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Small Groups. Home Groups. Life Groups. Whatever they are called, churches that function with significant small groups can be an open door to powerful prayer ministry. While some prayer leaders look at small groups as a deterrent to prayer ministry (people who attend them can’t give up another night for a prayer meeting), I believe they can be extremely effective in growing prayer in the local church.
I see three benefits to small groups and prayer in the local church. Discipling in Prayer
They can be a wonderful place to disciple your members in prayer. Discipleship can happen in two areas: teaching and practicing. There are many excellent Bible study resources on prayer that work well in small groups. Lord Teach Us to Pray, (NavPress) by Fred Hartley, Approaching God (NavPress) by Lee Brase and The Devil Goes to Church: Prayer as Spiritual Warfare, (Covenant) by David Butts are three of the best available. There are also excellent dvd/video resources as well. The best of these is the dvd that goes along with the Love to Pray!/40 Days of Prayer initiative (Harvest Prayer Ministries). You don’t have to do the 40 days to use the teaching dvd. Just get the resource packet a www.prayershop.org and you are ready to go.
As for the practice, there is perhaps no better, safer place for people to learn to pray out loud, with others, than in small groups. While many new believers—and men—struggle to pray out loud, the intimacy and trust factor in a small group will cause many to come out of their shells. A wise prayer leader will encourage and coach small group leaders on how to draw out new pray-ers. Corporate Prayer Alternative
Small Groups can become an effective alternative to the corporate prayer ministry of a church. With our busy schedules these days, it gets more and more difficult for churches to have meaningful corporate prayer meetings that many members attend. In frustration, a lot of churches either disbanded the weekly prayer meeting, or became content with the five intercessors who come out. While you need to work at making prayer more than just praying for each others needs, this is a great place to encourage people to venture out of that prayer default mode. They can be taught to focus on kingdom things for the church, community and world. The lead article by Aleta Spell and the Tool Kit idea will provide some ideas for you. Prime Place for Prayer Needs
The final benefit to small groups and the prayer life of the church may seem to contradict the first two. In fact, your groups can either benefit this way or the first two ways, but probably cannot benefit from all three. Most churches struggle to have prayer be more than simply praying for the list of needs of church members or their friends and families. Every prayer gathering focuses solely on those things—not on broader, Spirit-of-God-moving types of prayers. But you need a place to allow for peoples’ needs to be prayed for. One recommendation I have is to make that place small groups. Don’t allow anything but the broader kingdom work types of prayers at more corporate gatherings, but use the intimate setting of small groups to be the outlet for the important body life function of
Praying for peoples’ needs. However you use prayer in small groups, understand that prayer leaders can use them mightily to grow prayer in a local church.
--Jonathan Graf is the president of the Church Prayer Leaders Network. |
March 2007 
