Jon's Blog

For the past 16 years  I have had a burden to see believers discipled in prayer. Most churches neglect this important area probably because they asusme prayer growth will just happen in the life of a believer. It typically does not. We need to be intentional about it if we want to see believers grow.

One of the most significant truths I have learned is that good prayer discipleship needs to be simple (more simple than you would think) and basic. Most people are very unsure of themselves when it comes to prayer--either praying alone or with others. These people (many believers in your pews) need:

1. Prayer Guides. Most guides have scripture-based prayers that help people learn to pray God's will and heart, and get them praying more biblically than simple fix-it prayers.
   
2. Motivational Reminders. Beyond convincing people of prayer's importance, they need encouragement to keep at it. Churches that regularly provide little nudges, visual aides, etc. to remind people to pray, find that more people stick with it . . . and grow as a result.
   
3. Non-threatening Accountability. In this busy world it is easy to let things slip. If you want to disciple people effectively in prayer, find ways to add a simple accountability aspect to your prayer discipleship. Getting people to meet with one or two people for five minutes to pray following a service each week can be a way to provide this accountability.
   
4. Meaningful Topics. People will pray more if they are asked to pray for something that has importance to them. That is why most gravitate to personal needs praying. But you can provide powerful topics that relate to ministry items in your church or community. Give them a good kingdom agenda to focus prayer on and they will be better at it.

Most people need something in their hands that will teach them and help them pray more effectively. That is why books like Prayers That Avail Much, Patterns for Prayer, and The Common Book of Prayer are popular. They give people scriptural thoughts on what to pray.

That is also why we feel it is so important to launch Prayer Connect, our new magazine. The goal is to give prayer mobilizers--pastors and prayer leaders--a resource that they can put in the hands of average believers to motivate, disciple and challenge them to pray God's kingdom purposes.

Jonathan Graf is the president of the Church Prayer Leaders Network and the publisher of Prayer Connect magazine.