Turning Prayer Meetings into Adventures

 
In her new book, Fueled by Faith (New Hope Publishers), Jennifer Kennedy Dean includes a chapter that can be used to facilitate a small group or weeknight prayer meeting.

The content of the chapter can be used as study material for the facilitator (or, better yet, someone in the group) to present a brief (5-7 minute) devotional to focus everyone’s thoughts.

The outline of the chapter offers a format for three sections of prayer. Scripture is presented that can form the basis of each prayer emphasis.

Praise
 “Praise is a key element in prayer. Praise
 …puts the focus on God
 …causes your mind to stay fixed on Him
 …creates openness toward the things of God
 …builds faith
 …stirs love for God
 …can change the way you view life.”

Purity
 “Praise leads naturally to an awareness of sin in your life.”

Petition
 “Asking grows out of relationship.”

Pliability
 “As these first three elements of prayer take root, the naturaloutgrowth is a yielded, surrendered life.”

Use these four elements as your format. Select a hymn or worship song to be used at the beginning of each section to help center spoken prayers. After each song is sung, have someone read a scripture, then ask the group to offer prayers.