Intercessory Prayer and the need for Communication
Prayer “is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings” [Chrysostom].
Intercessory prayer permeates Scripture from Abraham’s intercession for Sodom to the second-to-the-last verse in Revelation. To pray for someone you must know about that one. The Apostle Paul prayed for those whom his ministry touched as well as for many he knew about but had never met. To aid in his prayer life, Paul was constantly seeking information about those for whom he prayed and valued others’ prayer for himself. In at least one instance, Paul sent Tychicus out to be sure information was gotten to multiple churches about Paul’s circumstances [Ephesians 6:21-22; Philippians 1:12-14; Colossians 4:7-8]. At an earlier time Paul dispatched Timothy to check on a church and bring Paul news [1Thessalonians 3:1-10]. Titus also provided a similar service for Paul in regards to Corinth [2Corinthians 7:5-7]. Paul often used those opportunities to write letters to the churches involved. He also carried news of the condition and needs of churches to other communities of Believers [Acts 14:27; 2Thessalonians 1:3-4; 2Corinthians 7:4; 8:1-5; 9:2]. In many, if not all, of Paul’s prayers for the churches in his letters he is responding to actual information he has received or knows personally about those churches [Colossians 1:3-12; Philemon 4-5].
We get a glimpse of how Believers continued to keep in touch with each other in the early church through the letters of Ignatius and Polycarp. Ignatius was a pastor in the Syrian city of Antioch and a former pupil of the Apostle John. He was sentenced to death for his faith about 117 A.D. and taken to Rome under guard for that purpose. Along the way he wrote seven letters to churches and to a fellow pastor, Polycarp. Polycarp, in his letters, also mentioned Ignatius and his letters. From these letters we get these circumstances outlined for us in this extensive quote by Richard Bauckham [Bauckham, pp. 40-42]:
The letters of Ignatius, written only two or three decades after Matthew, Luke, and John, give us a remarkably detailed picture of 
an active communication network among the churches of the area from Syrian Antioch to Philippi, as well as between these churches and Rome. They record how, in the period when Ignatius was traveling from Syrian Antioch to Italy, letters, delegates, and even bishops traveled back and forth between these various churches for a variety of purposes. The movements can be reconstructed as follows. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was being taken to Rome, a prisoner under guard, expecting martyrdom there. The route took him and his guards across Asia Minor. At Smyrna he was visited by emissaries from the churches at Ephesus, Magnesia, and Tralles, each led by its bishop, and he wrote a letter for each delegation to take back to their own community (Eph. 1:3; 2:1; 21:1; Magn. 2:1; 15:1; Trail. 1:1; 13:1). From Smyrna Ignatius also wrote to the church in Rome, apparently responding to news he had already received from the Roman church, and also referring to Syrian Christians who had traveled to Rome ahead of him (Rom. 10:2), presumably to prepare the Roman church for his arrival.
At Troas, waiting to embark on the sea journey to Neapolis, Ignatius wrote to the church at Smyrna, which he had just visited, and to the church at Philadelphia, which two of his companions had recently visited (Philad. 11:1). He also wrote a personal letter to Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna. These letters were conveyed by Burrus, who had been delegated by the churches of Smyrna and Ephesus to accompany Ignatius (Philad. 11:2; Smyrn. 12:1). While at Troas Ignatius had received news from Antioch, to the effect that the church there, which had been troubled either by persecution or by internal disputes (it is not clear which), was now at peace (Philad. 10:1; Pol. 7:1). Ignatius was therefore anxious that all the churches of the area should send messengers with letters to Antioch to congratulate the Antiochene Christians. His letter to the Philadelphian Christians tells them to send a deacon, pointing out that churches nearer to Antioch had already sent bishops or presbyters or deacons (Philad. 10:1-2). His letter to the Smyrnean Christians tells them to send someone to Antioch with a letter (Smyrn. 11:2-3). In his letter to Polycarp, he not only asks him to convene a meeting of the church to appoint someone really suitable for this task (Pol. 7:2), he also explains that he is having to leave Troas before he has had time to write to the other churches this side of Antioch (meaning, probably, those in Asia Minor). So Polycarp is deputed to do this, telling them all to send, if possible, messengers to Antioch, or at least a letter by the hand of the messengers from Smyrna (Pol. 8:1).
Finally, when Ignatius passed through Philippi, he asked the church there also to communicate with Antioch. Since Philippi was a considerable journey from Antioch, the Philippians decided to send their messenger only as far as Smyrna and to entrust their letter to the Smyrnean messenger. Polycarp of Smyrna, writing back to the Philippians, assures them this will be done, and expects himself to be going to Antioch, if only he can get away (Polycarp Phil. 13:1).
Thus, in the period it took Ignatius and his guards to travel from Antioch to Italy, two delegations of Christians had left for Rome (one from Antioch, one from Troas or Ephesus), major delegations had traveled from Ephesus, Magnesia, and Tralles to Smyrna, some Ephesian Christians had traveled on to Troas, messengers had gone from Troas to Philadelphia and to Smyrna, and from Philippi to Smyrna and back, and many of these churches had sent delegations, some including their bishops, to Antioch. Probably delegations and letters would also have reached Antioch for the same purpose from churches to the south and east of Antioch. The communication network is even more vigorous and complex than it had been when Paul and his missionary colleagues traveled the area.
All this to say that churches kept in touch with each other, eagerly seeking information on the condition of their fellow Believers. This, inevitably, aided their intercessory prayer on behalf of their fellow Christians. Ignatius specifically asked for prayer on behalf of his beloved church in Antioch. As Bauckham wrote above, when, sometime between leaving Smyrna and sailing from Troas, he received word that things had settled down in Antioch, he communicated that in each subsequent letter, ascribing credit for that peace to their prayers for the church in Antioch.
Typically, whoever carried letters also communicated fuller information on the writer’s circumstances. Paul indicated that Tychicus would do this for the churches at Ephesus and Colossae and probably Laodicaea [Ephesians 6:21-22; Colossians 4:7-9, 16]. He also told the church at Philippi that he would send Timothy later on with further information on Paul and to gain information from them [Philippians 2:19-24]. These also provided further information for intercessory prayer.
The church has always recognized the importance of intercessory prayer. In order to accomplish that, we have valued reports from other Believers and churches on the blessings they have received and the struggles they face. This is why we have a prayer list, why we publish missionary news in the newsletter, why we post missionary prayer letters, why we put bulletin inserts with information on the church around the world. All of these in order to further our work of intercessory prayer. We need to constantly seek God on behalf of our fellow Christians and their work.
As Polycarp, pastor of the church in Smyrna, wrote to the church at Philippi: “Pray for all the saints” [Polycarp Phil. 12].
Richard Bauckham, “For Whom were Gospel Written?,” The Gospels for All Christians [Grand Rapids, 1998] Richard Bauckham, ed.