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Building a Wall of Prayer around Your CHurch |
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By Ginny Kisling
Ever feel like the hedge of prayer around your church is a more of a picket fence than a wall? Fences are friendly. They imply an occasional missing post, shared ownership and a “howdy neighbor” relationship. Walls are formidable and convey “no trespassing.” Walls imply that there is something important on the inside worth guarding.
Our churches are vulnerable to the enemy. He has assumed a neighborly
posture in the face of our inadequate boundary markers. He peers in,
slithers under, and does battle over our poorly protected property
lines. It’s time to get serious. It’s time to tear down the fences and
replace them with impenetrable walls. Like Nehemiah’s wall building,
you should enlist everyone to build a wall of prayer in your church.
Principles for wall building from Nehemiah:
- Prayer is for everyone. Every man, woman and child must find
their voice in prayer and take their place on the wall. Nehemiah didn’t
take on rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem by himself. He enlisted
all of the people (Nehemiah 3).
- Pray Corporately in Unity. The people worked together side by side to close the gaps in the face of opposition (Neh. 4:7).
- Pray Relentlessly. A sword in one hand and a brick in the other,
Nehemiah’s wall workers stayed at it round-the-clock (Neh. 4:23).
- Praying Leaders. Just as Nehemiah devoted himself to work on the
wall (Neh. 5:16), participation of church leaders is key to seeing a
real fortress of prayer immerge.
- Praying for the Gateways. Pastoral and support staff, worship
leaders, youth and children’s workers, and outreach ministries are
major gateways—significant points of entry—for your church. Identify
these doors and give them special attention (Nehemiah 3).
Ways to encourage wall building:
- Gather families of workers. Come alongside existing ministries
and help them formulate an effective prayer model to empower from the
inside out: “the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house”
(Neh. 3:28).
- Use Scripture-based Prayer. Encourage your wall-builders to use
their swords (Neh. 4:16-23; Eph.6:17). Develop user-friendly prayer
guides specific to your own needs or utilize prepared resources. Prayer
guides for adults and children are available at www.praymag.com.
- Develop a cross- functional leadership team. Create a team that
represents the demographic makeup of your congregation to plan prayer
strategies. Include those with administrative and leadership skills
along with intercessors.
- Help others experience the power of prayer. Example: organize
24/7 prayer among women whose husbands are attending a men’s retreat.
The men will be more likely to participate in prayer for another event
when they’ve benefited from it themselves.
--Ginny Kisling is the Western Regional Director for the Church Prayer Leaders Network.
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