Prayer Leader OnLine
November 2007
Vol. 3., No. 11

Introduction

Greetings from the CPLN. It's hard to believe that we are just one month away from 2007! We at CPLN are very excited at what God has in store for us in the new year. He has been blessing us with more and more members throughout this year. As a result we continue to grow in what we offer to you!

Many of you have taken advantage of our new member-only prayer call, held the third Thursday of each month (Dec. 21 at 8:30 PM EST). (Call 1-641- 985-1133; use pass code 2756# at the prompt.) Many more have participated in our monthly teleseminars. We saw more than 2,000 individuals attend CPLN conferences this past year. And thousands visit our websites every month.

But as the year closes, we know there are far more prayer leaders like you to reach and encourage. We continue to look for ways to do that. You will notice a new look at our website. We updated the look as a way to be more accessible to people. Plans are under way to offer even more benefits in 2007.

As president of CPLN, I want to personally thank each one of you for joining. It is you that our hearts bleed for. Our team has a passion to serve you. Please accept our thanks, and continue to avail yourself of your membership in whatever way you can.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Graf
President

National Convention to Offer Special Feature

You asked for it . . . you got it. Empowered 2007, this year's national prayer leader convention will be offering a special feature that was suggested numerous times on past evaluations. We plan to offer more times for prayer!

First, during our workshop time slots each afternoon, we plan to offer actual prayer meetings in the sanctuary of the church. On Thursday afternoon, Daniel Henderson (who will also be leading an all-day pre-conference on Wednesday--his topic: Leading Dynamic Prayer Meetings) will be leading prayer times patterned after his book, Fresh Encounter: Experiencing Transformation through United, Worship Based Prayer. On Friday afternoon, Ted Kallman (who will also lead a pre-conference all-day seminar on Hearing God) will be leading a training session on healing prayer (first time slot) then he and his teams will be demonstrating praying for others by praying for anyone who wants prayer (second session).

Second, we plan to model corporate prayer by having short prayer times during our evening worship sessions. We hope they will give you ideas to use in your own church.

Third, we will have a prayer room available during the conference. Prayer teams will be available to pray for you, or you can simply come in and pray using one of the many stations that will be set up.

Finally, each evening will see trained prayer teams available at the altar to pray for anyone desiring prayer.

Plan now to attend Empowered. And bring as many as possible with you. We will be offering a 30% discount to groups of 15 or more registering from the same church.

Dates: June 13-15
Location: Sunshine Community Church, Grand Rapids, MI
Theme: A Revived Heart . . . A Revived Church . . . A Revived Community
Cost: $150 ($120 for CPLN members)
Early Brid Rates: $120 ($95 for CPLN members) Good until Feb 15
Pastor Special: $75 (Half Price!)
Pre-Conference Seminars: $50 ($40 for CPLN members)

Check Out the New Site

If you haven’t gone on line recently to prayerleader.com, let me encourage you to do so! We have a brand new site—one that we believe will make it easier for you to find things.

The biggest plus—you do not have to leave the site to buy resources! Once you enter the site, you will find all the products we sell at discounted prices right there! You will no longer have to reregister at our store. We hope this makes finding what you need easier.

In the coming months of 2007 we will be adding several features:

1. A Q & A section
2. Denominational Prayer Leaders Sections. This will include pages for each denomination that participates. Specific prayer information of importance to prayer leaders of that denomination will be provided. (As a result, prayer leaders of any church can find great materials as well.)
3. A reformating into subject themes. Our Ideas and Articles section will go away, but replacing it will be sections on Personal Prayer, Corporate Prayer, Pastor/Prayer Leaders, Teens, Children, etc.  Each section will have ideas, articles, resources mingled together. If you need help with children and prayer or missions and prayer, you will be able to go to one place to find that help.

Why not spend a few minutes checking out the new look! Click here to go to http://prayerleader.com.

It Seems to Me . . .

. . . prayer is back on the radar screen!

In a recent Christianity Today article, "The Top Books that Have Shaped Evangelicals," the number one book was Learning Conversational Prayer by Rosalind Rinker.

WOW! An unassuming female writer explaining in the simplest, non-technical language, how to talk to God in the presence of other pray-ers beats out doctors of theology, scholars, theologians (systematic and whatever he opposite is of systematic), multi-million selling authors, even mega-church pastors!

Is it possible that the Church across America is beginning to realize the urgency and priority of prayer? Are we rediscovering the Apostle Paul's exhortation to Pastor Timothy of the church in Ephesus both the urgency and the priority of prayer? “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people” (1 Tim. 2:1, NLT).

Is there hope, that our leaders, both national and local, are beginning to recognize we are called to build a house of prayer, not a house of preaching or a house of programs or a house of the people, by the people and for the people. All that (powerful preaching, purposeful programs, and a Christian community of people who love God and others) will be added unto us as we seek first, in and through prayer, His Kingdom.

It seems to me that is what God has in mind, still.

Pastor Phil Miglioratti
http://www.PrayingPastorblog.blogspot.com
http;//www.PrayerLeader.blogspot.com

The Ultimate Gift

Who among us doesn’t like receiving gifts. This time of the year, our anticipation of gift giving is heightened in many ways. Of course we are reminded of the wonderful gift God gave us in Jesus Christ. But, truth be told, we are also anticipating those other gifts we will give—and get.

I have always liked the surprise element of giving and receiving gifts. But I married into a family with a different tradition. Afraid of giving something someone doesn’t like—or won’t use--my in-laws’ family tradition is to ask for a list of what each person wants, then let family members select something from the list to give you. While each person always receives something he or she wants or needs, which is certainly a good thing, the surprise element is gone.

Every now and then there is a surprise in a package—a gift totally unexpected. One not on the list. Often such a gift is based on what the giver senses you need. Or because of giver’s knowledge of you and love for you he or she thinks you will enjoy such a gift. That gift has caused a person to think about you. To me that makes the gift extra special (not that I mind getting the other gifts, mind you). Imagine what can happen, however, if the gift—the one that has taken a lot of thought—is not really used or appreciated by the receiver.

Prayer is a gift from God. Imagine! The ability to communicate with Almighty God. What a gift! But, there is an extra gift in prayer—completely unexpected by most. In Luke’s well-known passage on prayer (Luke 11), Jesus reveals a special gift within prayer. After talking about persevering (ask, seek, knock) Jesus ends the passage by saying, “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (v. 13).

The passage was talking about asking for our needs, not asking for the Holy Spirit. Yet Jesus clearly implies that when we pray, the special gift we ultimately get is God Himself. We experience the activity and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

While most people’s default mode is intercession or petition when they think of prayer—truly a gift that we can enter the throne room and present our needs or the needs of others to the Father—ultimately prayer provides us with the special gift of experiencing the living Christ working in and through us.

What a phenomenal truth! But how sad that many ignore the gift, or take it for granted. When we don’t pray, we are showing our lack of interest in the gift. It is put on a shelf. It is a statement that we don’t need the gift.

As we enter a new year, why not make an extra effort to take that gift—the gift of prayer and the Holy Spirit—off the shelf. Encourage others to use their special gift. Unwrap God’s thoughtful surprise.

--Jonathan Graf is the president of Church Prayer Leaders Network. He is available for conferences and seminars. You may contact him at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

Becoming a Prayer Guide

Prayer Leader OnLine interviews Rev. Lowell Snow, the author of Prayer Giuide: A Manual for Leading Prayer.

Q. Lowell, you write "the purpose of this book is to help you help others talk with God." Who did you have in mind?
Every follower of Christ eventually leads prayer. My Prayer Guide book starts with the prayer basics that a soccer mom might need to lead a prayer on the sideline before the game and concludes with leading congregational prayer in the heart of a worship service. Between those extremes are chapters on many prayer leadership opportunities from leading a Bible study class prayer time to praying for someone who’s experienced a tragedy.

I’ve asked many pastors if they had training in leading corporate prayer while earning their college and seminary degrees. Very few have. This lack of training has filtered down through the laity to the point that most churches don’t have anyone proficient in this important skill. That’s why most group prayer is just an extension of monologue prayer, what I call spiritual speeches aimed in God’s direction. That’s all folks know how to do.For many, just a casual reading of this book will open doors of understanding simply because it’s the first training they’ve ever had. For those who are ambitious to lead life-changing group encounters with the Almighty, a thorough study will introduce them to group prayer possibilities they’ve never realized.

Q. You identify three distinct stages of corporate prayer. What are they and why are they each strategic to prayer leaders?
Virtually every aspect of the Christian life is a pilgrimage. Our pilgrimage of public prayer should progress through three distinct stages of ability: saying, leading, and guiding.Saying a first public prayer can be one of the most frightening experiences of the Christian life. For some, it rates right up there with witnessing. The insights and practical guidance found in the early chapters of the Prayer Guide book will calm these fears. More importantly, the novice prayer leader will learn to become a channel of God’s grace into any situation.

Leading group prayer is the next part of the journey. This may be as private as leading bedtime prayers or as public as a large Bible class praying over a list of requests. With some of the greatest prayer promises being directed at those who pray together in harmony, we should consider this skill central to spiritual life and health.

Becoming a prayer guide is the final and most productive segment of the pilgrimage, but one that many never achieve because they don’t realize it exists. Whereas in the previous step, the prayer leader is a kind of prayer administrator, the prayer guide is more of a facilitator. He or she stays in the background, prompting and encouraging as the entire group communes with the Heavenly Father.

Think of it like this. A leader could take a group of healthy people up a path to the summit of a 10,000 ft. mountain. Because the leader is walking ahead, the only requirement of the group is to walk and follow. They may enjoy the view, but won’t experience true mountain climbing. To take the same group to the top of a 20,000 ft. mountain would require a guide who was willing to come alongside them and actually teach them the skill of mountain climbing.

The first chapter of the Prayer Guide book points out that a conversational relationship with God is the high mountain that the Heavenly Father is determined that we all will climb. To bring a group of people into that kind of life changing prayer encounter is not the work of a novice. For prayer warriors who are ambitious for life-changing group prayer; the way of the prayer guide should be their goal.

Q. What is the one most difficult barrier prayer leaders face--by barrier, I'm thinking of attitude; stronghold; a wrong way of thinking--describe it and explain how to defeat it.
In my situation, the greatest barrier is the unconscious belief by most that they already know everything they need to know about prayer. Prayer is talking to God; what else could I need to know?

When I begin a prayer conference, the people are usually expecting me to beat them over the head with my Bible and admonish them for not praying enough or hard enough. When I take them in an entirely different direction, their eyes start to light up and they begin to feel a fresh wind blowing.

I’ll never forget a worship leader at one of my first prayer conferences. It was a large contemporary congregation and he was very gifted in leading exciting, powerful, praise. He had been very cooperative and the Sunday services had been really great, but I could tell he wasn’t getting it. It was like he wasn’t really listening.

On Monday afternoon as I taught the staff about the House of Prayer, he dutifully took notes near the head of the conference table. I’ll never forget the moment when the light came on. He spoke without looking up from his notes.

He had laid down his pen and was sitting straight up on the edge of his chair, both hands on the edge of the table, starring at the notepad as if peering into the eyes of a newborn baby. “This is a paradigm shift in our understanding of prayer in worship. This isn’t what we ever done before.”

Q.  Identify two of the most effective methods prayer leaders should be proficient at.
Two methods I use constantly are Scriptural meditation and prayer by suggestion. They are simple and effective, but seem to be new to most prayer leaders.

Scriptural meditation is simply asking the group to listen to a scripture after they bow their heads. I use short verses that are easy to understand and I usually read them two or three times, putting different inflection on the words each time. The purpose is to focus their attention on the things of God.

Prayer by suggestion is definately a new concept for most. The method here is to guide the group in silent prayers by making suggestions out loud. I usually suggest praise and thanksgiving first, then confession, petition, and supplication in that order. This gets the whole group praying, not just those who are comfortable praying out loud.

It also allows folks to talk with the Lord about things they wouldn’t pray about publicly.

On my web site, www.leadingprayer.com, I have an audio recording which includes both of these types of prayer.

Q.  Describe three skills that are essential for guiding group prayer—by this I mean skills that relate to process, group dynamics; not methods.
An effective prayer leader has a conversational relationship with God, understands his role as a New Testament Priest, and is prepared.

Leading prayer has more to do with the spiritual life of the leader than the leader’s mastery of any methods or techniques. Being a prayer warrior begins in the closet at home, not the prayer chapel at the church. We learn everything we need to “know” about God from scripture, but we can’t truly know Him without prayer. A prayer leader will have a hard time guiding a group into the presence of God if he’s not a frequent guest in the throne room himself.

The moment Jesus died on the cross; the Heavenly Father ripped open the veil separating the Holy of Holies. That means every follower of Christ has an audience with God which makes us New Testament priests. We should revel in this opportunity to not only pray for the needs of others, but also guide them into the presence of our Abba Father.There was a time in my life when it offended me if people who weren’t living for Christ asked me to pray about their problems. I felt that they should get their lives right with God so they could pray for themselves. I was being a modern Pharisee instead a channel of the Father’s grace.

Anything that’s worth doing is worth doing well and anything worth doing well requires preparation. Prayer is no exception. Whether it’s two weeks of preparation for a cottage prayer meeting or two seconds of preparation before the offertory prayer, the prayer leader needs to prepare their heart and mind before entering the presence of God.
 
I teach folks to imagine themselves in the throne room of heaven, on their knees, with their group gathered around them. Then they need to ask themselves, “Why am I here?” That’s why am I here in the throne room of God, not why am I here in this committee meeting or worship service.

Q. What wisdom can you share with a pastor who wants to saturate his/her church with corporate prayer?
Dear Pastor:
Your congregation wants to talk with God, but doesn’t want to be bored. And most of your people don’t want to pray out loud. The Barna research group found in a national survey that congregants rate prayer at the top of the list of what they want in worship. That being the case, you should prepare for the Sunday morning prayer time as diligently as you prepare your sermon. Be creative. Dare to be different. Get a vision of the throne room and guide the people to it. In one of the last chapters of the book, I point out that:

“There’s nothing nearer to the heart of God than His people’s prayers.
There’s nothing more worshipful than God’s people praying.
There’s no better time to unleash the power of prayer than during worship.”

Look at last Sunday’s order of worship and evaluate what importance you gave to prayer. Was there an effective prayer time at the heart of worship or was it used as book end for other things.

If you’ll bring effective congregational prayer to the heart of your worship, it will begin to filter into all aspects of church life, which brings me to a second point. Realize that your people need to be trained in effective prayer leadership. I’m sorry to be self serving, but I really believe God gave me the book, Prayer Guide – A Manual for Leading Prayer, to help you accomplish this. Go to my web site, www.leadingprayer.com, and look at the Contents page of the book. You’ll see that it’s set up for a five week study and even has study questions at the end of each chapter.

Q. What wisdom can you share with a prayer coordinator who has more responsibility than authority to lead?
Dear fellow servant of Christ,
Just because your pastor doesn’t know you exist, doesn’t mean your Heavenly Father doesn’t. I’m very aware that many, if not most, prayer coordinators are under . . . well under-everything: under funded, under equipped, under appreciated, and under acknowledged.

However, focusing on that temporal reality only leads to frustration, depression, and doubt. You will do well to meditate on Christ’s parable of the talents. The key is faithfulness with the talent He has placed in your hand, not what you could do if He had given you more authority.

Focus on people’s needs. Be an under-shepherd to your prayer team. Do your job well and keep getting better. Pay attention to details. Look for opportunities to fellowship with positive prayer coordinators even if it’s only online. Stay away from whiners.

Be an information provider. If you see something that would be really helpful to your pastor; clip it, highlight it, and see that it gets to his desk. Don’t hand it to him in the hall. Do the same for the Worship Leader, Bible study leaders, etc.

Do what counts and forget the flashy stuff. It’s infinitely more important that a prayer ministry team puts its heads together and prays, then sends a cheap hand written card to that person in need, than it is to do it in a $100,000 prayer chapel.

Q. What wisdom can you share with an intercessor who has neither authority or responsibility?
Dear prayer warrior,
Faith counts with God. Believe big. Don’t be afraid to pray bigger than your faith. That’s how your faith grows and how you get to know God better.

Agreement counts with God too. For the really tough stuff, scripture tells us to pray in agreement with another follower of Christ. Talk with this person, read scripture together, and learn to pray conversationally; that is, pray short prayers back and forth about one subject at a time.

If you have a spiritual gift for intercession, don’t let anything get in your way. Continue to be a channel of God’s grace and power no matter what goes on around you. Get a vision of the spiritual war that attends your prayer life and go to the front lines.

Q. Lowell, please write a prayer for prayer leaders that will encourage them to move ahead with diligence and determination.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I rejoice in Your willingness to welcome us into Your presence. Your grace and patience toward us continually amazes me. You are so wise, so holy, so strong.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust." (Ps 91:2 NKJV)

I want to pray today for those who’ve taken on the mantle of prayer leadership. They’re Your priests of grace in this rebellious and often cruel world. Some of them are beaten down and discouraged today. I pray that You might grant them a portion of Your wisdom and strength.

I pray that they might have Your wisdom to see through the haze of this world to the clarity of Your kingdom. May they be able to separate temporal from eternal. I pray that they might have strength to step on their discouragements as stepping stones to perseverance and patience.

May our prayer bring glory to Jesus’ name,
Amen.

About Lowell Snow. Following 30 years of pastoral ministry, Lowell left the pastorate to establish Lowell Snow Ministries a ministry focused on "being a catalyst in the revival of prayer." To this end, Lowell published the book, Prayer Guide  A Manual for Leading Prayer, and lead weekend prayer conferences focused on training God's people to lead prayer effectively. You can find out more about his ministry at www.lowellsnow.com or www.leadingprayer.com.

Children and Prayer

Exciting New DVD Resource

Kids Praying for Kids, a new dvd product that focuses on children and prayer, is now available for Sunday school teachers adn children's workers. This excellent resource will help your kids in three areas: prayerwalking, fasting, and 10/40 Window praying.

The dvd comes with four short movie segments:

Prayer and Fasting for Kids, a fast paced 7-minute video excellent for teaching kids about this important subject.

The 10/40 Window for Kids, a wonderful 6-minute video used to teach kids about missions across America and around the world.

Prayerwalking for Kids, a snappy upbeat 6-minute video for kids on how to pray for your community.

The 10/40 Window for Adults, a compelling 6-minute video used by mission agencies and churches across America.

We highly recommend that your church have a copy. Let children's workers review it and then watch them get excited to show their classes. You may purchase the dvd from www.prayershop.org for $20. Sorry, no CPLN discount can apply on this product.