If you believe in saving your

money, you can drop your deposit in the slot at your local bank's drive-through

window and earn some interest. If you believe in prayer, you can drop

your prayer request in the slot at a new drive-through prayer booth in

Fayetteville and who knows what dividends might be in store.

A small booth built originally

for photo processing is now being used for developing people's lives through

prayer. The folks at New Hope Baptist Church took over the space, which

had been vacant for a couple of years after last being used to sell snow

cones, and have invited anyone of any religious persuasion to share his

or her needs and have members of the church pray over them.

The idea was recently voiced

at a meeting of the church's Prayer Ministry Development Team, according

to team member Marsha Myers, who credited the Holy Spirit with the idea's

conception.

"We thought it would be

a great way to say, 'Prayer works. Can we pray for you?'" said Myers.

The prayer request booth is

not really an outreach of the church in the traditional way, since New

Hope does not put out any literature or solicit anything else through

its use. The only reason the New Hope is on the booth, in small letters

near the bottom of the window, is so that people in the community know

who is behind it, Myers said.

The owner of the booth is allowing

the church to use it free of charge, and church members invested some

of their own time and money to spruce it up, as it was in need of a paint

job and a few other repairs, according to Myers. It has been in "operation"

about a month, and requests have been received from all kinds of people.

The booth is unmanned, and

prayer requests are retrieved once a week. So far, as many as five requests

in a single week have been received.

"We'd love to get 500

or 5,000 a week," Myers said.

When requests are received,

they are reviewed and all personal information is removed to maintain

privacy. The requests are then logged in a prayer notebook, which is made

available throughout the week at the church for members wishing to pray

for people.

Myers said that there have

been no practical jokes or other improper requests so far. "Everyone

has been very respectful," she said. "We want to thank the community

for that."

New Hope encourages anyone

and everyone to take advantage of the prayer request booth, regardless

of church affiliation.

"This is not about New

Hope. This is about praying for people, because prayer works," said

Myers. "I had made a series of bad choices in my life. People prayed

for me, and Jesus Christ turned my life around."

The booth is in front of the

Hudson Plaza shopping center, facing Ga. Highway 85, next to McDonald's

in Fayetteville.

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