CONFERENCE EVENTS

PRAYER FOR YOUR CHURCH

Lord, I lift up my deacons to You. May they walk worthy of respect with sincere hearts. Keep them from indulgence and greed. Help them keep hold of truth. May they keep short accounts with You so that their conscience is clear. Bless their households with peace and respect. Fill them with Your Spirit and let them operate in wisdom as they carry out their responsibilities. (1 Tim. 3:8-9, 12; Acts 6:3)
 
Home arrow January 2005 arrow Uncommon Prayer Meetings!
Uncommon Prayer Meetings! PDF Print E-mail

Turning Prayer Meetings into Prayer Adventures

An Ephesians Prayer Meeting
One of the most powerful types of prayer that you can practice is to pray Scriptures. The church that teaches its people to pray God’s Word will never be at a loss for Kingdom pray-ers!
An excellent change of pace for a prayer meeting is to pray through a book of the Bible.



While many books work in this format, I like to use the book of Ephesians. Its six chapters provide a varied theme that keeps an hour prayer meeting flowing. The important thing is to be prepared ahead of time. Rather than just say, tonight we are going to pray through the book of . . . and then set them loose, moist people will appreciate a little structure or direction. Try to divide the time into 10-20 minute segments. Give people some idea of a theme for each segment. For example:

I divide Ephesians into the following six segments (10 to 15 minutes each):

  • Chapter 1: Using the verses of this chapter, pray prayers of praise that focus on who God is. Pray that Jesus would open our eyes to see Him for who He is—His authority, power, dominion.
  • Chapter 2: Pray prayers that recognize who we were before knowing Christ, and who we are now.
  • Chapter 3: The mystery of Christ. Focus on who He is; that He is able to do above and beyond all we could ask or imagine.
  • Chapter 4: Pray for ourselves and our people—that we would live as ones who have been claimed by Christ.
  • Chapter 5: Our Relationships. Pray for marriages, and family relationships.
  • Chapter 6: Warfare. Pray the armor onto ourselves and our people. Pray that our congregation would recognize that we are in a battle.

Depending on how large your group is, this format works in a large gathering, or divide into groups of six, three, or pairs. If your people have never prayed Scripture before, you might have to give a simple lesson before starting. Simply show them how some verses can be turned into prayers.
--Jonathan Graf
 
< Prev   Next >