Mixed blessing
Now healthy, Mr Allen appreciates the help that was directed his way - including donations that helped pay medical bills. But he also says he was "embarrassed and offended" that his illness was made so public for so long; messages describing it can still be found on many Internet sites.

Traditional calls for mass prayer were limited to large causes such as world peace or hunger. Public requests to pray for an individual were usually reserved for serious illnesses and kept within a local congregation. But in the new electronic prayer chains, the cause can be anything from a wife's infidelity to an uncle's gambling. The effect is global. On the Web, prayer chains like the one that adopted Mr. Allen are whipping the most private aspects of people's lives from site to site around the Web, often without their consent. The popular Beliefnet.com site (www.beliefnet.com) carries postings seeking help for a "Bipolar Father and Husband" and for a fellow named Mike who "Needs Help Being Nice To People." Full names are given. On partnersnprayer.org, (http://partnersnprayer.org), a North Carolina site, a travel agent in Colorado wants help for her husband, described as alcoholic and no longer interested in being married. Stephen, in South Carolina, posted a multisite plea recently asking for his wife'sdeliverance "from anger, hurt, guilt, resentment ... so that she will be able to again feel the love she has" for him. Both posters, reached by telephone, acknowledge that they didn't tell their spouses about the prayer calls, although the messages disclosed their identities. Officials at partnersnprayer.org couldn't be reached for comment on their privacy policy.

More is better
Many cyber-supplicants praise prayer chains and say they help so many souls precisely because they have a multiplier effect. "The more people, the better," says Kathy Bryant, of Kankakee, Illinois, who begged for intercessory e-prayer for a neighbor who suffered a stroke at Christmastime. Some regard the Web as more confidential than their local communities, reasoning that nobody nearby will ever see an Internet posting. "I could have gone to a local church and gotten on a prayer list, but you're talking a small town," explains Tammy Cavinder, of Tekonsha, Michigan, population 722. She sought prayers on behalf of someone close who was accused of impregnating a former girlfriend. But some clerics recoil. "This is prayer-as-talk-show, as opposed to prayer-as-community," says Donna Schaper, senior pastor of Coral Gables Congregational Church in Miami. "Don't pray for me on the Internet," begs John Vannorsdall, retired chaplain at Yale University, who says he would be mortified to see his feelings described onthe Web. Many prayer sites - also called prayer boards, prayer circles or prayer-request lines - are associated with individual churches. Others are plainly nondenominational. There are chains for "Divorced, Single Moms," even a "Figure Skater Prayer Chain." The multifaith Beliefnet.com offers 1,000 different chains, including one for "All Those With Financial Concerns." Some sites used in chains delete obviously sensitive material or keep identities anonymous. But many don't, nor do they verify the accuracy of submissions. For the most part, lawyers say it is the poster and not the site that is liable for any defamatory information.

Multiplying fast
The sites are multiplying fast, and marketers have already spotted the commercial potential. A study of the Web sites of 1,309 congregations funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and released in December found that 18% had a place where people could post or respond to prayer requests, and that 22% were considering adding one. Ekra Group Inc, a Northridge, California, Website designer, in November unveiled PrayersOnTheWeb.com, (www.prayersontheweb.com), which has 40 links to other commercial sites, including one to 1-800-FLOWERS. Ric Alonso, a co-owner, says Ekra receives a commission ranging from two per cent to 25 per cent of sales every time a user clicks on a commercial link, plus two cents every time a user clicks one of the listed search engines. A portion of the profits goes to charity, Mr Alonso says. Beliefnet Inc, the closely held New York City firm that operates Beliefnet.com, is backed by $25 million in venture-capital funds. It sells advertising packages ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 a month. Onerecent promotion advertised a Readers Digest-sponsored electronic Advent calendar. The company declines to discuss revenue.

Seeking privacy
Martha Ainsworth, a Beliefnet administrator, says the company struggles with privacy issues. She recalls one message poster being upset when the company wouldn't list a patient's hospital room out of concern that strangers might descend on the ailing patient. "We tell people not to post personally identifiable information, but they ignore us," she says.