“Our church would greatly benefit from a workshop or special emphasis on prayer but we have no provision for this cost in our budget. What can we do to bring expert teaching to our people?”

Several options come to mind:

If you cannot afford to bring the “expert” to your people, take your people to the expert. Most church members are willing to pay their own way to a conference or seminar. Visit PrayerLeader.com and click on Prayer Calendar for information on CPLN prayer conferences and workshops.

No funds in this year’s budget?

--Submit a request for an outside speaker to the appropriate committee for consideration when next year’s budget is drafted.
--Pray for a permission to raise the funds from an individual who could make such a donation (set a realistic budget before you contact anyone).
--Invite a speaker who will come on the basis of a special offering given at the event to cover his/her expenses and honorarium.
--Ask another ministry in the church to partner with you. The Evangelism Ministry, for example, could partner with you on a seminar on Prayer Evangelism. Their funds cover the speaker’s travel and housing with an offering to cover the honorarium.
--Make it a community-wide event. Invite other churches and/or ministries to share in the expenses, giving their participants a discount off the registration cost.

Not last and not lest, pray! Ask the Lord for a creative idea, a divine appointment with someone who may know someone who would come at their invitation, or for the boldness to make a cold contact with an “expert” (you’d be blessed to know that many nationally known prayer leaders will come without a large upfront guarantee of dollars).

Another possibility, scrape the money together to purchase a video (tape or DVD) of a well known teacher. Recruit the best cook in the congregation. Borrow a large screen TV or a video projector. Offer a cheap but delicious breakfast and a larger-than-life presentation by an inspiring speaker.

Don't be discouraged. There are ways to facilitate a prayer event without a lot of funds. Pray, rust God, and go for it.