Prayer Leader OnLine

July 2007

Vol. 4, No. 7

Introduction

A friend recently stopped by. He was a prayer leader from a church I have spoken at several times in the last five years. I have watched his church and senior pastor grow in their hunger for God through prayer over the past five years. We had a wonderful time of encouraging each other.

What touched me was his looking forward heart. While God has been doing marvelous things in his church to grow prayer, he was hungry for more. As prayer leaders I want to encourage you again to praise God for the small steps forward . . . but then hunger for more. Keep looking to the future. Don't get discouraged by looking at what's left to do, but dream and pray for fulfillment of His purposes in your church.

Blessings,

Jon Graf

President, CPLN

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It Seems to Me . . .

 
. . . some churches think we should all be quiet when we pray together.

Recently, I was with a Sunday congregation and, as the instruments played, we were instructed to be in an "attitude of prayer." Well, everyone knew that meant no noise, no movement, no interruptions.

It got me wondering, should an "attitude of prayer" always be calm? Meditative? Quiet? Reflective? Should we assume worshipful prayer equals seated and silent?

In some Christian traditions, where activity and noise is the barometer of spirituality, quiet reflection would be a welcomed change for many. Silence is undervalued and seldom experienced. But, in many evangelical or liturgical expressions of the faith, "attitude of prayer" always and only mandates everyone sits still-and-silent (pray for those ADHD squirmers!).

Frankly, all of us, whether we fall more to the pentecostal or the pietistic ends of the spectrum, could use genuine "be still and know that I am God" time in our corporate worship. We all talk too much (whether singing or saying our prayers) and listen too seldom.

But, isn't loud the proper "attitude" of prayer when the Spirit is leading us to cry out to the Lord? (Exodus 22:23: “If . . . they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.”)  Isn't an aggressive approach appropriate when we are led to obey the biblical command to shout in defiance to the enemy? And what about shouting for joy when we are discouraged or faithless? Have we forgotten our Lord offered prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears? (Hebrews 5:7)

Certainly in our corporate gatherings we must "be sure that everything is done properly and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40) but that should not preclude Holy Spirit inspired expressions of praying that raise the decibel level or illustrate God's crying heart for the poor or a warrior spirit against evil.

It seems to me we have no trouble singing "Shout to the Lord," we just don't expect anyone to actually do it!

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

By Jonathan Graf

For the past decade, I have been an aficionado of prayer. I am interested in it, study and analyze it, and try to practice it in longer and more powerful ways. But it has not always been that way.

Though I grew up in the church, came to saving faith in Christ as a six-year-old, had a wonderful Christian upbringing and discipleship, I was not devoted much to prayer until my early 30s. Oh, I knew how to pray, but it was never a part of my daily walk with God. It was never a passion. It wasn’t until 1989-90 that I began moving from being a crisis pray-er (able to only pray much if there was something significant in my life to pray about) to having a passion for prayer.

That year, three things happened, which caused me to move forward in the area of prayer: I had an experience that many would call a filling of the Holy Spirit; I received an assignment to write a study guide to A.W. Tozer’s classic book The Pursuit of God; and the responsibility of my new position at Christian Publications, the publishing house I worked for, scared me so much, I needed to pray.

My experience with the Holy Spirit forever changed my relationship with God; something within me was continually drawing me to God, desiring to commune with Him. Working on The Pursuit of God increased my hunger for God tenfold. And the fear I had in taking over a department that published books on the deeper spiritual life, simply drove me to God in desperation. I hadn’t come up through the ranks in publishing. God had just plopped me into the middle of an expanding company through an unusual set of circumstances. Though I had authority, I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t want to make mistakes in selecting books.

But even though I was growing in my prayer life—I was praying each day, I was pouring my heart out to God, and connecting with Him—I would certainly not say I was a “good” pray-er. When it came to praying for anything other than my own situations, I was weak. I tried to intercede for friends and family, but struggled. I valiantly tried keeping lists, and praying for what I had been asked to pray for. But it was dull and lifeless. Why? Because I was praying the only way I knew how, based on what I had seen growing up in church.

For much of my life I attended prayer meetings, where I, like everyone there, would dutifully remember all those who gave requests. Often I would write out a list and stick it in my Bible—where it would stay (along with other collected prayer lists for other prayer meetings) until my quarterly, old-bulletin, prayer-list cleaning and I would throw it (them) away. Usually the things on these lists were very uninspiring—someone’s third cousin who was laid off from work; another’s kid who had a math test the next day; maybe a missionary or two whom the church supported. There was nothing there I could pray passionately about. If I ever prayed for something from that prayer meeting list during the week, all I ever prayed was for the obvious, what I specifically had been asked to pray. Passion only came when I really cared about what (or whom) I was praying for.

The Change

In December of 1994, I married JoLyn, a single mom, who had an eight-year-old daughter, Amy. Suddenly I had two more people in my life, whom I loved, who were very important to me. They easily became a part of my regular prayer life. But over the years, as I have prayed for them, I noticed something: I have sustained a greater level of prayer for them--in length of time, but also in intensity and passion—when I have prayed for character qualities, rather than when I prayed for a specific concrete thing.

I did pray for specific things—school issues with Amy, new friends for Jo, who had been uprooted from her life in Pennsylvania. But it was my praying for these character qualities that filled me with passion, and I believe made the most difference in their lives. And let me be clear, I was not praying for character traits because I thought they were seriously lacking in their lives, but because I felt God leading me to do so.

For my wife, I started regularly praying for joy. It wasn’t that she was depressed. I just knew that she had gone through incredible pain in the circumstances of her first marriage ending. I just had a sense that she needed to experience a deeper level of joy. For Amy, I prayed that God would develop her wonderful sensitive spirit. He had an ultimate purpose for it; I wanted to see it fully used by Him. A few years later, when Amy felt a call to be a missionary, I started praying in a new vein. I pictured her as a strong woman of God. What would she need to be used of God on the mission field? I began to pray—and still do—for those characteristics as they would come to mind.

A few years later, I became an elder and a prayer leader at my church. There, instead of focusing my prayers back on those everyday needs, I began trying to pray bigger things for the people under my care. I wanted to see God do great things in the life of our church and the lives of our people. Transforming things! Instead of focusing prayers on the everyday “God, please let their life be normal again” prayers we usually voice, I tried to pray prayers that sought God’s purposes for their lives. Prayers that asked God to bring glory to His Son through these situations and lives.

I began being struck more and more by the prayers of Paul (which we’ll look at in the remainder of this book). Paul had people with huge problems under his care, people who were facing life and death situations. Yet in all his recorded prayers, nowhere do I see that he prayed for specific answers to everyday situations. (Yes, he prayed for himself, that his “thorn in the flesh” would be removed. But remember, God said “no,” so he stopped praying about that.) Don’t get me wrong. I would be surprised if Paul didn’t pray for some specific things for people he knew, so I am not saying that we should never pray for specific answers. But, since all of Paul’s recorded prayers were in a different vein, I wonder if a majority of our prayers for ourselves and people shouldn’t be in the same vein.

Most of us pray for those little answerables for each other. Sometimes we see some answer, but most of the time not. Over time, many stop praying because they do not see enough things answered. Often they even fail to see God move in a situation because they are so focused on what they want to see happen. We keep trying to bolster faith, and claim those promises in Scripture which tell us we can ask for anything and it will happen. But often, more and more, our prayers resemble fate rather than faith and hope rather than belief.

Our weak, “I hope God will do this” prayers take their toll. Most of us have very weak prayer lives. We don’t get excited about praying with others. Our churches corporate prayer experiences are anemic and dull. And yet God says that He wants to do immeasurably more than we can ask or think (Ephesians 3:21). Most don’t think to even ask—and if we do ask, we only ask for the little answerables: “make my life normal again.”

A few years ago, a pastor friend—we’ll call him Bill--revealed something very interesting about his ministry—something that I think is equally true in churches all across the Western world. Even though at the time, on the outside he had a nice, stable--and to most eyes--effective ministry, he told me something shocking. He said that in his fifteen plus years of ministry, he could only point to one person who was a believer when he first came into Bill’s church (not counting people who came to Christ in his ministry) who clearly grew in his relationship with God while under Bill’s ministry. Oh, Bill had many deeply spiritual people in his congregation. But he couldn’t obviously see growth in them year to year. He meant that over a period of time, the evidence showed that this person clearly went deeper in his walk with God; it was obvious. Bill is not alone. Many churches do not see spiritual growth in their people. People may gain spiritual knowledge, but don’t really grow deeper spiritually. (Whatever level of spiritual depth they have when they join a church, is the same level they are at years later.)

Like Bill, that realization should radically change both the way we do discipleship, and, more importantly, the way we pray for fellow believers. We need to pray more for spiritual development and less for comfort and ease. We need to pray more for the Holy Spirit to transform and less for normal lives for those we love. That’s radical.

Instead of seeking God for the little answerables, seek Him for eternal things: God’s glory, kingdom expansion, and God’s will. Then teach that principle to those you lead. May your prayer life—and the spiritual lives of those for whom you are praying—never be the same!

Jonathan Graf is the president of the Church Prayer Leaders Network. This article is excerpted from his new book, Praying Like Paul, which will be released this fall.

Pray through Your Building

Create an atmosphere of blessing by praying

through your church building.

“. . . May there be no enemy breaking through our walls, no

going into captivity” (Ps. 144:14, NLT)

The concept behind praying through your church building is similar to the idea behind prayerwalking. You are preparing the way for the presence of the Lord through blessing

and intercession. Many churches have teams that pray through their building on a regular basis throughout the year. Some even do it weekly as a way of preparing for the services on Sunday.

This building-pray-through event is a low-key version of a church cleansing. If you sense that there are issues going on in your church that must be resolved through spiritual warfare, you will need to do additional homework before planning that type of full-fledged cleansing event. resources at the end of this chapter will direct you to reading that can help. understanding issues such as spiritual mapping will enable you to determine some of the footholds that have been given to the enemy.

Essentials

Your group will meet at the appointed time for a briefing and then divide up into groups to cover the area more efficiently. You will find that there are people who naturally have a heart for certain ministries that are represented by different areas of the church. It is fine to let those people be responsible to cover those areas. But make sure you have all areas covered—don’t leave any gaps. Choose a time when the church is unoccupied so that you aren’t forced to work around areas being used. This may mean you have to be creative in selecting a time to schedule this event.

As you walk through the building, be aware of all that the Holy Spirit is pointing out to you. Pray for the people and ministries you know occupy each area. You will find an endless number of prayer prompts to keep you going. Certain areas will represent certain things, so pray specifically for what takes place there (or what you want to take place there). In the foyer pray for the newcomers to feel welcomed. In the sanctuary pray over each chair or pew and the people who will be sitting in them; pray for the pulpit and the word that goes out from it, the musician’s instruments and the worship team that uses them, etc.

Here are some suggestions for areas to be covered in prayer. Be sure to adjust the list to fit your own church building:

• Foyer

• Sanctuary

• Pastor(s) Office(s)

• Sunday School Rooms

• Nursery Rooms

• Kitchen

• Fellowship Hall

• Youth Hall or Gym

• Prayer Room

• Outside Perimeter of Building

• Parking Lot

As with the prayerwalk, explain the concept, areas to be covered, and hand out prayer guides if you have them. encourage everyone to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and ask for His direction and wisdom. If someone feels impressed to pray in the furnace room, for instance, and it isn’t “on the list”—by all means, cover it adequately in prayer. If you ask for wisdom, you must believe that you will receive it and pray responsively (Jas. 1:5-8).

Once you’ve prayed through the building, end with a debriefing allowing time for people to share what they felt led to pray. If something strikes you as extremely significant to the health of your church, go back to that area and pray about it together as a larger group. ask the Lord if deeper prayer work needs to be done. You may discover after this initial pray-through that a more thorough spiritual cleansing should be scheduled for a later date.

Sample Schedules

Saturday A.M.

10:00 Meet at church.

10:00 – 10:30 discuss concepts.

Divide area to be covered among participants.

Commission the building pray-through in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to guide.

10:30 – 11:30 Pray through assigned areas.

11:30 Meet back at specified location.

11:30 – 12:00 debrief – allow people to share their experiences and what they were led to pray. This can be done over lunch or refreshments (optional).

Closing prayer.

Alternate Sunday Schedule

12:00 noon Meet after Sunday services.

Have everyone bring a sack lunch or provide something easy such as pizza to eat as you discuss walk-through concepts.

Divide area to be covered among participants.

Commission the building pray-through in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to guide.

12:30 – 1:30 Pray through assigned areas.

1:30 Meet back at specified location.

1:30 – 2:00 Debrief – allow people to share their experiences and what they were led to pray. Serve beverages (optional).

Closing prayer.

Don’t Forget!

Prepare for your building pray-through with adequate pre-event prayer coverage.

Coordinate date, time and use of the church building with church office. Make sure your event does not conflict with other events. remember to choose a time when the entire building is unoccupied.

Promote your event! Put it in the bulletin, use power point and announce from the pulpit at least two weeks in advance (three if possible). Be sure to get it on the church calendar if you have one. Note: When doing a more thorough spiritual cleansing, you will want to select a team of intercessors with an understanding of spiritual warfare to be involved rather than opening it up to the entire church.

Determine all the areas to be covered in advance.

Provide prayer guides.

Make arrangements for refreshments or beverages if served.

Hint: Consider repeating this event multiple times a year—just as you would clean your house more than once every 12 months.

Resources

Waymakers has specific prayer prompt material for praying blessings over an area at www.waymakers.org. a variety of helpful prayer guides including “Life-Giving Prayers for Your Church” are available at www.prayershop.org.

Additional reading regarding spiritual cleansing of your church: The Devil Goes to Church by Dave Butts is available at www.prayershop.org. The May 2006 issue of Empowered was on the topic of spiritual cleansing your church. You may review articles at www.prayerleader.com.

Spiritual Mapping: The Sentinel Group offers an audio series called Unleashing the Power of Informed Intercession at www.sentinelgroup.org.

Eddie and Alice Smith offer several resources regarding spiritual warfare/mapping at www.prayerbookstore.com. While these resources may be focused on spiritual mapping of a city or country, the principles will apply to mapping any area including your church.

Sandra Higley is the author of A Year of Prayer Events for Your Church, (PrayerShop Publishing 2007) from which this article is excerpted. She is also the director of member relations for the CPLN.

For more information on A Year of Prayer Events for Your Church or to purchase this book, click here.

Prayer Training Made Easy

As prayer leaders we are always looking for more ways to effectively train our prayer team members, prayer leaders and altar prayer ministry teams. We want more people to flourish in prayer ministry in our church.

Maybe we should bring in a speaker for a weekend we think. That can work. But most church prayer leaders do not have the funds available to fly in special speakers. There are less expensive ways to bring in an expert, however.

Why not have a special day of training—or one night a month—and use CDs, DVDs or other resource training materials? For between $11 to $299 you can purchase training materials that can offer focused instruction in vital areas. The CPLN and PrayerShop Publishing now offer multiple training materials. Here are a few I recommend:

Upfront: Training Ministry Prayer Teams

This is a two-DVD set of teaching presented by Dave Butts, the president of Harvest Prayer Ministries. In it he focuses on some important issues related to ministering to people through prayer. It would be an excellent resource to share with people who have volunteered to be on altar prayer ministry teams.

Retail: $25

CPLN Member Price: $20

PURCHASE

We also offer a special package on three products that train prayer ministry teams

Praying Grace: Training for Personal Ministry by Terry Teykl ($15)

“Developing Altar Prayer Ministry Teams” (CD) an Empowered 2007 workshop taught by Terry Teykl  ($8.00)

Upfront (2 DVD set) Dave butts  ($25)

All three for $36 (25% off)

PURCHASE

For ongoing prayer training, we recommend using cd sets from Empowered. You can purchase all the workshops (16) that were in the Praying Church Track, or all the cds in the Personal Prayer Track. Play one each session and then hold a brief discussion afterwards. Both sets come with special prices:

Full Retail: $128 each set

Special:  $89.00

PURCHASE Church Prayer Track Set

PURCHASE Personal Prayer Track Set

PURCHASE FULL EMPOWERED SET ($299) (74 CDs)

Any of these resources can be powerful and inexpensive training tools for your ministry.