Leading Prayer with a Passage of Scripture

Praying Scripture is a powerful method of prayer. A congregation hearing their leaders pray is also a powerful teaching moment. Here’s an idea that puts the two together.

I have been leading my church prayer meetings this past year that we have been without a senior pastor. A new lead pastor just started his ministry with us, but I am continuing to “co-lead” our prayer times with him.

His first Wednesday, our new pastor started doing something extremely dynamic that incorporates both praying Scripture and being a leader who prays in front of his people. I should note that we are a church where a leader leads the prayer time, seeking God as to what to focus prayer on. We typically do not take requests and pray through a list of personal needs. The leader shares topics for prayer that the Lord has laid on His heart. (Sometimes at the end we open the time for personal needs, but praying for the spiritual health and life of the church, community and nation are the primary topics of prayer.)

Now, each week in our midweek Fresh Encounter prayer meeting, following worship, our pastor starts the prayer time by reading through a short passage of Scripture (2-10 verses) and then he prays through the passage in front of those gathered. When he finishes, I move the gathered intercessors to pray ideas or points from the passage over our people and church.

We do not stay on that topic for the entire prayer time, but it starts us out in a dynamic way that mixes the Word and prayer.

I highly recommend trying that method if you lead your prayer meeting. It has invigorated our prayer time.

–Jon Graf is the publisher of Prayer Connect magazine and the president of the Church Prayer Leaders Network.