Appreciate the Differences among the Body of Christ

The Five Love Languages by counselor Gary Chapman has been on the Christian bestseller list for years. The book reveals how people express love in different ways. Words of affirmation, spending quality time with loved ones, gift giving, acts of service and physical touch are several ways to receive and express love.

Problems arise if a person doesn’t understand that his or her partner may speak a different “language” when expressing love. Not feeling loved is a common result.

Similarly we differ in how we express our love to God. How do these love languages relate to our prayer life and our relationships with God and others in the Body? Some express love by service—by doing things. Others express love by spending time with God. I wonder if people who express love through physical touch long to sense God’s presence. They may seek experiential worship more than words of affirmation.

What Are You Doing on the First Friday of the Month?

Does your church participate in First Friday Prayer? "What's First Friday Prayer?" you ask. An ongoing "praying for revival" initiative, that sees thousands of church prayer groups and hundreds of thousands of individuals cry out to God for the U.S. church on the first Friday of every month.

First Friday has been in operation for more than 30 years in the United States. Currently shepherded and monitored by Intercessors for America, First Friday has kept a heart cry for revival at the forefront of many churches. First Friday is also the monthly expression of a document called The National Prayer Accord. Issued in 1999, the Prayer Accord, which was signed by more than 70 denominations and 200 national ministry leaders, calls our nation to extraordinary prayer for revival in the church and a national spiritual awakening to Christ in our nation.

The idea is to have local church prayer groups fast and gather together on the first Friday of each month to pray for our nation's spiritual health. General themes for prayer provided by IFA, can be found in Pray! magazine (in CPLN's Empowered section) and at www.ifapray.org. IFA also has a free newsletter you can receive. The CPLN will also begin including First Friday prayer themes on our site, and provide links to the First Friday section at IFA's site.

One of the best things we can do for our prayer lives sometimes is to get out of our routine. Taking a day to pray or going to a prayer conference for refueling can be an excellent catalyst to ignite our prayer lives.

The CPLN wants to recommend to you six fall conferences that can Ignite you and your people toward deeper levels of prayer. Three conferences are wholely sponsored by CPLN, one is sponsored by our parent ministry, Harvest Prayer Ministries, and two--recommend to our Canadian members--featuring our president Jon Graf, are sponsored by the C&MA of Canada.

Do you ever feel like your prayers are rote, mundane, uninspired? How about the prayers of others in your chruch?

It's easy to get into habits of prayer that make it seem weak and lifeless. Prayer is difficult. And apart from the Holy Spirit it is just wasted effort. One of the most dynamic books on prayer to arrive on the market was just released by NavPress in early June. Written by Fred Hartley, local church pastor, and cofounder of the Colleges of Prayer, Prayer on Fire will encourage you toward more dynamic prayer--prayer fueled by the Holy Spirit.

Prayer On Fire offers the challenge, "Watch what happens when the Holy Spirit takes hold of your prayer life." Watch indeed! If you want to revive your prayer life or that of people in your sphere of influence (discussion questions make it accessible for group study), then I highly recommend that you read Prayer on Fire.

Teach Your People to B.L.E.S.S. Others into the Kingdom

God's plan to transform personal lives and whole cities calls for prayer--believers praying for their neighbors and then being available to them. Your people can make a difference by simply praying: Five blessings, for Five neighbors, for Five minutes a day, Five days a week, for Five weeks (commitment to start).

Here are some blessings to pray, based on the acronym "B.L.E.S.S."

Prayer Leader OnLine

Vol. 3, No. 7
July 2006

Introduction: Be Encouraged! Be an Encourager!

Encouragement is a powerful dynamic. Whenever we are down, frustrated, feeling overwhelmed, often a simple word of encouragement from a friend--or the Lord--is enough to keep us going.

I have heard a number of stories from our national convention in Mesa, that involve someone being encouraged in a special way. One was a faith-based prayer ministry leader, struggling to make ends meet financially, who was starting to seriously contemplate taking a full-time job with a regular pay check. But God sent a businessman to PrayerQuake; he connected with this ministry leader, and then gave him a large donation. God was saying to this leader "Keep on, I know your struggle and I will provide." Another was a church prayer leader from Illinois who came on a very shoestring budget. So much so he was planning to walk from the hotel every day to the church (1.5 miles in 105 plus heat). But God blessed him with a group from Oregon who committed to taking him back and forth, who befriended him, buying meals and resoures for him.

My point? As prayer leaders we both need encouragement, and we need to be givers of it as well. When you are down and struggling, watch for it. Ask God to provide you with a breath of encouragement. As you look at others in your church who are struggling in prayer, in ministry, offer an encouraging word, or provide an encouraging act of kindness to them.

We're in this together. Let's encourage each other. One way to get and give encouragement is to go to a regional conference or to send someone (your pastor?) to one. Check out our Fall regionals and other conferences we recommend to you. Click here to see the line-up.

Blessings,
Jon Graf
President, CPLN