driving in her car.

Joan Strange prays on her lunch break and when she gets up in the middle of the night.

Pat Bollers prays daily alone and at least three times a week with others at her church - often for two-hour stretches.

They belong to different Christian denominations, but the women have something in common: They call themselves prayer warriors. They believe they are God's soldiers in the spiritual battle against evil.

Prayer is a central part of Christian practice. In a 1999 Gallup poll, nine of 10 surveyed said they prayed and three out of four said they prayed daily.

But a prayer warrior is someone "who is constantly seeking God," said Wallace, a 25-year-old Medford resident and former missionary in China. "A prayer warrior prays and intercedes for other people."

Wallace attends Marlton Assembly of God and helps lead the young adult ministry there, called The Trust. She takes prayer requests from its members.

"So many of the women have come to me with needs that I'm not qualified to answer," Wallace said. "I have to hand it to God."

She works full-time at Burlington County College, where she leads a Christian student group. She is also a full-time public relations student at Rowan University. She drives a lot, and dedicates her time in the car to God.

"I pray all the time, especially with my life being so crazy," said Wallace. "I need to depend on God to make it through a semester."

She prays for family, friends and especially for the mission she worked for in China. It's easy to pray, she said. She compares it to a phone call between best friends.

"It's just talking to God," Wallace said.

Strange sometimes steals away to her car during her lunch break. The 51-year-old Barrington woman pulls out her rosary and a list. She keeps a packet of written Catholic prayers in her purse and sometimes enlists the prayers of co-workers.

She prays an average of two hours a day. When she vacations with her husband, they visit shrines and pray.

"There's so many people in need," said Strange, who works as a secretary for the Diocese of Camden. "You should see my list. I have to write it down to remember them all."

She opens her prayer with a passage from Psalm 17:6-8. It begins, "I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer."

She believes prayer is a lifeline to God and food for the soul. She is adding a new kind of prayer to her repertoire, involving meditation.

"I do believe God bends his ear down to Earth to hear us," she said. "God doesn't promise us happiness on Earth. He does promise to assist us if we ask."

Bollers, 44, is director of prayer ministry at Living Faith Christian Center. The 4,000-member nondenominational Cherry Hill church is moving to the South Jersey Expo Center at the end of June.

Two nights a week, she attends an intercessory prayer group at her church. About 20 men and women pray over cards filled out by people seeking help with finances, family troubles, health problems and marital difficulties. The group receives about 50 prayer requests a month.

On Saturday mornings, she helps lead the corporate prayer hour, when church members gather to pray for the church, the nation and its leaders. During church services, while Pastor Lamont McLean is preaching, prayer warriors gather in a separate room and pray for him and his message.

"We war against spiritual wickedness in high places that try to stop the will of God," explained Bollers, who lives in Willingboro.

Much of the prayer on a recent Saturday session at Living Faith Christian Center was spent in praise. About 50 people raised their hands, swayed and bent their heads to the floor or a chair back. Sometimes, prayer warriors lay on the floor and pray, or wave their hands back and forth over a prayer card.

Sometimes, they cry over the prayer requests of others, said Bollers, because they feel the pain of the person they are praying for.

Prayer is more than just going to God with a list of requests, said Bollers. Worship is a big part of her prayer.

"You love him and you want to be with him," she said.

She pointed to another Biblical passage, James 5:13-19.

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray," the passage reads. "Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise . . . The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

Not every Christian is called to be a prayer warrior, Bollers said. "But every believer has an awesome privilege to pray."