October 2005

New Benefit for Members

I am so excited to announce a new member benefit! Starting in November, we will begin offering "tele- seminars." What's a tele-seminar you ask? It's where you listen to a live seminar over your telephone.

Most seminars will feature either a CPLN staff person or rep or a local church prayer leader. The teaching will last 30-40 minutes and then there will be a short time for interaction.

More information will come in a few weeks via a speacial email. The first teleseminar topic will be "Developing a Prayer Strategy for Your Church," taught by yours truly. As soon as you hear when it is, why not sign up (it's free, except for your long distance charges). We encourage you to get your entire prayer team together, listen to the seminar on speaker phone, and then discuss it together afterwards.

The seminar will be hosted by our new ministry partner, GreaterCalling.org.

Jonathan Graf

President, CPLN

Hope This Helps

Dear Phil,

Thank you so much for the items in Prayer Leader Online. I can't tell you how much I needed to hear these things right now as I struggle with the fledgling prayer ministry at my church.

I need advice on how to light enthusiasm for prayer and worship. In this past year, we've held a prayer seminar, prayer workshop, prayer vigil, prayerwalk and attempted to form a prayer team. All were not very well attended despite much advance communication. In our early prayer team meetings, we tried to initiate the formation of groups to cover various aspects of the church, (i.e., teams to pray for staff, for youth, for children, for each worship service, for various committees, etc.). I have now switched tactics and am going to folks one by one, starting by asking them to meet me on Sunday mornings to pray for/with our pastors. There are a few successes, but often I'm met with various excuses (too early, maybe sometime . . .).

On the other hand, we now have a lovely prayer room, and there are a few folks becoming amenable to the idea of covering all we do in prayer. It's just very encouraging to me to hear from others about feeling a bit frustrated and I appreciate the prayers. I also appreciate all the resources and advice I can find!

In grateful prayer,

Carol S.

Dear Carol,

Sad to say, your situation is the rule rather than the exception. But please don’t let that discourage you. Our Enemy would be very pleased to know another prayer leader gave up because he or she faced so many obstacles inside the church (not to mention the outside obstacles of the Enemy himself!).

Persistence itself is a victory! Jesus “knows your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance” (Rev. 2:2). The hard soil you are tilling will bear fruit; if not in your season, certainly in a future season that will bless the congregation and the kingdom of God. Also, do not undervalue the small steps of progress that you have seen. They have the potential of being significant if you continue to see the big picture of what God is doing.

I encourage you to ask the Lord for someone who will stand with you in pray for the prayer life of the congregation. As the Lord supplies, then ask for two more, then four. Let Him build your team through simple but strategic prayers.

Finally, your goal is a congregation that values prayer, not merely a prayer activity church.

Hope this helps!

Phil

P.S. In between Prayer Leader Online, visit these sites for additional ideas, resources, and the latest news on prayer:

*CPLN Members have access to:  http://www.PrayerLeader.com

Members Only Menu
Praying Pastor
Incense Rising (intercession)

*Pastor Phil produces several blogs with additional items:

http://PrayingPastorBlog.blogspot.com - Practical helps

http://PrayerLeader.blogspot.com - More ideas & insights

http://NPPNblog.blogspot.com - News from across the globe

Uncommon Prayer Meetings

Turning Prayer Meetings into Adventures

Praying in the Church, for the Church

Purpose: Church members praying for the church ministries in the ministry locations throughout the church building.

Preparation: Recruit the leader of each church ministry (youth, education, finance, choir/music, etc.), asking them to come to the prayer meeting prepared to share the goals and needs of their ministry in 1-3 minutes.

[Alternative - Identify generic prayer stations: Worship (music ministries), Discipleship (classes), Fellowship (small groups), Leadership (committees), Stewardship (administration & finance), Partnership (missions), Relationship (evangelism)]

Process: Disperse the leaders to the area of the facility they meet in or serve from. Divide the members into several (at least 3) small groups. Send each group to a different ministry spot where they will pray for that ministry. Have them rotate every (5-7) minutes.

Plan:

• Meet together for praise and instructions
• Send the leaders to their locations
• Send the groups
• Each leader shares (1-3 minutes) then the group prays
• Ring a bell (or other sound) so each group moves a the same time
• Bring everyone together for a final segment:
• Ask for feedback: “What did you experience? Was this difficult?”

“Leaders: Was this any different from what you expected?”

Conclude with a song and a blessing.

An Idea for Prayer Champions

Give Thanks . . . with a Gift

Thanksgiving is a wonderful and appropriate time to show appreciation to those who support the ministry of prayer . . . and to plant the seed in others. Why not bless those on your prayer team and/or those who support the church in prayer with the gift of a book or tape that the Holy Spirit can use to draw them deeper into biblical prayer.

One book we highly recommend is The Lighthouse Devotional.  Currently, Harvest Prayer Ministries is offering this $15 hardcover book at 67% off the retail price ($5.00). Pray! Books also offers multiple copy discoutns on its products. Such books as Lord, Teach Us to Pray, Approaching God, or the inexpensive Paths of Gold would make good "thank yous" for people of prayer.

If you do not have a prayer ministry budget, ask permission to utilize the church’s leadership budget or raise enough funds to cover the cost of purchasing multiple copies of a prayer resource.

Include a note that affirms them and invites their fuller participation.

Developing a Congregation That Loves to Pray

Prayer Leader OnLine interviews Dr. Alvin VanderGriend, Prayer Evangelism Associate for Harvest Prayer Ministries

Q. Alvin, many prayer leaders and praying pastors are concerned about the lack of participation in prayer among their church members. Do you share this concern and, if so, how have we gotten to this point in the North American Church?

I agree that there is a lack of participation in prayer among North American churches. I think this has happened for two reasons. First, for the past century most North American seminaries have failed to give ministerial students an adequate understanding of prayer and have failed to help them develop their prayer lives. Consequently, congregations led by these pastors have lacked the leadership required to develop their understanding and practice of prayer.

Second, Christians, influenced by our materialistic and hedonistic society, are prone today to think of prayer as a way to find solutions to problems and to get the good life. When used in this way prayer turns into a monotonous system of begging God rather than a joyful love relationship. When that happens prayer becomes an activity not a joy. Begging is not something people naturally love to do. 

Q. The Church Prayer Leaders Network is just one of hundreds of ministries and networks promoting personal and corporate prayer among Christians. Are we making any real progress?

I see progress. Hundreds of ministries and networks are now promoting personal and corporate prayer. Many books on prayer are being published and read. Internet sites are providing helpful prayer information and teleconferencing systems are networking thousands of people in prayer. Good resources like the Church Prayer Leader Network’s website www.prayerleader.com, Mission America’s Lighthouses of Prayer ministry and Harvest Prayer Ministries’ 40 Days of Prayer initiative are making a difference.

I also see more and more churches providing a variety of times, places and ways for their people to pray. These churches are seeing increasing numbers involved in their prayer ministries.

Q. What do you consider to be the greatest obstacle? The one barrier that has the most potential for a breakthrough?

I think that the greatest obstacle to the development of biblical prayer in the church today is lack of strong prayer leadership from pastors. The most frequent complaint I hear among local church prayer leaders is that their pastors are not supporting them. The level of prayer in a congregation will typically not rise higher than that of the pastoral leaders. That being true, the greatest potential for breakthrough is to provide sound biblical training in prayer for pastors and other church prayer leaders. Prayer conferences put on by CPLN or ministries like Strategic Renewal International have helped many pastors and prayer leader’s breakthrough.

Q. What can you say to help prayer leaders who want to see their congregation learn to love to pray?

I’d say begin with confession. The prophet Samuel said to the people of Israel: “far be it from me that I should sin against you by failing to pray for you” (1 Sam. 12:23). Failure to pray is sin. Congregations that are not “devoted to prayer” (Col. 4:2) are sinning. Sin needs to be confessed. God will not tolerate sin; but He will forgive it--even the sin of prayerlessness. Forgiven congregations are free to move on to new levels of devotion in prayer.

Here are some prayer goals that I think a local church should work at. [Consider inviting the church’s leaders to check those to be achieved in one year, three years and five years—and to add some of their own].

• The church will have a functioning Prayer Ministry Team.
• The church will have written prayer goals that are kept in front of the congregation.
• Prayer needs, answers and opportunities will be communicated weekly to the congregation.
• _____ corporate prayer opportunities will be provided for members each week.
• Our weekend services will be bathed in prayer by (1) a group that prays before each worship service, or (2) a group that prays during each worship service.
• Church staff and board members will spend at least ______hours each week praying for the congregation and its needs.
• All church groups will devote at least a tithe of their time to prayer.
• Intercessory teams will be available to pray with individual worshipers after each service.
• Prayer will be intentionally integrated in every aspect of the church’s life.
• Prayers for the “harvest” will be included in ______ worship services each month.

Q. Which resources have you found most beneficial in discipling people into a love to pray maturity?

I carry Cheryl Sacks book The Prayer-Saturated Church with me whenever I do a prayer seminar or consultation and always recommend it. It’s the best think currently available. I also carry and recommend Daniel Henderson’s book Fresh Encounters. Daniel’s emphasis on worship-based, pastor-led prayer is restoring freshness to church prayer meetings. The Praying Church Sourcebook, with its 33 practical strategies for praying churches, is still very useful. Doug Kamstra’s, The Praying Church Ideabook, a kind of companion volume to the Sourcebook is excellent. I am hearing reports that both pastors and their members are finding their prayer lives stimulated and deepened by Love to Pray, A 40-Day Devotional For Deepening Your Prayer Life. Harvest Prayer Ministries’ brand new 40 Days of Prayer initiative based on the Love to Pray devotional is beginning to help churches develop meaningful 40-day prayer campaigns. It has 40-day guidelines, a small group study guide, DVD presentations by national prayer leaders and sermon resources. See www.40daysofprayer.net for these resources.

Editor's Note: All these resources are available to CPLN Members at a discount at our Member Resource Store.

Q. Alvin, please write a prayer that prayer leaders and praying pastors can say along with you toward helping their members learn to love to pray.

Father, we love You. We praise You as the prayer-hearing God. We thank You for giving us prayer as a way to live in loving fellowship with You. Thank You, Jesus, for modeling prayer so clearly and perfectly for us and for interceding for us before the Father’s throne. Please teach us how to pray as You taught the disciples long ago. And thank You, Holy Spirit, for living in our hearts and helping us know how to pray. Give us the spirit of grace and supplication; and help us hear the Father’s voice.

Fill us, Lord, with the knowledge of Your will. We especially want to know Your will regarding prayer so that we may learn to love to pray as You loved to pray. Help us to build churches that are truly “houses of prayer”. Give us a clear sense of what our church will look like as it become a praying church. Give us patience when things go slowly. Give us faith to believe that You are working even when we don’t see the results. Help us to stand against every attempt of the evil one to diminish prayer in our church.

Hear us Father as we come to You in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ and by the power of the Spirit. Amen

Setting All-Church Prayer in Motion

By Jacquie Tyre

“Hear ye! Hear ye! Starting next month City Community Church will embark upon a new and exciting ministry. Prepare now to be a part and see the blessings of God pour out through this new work!”

“Prepare now . . . ?” How do I do that?

Does this scenario sound familiar to you? Whether you are a pastor, lay leader, or member of a congregation, opportunities for church-wide involvement come along almost weekly. We usually think of roles like teaching, serving, greeting, gathering or preparing supplies, contacting people, set-up, or clean-up as ways to be involved. But what about mobilizing people to pray before, during, and after the event?

Such moments within church life are optimum times to initiate a new emphasis on prayer. Whether it’s an outreach event, a new ministry focus, a stewardship campaign, a sermon series, or a citywide call for evangelism, this can be an opportunity to engage your congregation in purposeful, strategic prayer. How? By developing or using an existing all-church prayer initiative.

What’s an all-church prayer initiative? It is a plan where an entire congregation (or multiple congregations in a city or nation) are all praying on the same theme for a set period of time (often one week, a month, or 40 days, though it can be any length of time that suits your church). Prayer guides are developed to provide content for a congregation to pray together. Praying through the Window and Pray! World are two initiatives that may be familiar to you. The most popular prayer initiative available today is Seek God for the City, which runs 40 days prior to Palm Sunday each year.

Why hold a prayer initiative? Aside from the tremendous blessing of God that is released when the body prays together, prayer initiatives provide a number of benefits to a congregation. First, they bring a sense of unity in purpose. Second, they will have a long-range effect on the corporate prayer life of your church. Each time an initiative is held, a number of your people will get excited about prayer and will continue to participate in prayer opportunities after the initiative is over. You will see your ongoing prayer ministries grow following an initiative.

How do you do an initiative? It’s not difficult! All you need is a focus, a person who is willing to pray and listen for the Holy Spirit’s direction and communicate it to the congregation, and a pastor who will encourage and support the initiative.

Our Story

A few years ago, our church began a stewardship campaign to raise funds to construct a new sanctuary, fellowship hall, and education space. Our goal was to have 25 percent of the total cost in hand before beginning construction. Wisely, the stewardship committee told us that our prayers for the project would provide the foundation for success.

Teams were set up to oversee the various aspects of the campaign, including hospitality, printing, information meetings, publicity, and prayer. The prayer team set to work to develop and distribute a stewardship prayer focus that would match the campaign theme, “Growing Up Together . . . In Step with God.”

For several weeks, the weekly church bulletin included a prayer focus insert with an introductory teaching, Scripture, application, and prayer point for each day. We also listed specific prayer requests related to the overall project. Our primary emphasis was not on raising money, but on growing in grace and maturity as people of God. We asked Him to prepare our hearts to obey the Holy Spirit’s leading when the time came to make our pledges of finances and service.

The stewardship campaign concluded successfully, with a higher than expected percentage of participation. Actual giving exceeded the pledges made! But perhaps more important was that our people grew in prayer, both personally and corporately, and we took steps to “grow up together . . . in step with God.”

Throughout this time, our pastor and church leaders used parts of the prayer initiative in a variety of ways: for the pastoral prayer, during corporate prayer times, in announcements, and testifying answers to prayer. During this prayer initiative, we found that corporate prayer agreement increased within the congregation. As we followed the prayer emphasis for the week in our personal prayer times, the Holy Spirit wove a beautiful tapestry of insight, revelation, and understanding when we came together for prayer.

How to Begin

A number of prayer guides are available to help you mobilize people to pray. However, developing your own program that focuses on the needs of your congregation often provides the relevance that sparks prayer. Here are some action steps for developing a prayer-mobilizing initiative for your congregation. While an individual can do this alone, working with a team has tremendous benefits. If you are working alone, make sure you seek out people who will honestly critique what you are developing during the process.

1. Pray. Seek the Lord’s timing, wisdom, and favor on what to do. Then proceed with faith and assurance that He loves to hear His people praying.
2. Contact your pastor, or the designated prayer leader, and discuss the idea. Any church-wide prayer initiative must have the approval and participation of the church leadership to be a success. Without it, the core pray-ers will engage, but the majority will not be mobilized effectively.
3. Choose an emphasis. For your first effort, consider something that has broad appeal or impact. Big events like vacation Bible school, backyard clubs, youth missions trips, or outreach events are great starters. Seasons of the year also work well (begin an initiative in January, before Easter, or Christmas). Or develop an initiative around a sermon series. As your pastor preaches through Ephesians, for example, an initiative that has your congregation praying through Ephesians at the same time would be a powerful experience.
4. Decide how long the initiative should last. One week is probably too short, and more than three months, too long. We have found that four to six weeks works well.
5. Choose a biblical theme or key Scripture. As much as you can develop your prayer initiative around Scripture, the more long-term benefits your congregation will reap. Learning to pray Scripture will not only mobilize prayer, but will foster prayer discipleship and understanding.
6. Pray over the theme or Scripture that’s chosen. As you pray, the Holy Spirit will release insight and direction for how to communicate the initiative.
7. Start writing the initiative, seeking the Lord’s guidance. The first words are the toughest to write every time. The more you write, the easier the words will flow. Remember, you are simply defining a place of initiation to get people praying—you are not providing all they will pray.
8. Submit your work to the appropriate church leaders well in advance of your deadline for publishing. Allow plenty of time to accommodate busy staff, last-minute corrections, and printing.
9. Pray as the finished project is released to the congregation. Pray that the Holy Spirit will take the initiative and multiply His purposes among the people, for His glory and the advancement of His kingdom.
10. Take advantage of the heightened interest in prayer. Once a specific prayer initiative concludes, it is sometimes a struggle to keep people engaged. We found that continuing to provide intentional opportunities for prayer (in small groups and for the entire congregation), as well as encouragement and reminders, keep the fires burning. Use this opportunity to remind people of the ongoing prayer opportunities your church has. Highlight each one during the last Sunday morning service of the initiative, or the Sunday just following.

Prayer initiatives can launch your congregation into an experience of joy in God’s house. I have seen a number of churches whose prayer foundation was greatly increased due to an initiative. Start seeking God today to see if He might have something special for your congregation, through a prayer initiative.

About the Author

Jacquie Tyre is the prayer coordinator at Lilburn Alliance Church in Metro Atlanta and the Georgia State Coordinator for the Strategic Prayer Network. She regularly produces initiatives for her church and for Unite Atlanta, a ministry that brings Atlanta-area churches together for prayer. Her prayer initiatives, Ready for Revival: A 40-Day Heart Journey Toward the Fullness of Christ and The Jabez Prayer Guide  (Pray! Books) have been used by thousands.

Featured Resource

Learn to Love to Pray

A new prayer initiative has caught fire and is effecting hundreds of churches, firing up their congregations to love to pray!

40 Days of Prayer leads people into a deeper prayer life through devotionals and study materials that are designed specifically to teach them how to pray, what to pray and why to pray. The 40 Days of Prayer campaign and its website provide all the resources needed to effectively use the Love to Pray books, study guides and DVD to participate in a 40 Days Of Prayer experience. Individuals, families, prayer cells, small groups and churches can all use these materials and tailor them to their specific needs.

While there are a number of good prayer initiatives available these days (Seek God for the City and Ready for Revival being two others), 40 Days of Prayer provides your church and people with the most complete package available today that will develop people into a pattern of prayer.