Prayer leaders and pastors often ask me, “What one prayer idea seems to be the most effective at getting the most people in a church praying?” There are a lot of effective prayer ideas these days—but each seems to bring a different result.

So you want to involve your whole church in a prayer initiative. For an effective prayer initiative try the following steps.

“Reaching up” is prayer.  “Reaching out” is evangelism.  Small groups that “reach out by reaching up” provide an ideal context for reaching those who are not yet Christ-followers.  

Many of you prayer leaders are excited to think of the possibilities of a prayer initiative at your church. But what if your church’s leadership (pastor/elders) decides not to do the initiative? What should you do then?

Often when congregations do all-church campaigns, they forget a vital part of the church—children and teenagers. Why not include them as well? While most initiatives do not provide guides for these groups, a creative planning team can do some things to include them. (Seek God for the City does have guides for children).

You may be convinced that a prayer initiative is a great idea, but how do you choose one? Certainly, seek the Lord for His direction. Then I recommend purchasing a sample copy of what I consider to be the best four available. Check them out. Each offers a slightly different format, and will bring about different results.