. . . our ultimate measure of success, as one who has the responsibility or opportunity to lead others in prayer, is not how many people attend the event or participate in the program, but how deep and wide are the prayers of the congregation?

The depth of prayer has to do with the relationship displayed when we hear each other pray. Are we talking at the Lord or with Him? Are our requests the words of a beggar on the street to a passing-by stranger or the fierce but friendly negations of two partners bound by mutual commitment?

The breadth of prayer is expressed through the items we request. Are they heres-and-now for me-and-mine or do they have the potential to transform lives, families, and communities?

A smaller percentage of transformed pray-ers praying transformational prayers is to be preferred over a room full of individuals attending a meeting that just happens to include praying. Cast a vision for a prayer saturated church. Work toward that end. But devote yourself to those, maybe only a few, who have a desire to move into the deep and wide of prayer.

With you for a prayed for planet,

Praying the Christmas Story

Focus: The Christmas Story using Christmas Hymns and Carols

Format: 

1. Begin each segment with a scripture reading relevant to the theme of that segment.
2. Sing at least one verse of a Christmas hymn or carol
3. Facilitate prayers launched from the scripture or the story of the song

One of my favorite passages in Scripture is Luke 2:22-31, the account where Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple for circumcision and to offer a sacrifice.

In the account we see a godly priest, Simeon, and an elderly widow, Anna, who came every day to the Temple to worship and pray. Both of these characters recognized who Jesus was the moment they saw him.

What’s interesting to me is the fact that lots of people probably saw the infant Jesus during the first eight days of His life. I’m sure well-intentioned women visited Mary to admire her newborn. Perhaps as people passed Mary and Joseph on the street they stopped to look at Jesus. They stroked His chin; cooed at Him; perhaps kissed His forehead. They were that close to Him . . . but none of them recognized who He was!

Welcome to the last newsletter of 2005.

This has been a year of growth for the CPLN. We introduced two new e-magazines: incenseRising and The Praying Pastor. We introduced two new kinds of membership: Church Membership and Partial Membership. As a result, in the past 12 months, our memberships have grown by 50%. (We are trusting God for 100% growth this year.) On December 3rd, we introduced a new feature: a monthly telephone seminar. Next year promises to be one of expansion as well. We plan to redesign and increase what we offer on our website. And, Prayer Leader OnLine will undergo some changes as well. In an effort to make this newsletter more practical and useful for you, we are completely revamping what we offer each issue. While we will still have some of the features you enjoy, we plan to offer sections on different aspects of growing prayer in the local church. If the idea is to saturate a church with prayer, then you need help in each aspect of church life. We will offer rotating sections on:

• Prayer and Youth
• Children and Prayer
• Missions and Prayer
• Leadership and Prayer
• Men and Prayer
• Women and Prayer
• Small Groups and Prayer
• Prayer and Worship
• Dynamic Prayer Meetings

The sections will rotate, but each issue will have some very practical things you can share with various ministry leaders in your church. Our website will reflect this change as well. Later in January, you will find that it will be organized around these sections. Hopefully that will make it easier to find things you need.

Let us know what you think.
Jon Graf
President

Prayer Leader OnLine interviews Rick Richardson, the author of Experiencing Healing Prayer and the associate national director for evangelism for Inter Varsity and a professor and director of the Masters in Evangelism program at Wheaton College.

Q. Rick, you are a director of evangelism. What made you author a book on prayer?
I have a deep heart for this emerging generation, and for many people today, all the issues that they face and all the potential that they represent. I am concerned about the addictions, gender issues, mother and father wounds, and experiences of marginalization and broken relationships that people today face. But I am also tremendously excited about the authenticity and hunger for spiritual reality that people today have.

People today long for spiritual reality. I believe they long for the Spirit of God to touch them at dark points of brokenness, longing, pain, disadvantage and injustice. Healing is evangelism, especially for people today. I cannot tell you how often I get to pray for unchurched people.

I recall talking to a man on the train in Amsterdam. He shared his hurt and pain, the hurt and pain that had led him to visit a prostitute in the red light district the evening before. He had done that earlier in his life and it had caused him great pain, because he had lost a relationship that was important to him. We talked for about 20 minutes, and then I asked him if I could pray for him. When he agreed, I prayed. God's presence descended upon him and ministered to his heart and soul. After I was done praying, he looked up at me with soft eyes, saying he wished we could continue praying forever. This was the first moment of peace that he had experienced in years. That is evangelism.

Spend some time at http://www.ClickForPrayer.com

Here you will find a ministry of the World Prayer Team that can serve you personally and be a resource for your prayer room or a tool to help focus weeknight prayer meeting lists outward and global.

At the site you’ll find:

• Immediate – Free – Confidential
•  Pray for Others
• Daily Prayer Focus: International events
•  Request Prayer: Distributed instantaneously across the globe to The World Prayer Team
• Praise Reports
•  My Journal: A personal journal to track prayer requests and to send praise reports
• Prayer Resources