October 2007

Vol. 4, No. 10

Introduction--How Hungry Are You?

As I write this, I am at a renewal conference in Lafayette, Indiana. I have had opportunity to be

at a few renewal events in several different denominations. I like these gatherings. Why? Because

there are hungry people there. When you get people together who are hungry for God, something

happens!

One of the reasons that so many churches are status quo, not growing, not seeing much of the

transforming power of God, is their lack of hunger. I encourage each of you to begin to pray for

hunger--for yourself, and for your people. God loves hunger . . . and He answers the cry of

hungry people.

"Father God, make me hungry. Give me a thirst that I cannot quench.  Give me a hunger that I

cannot fill.  Draw me to Jesus. I thank You that You will fill that hunger with Yourself. Send

that hunger to my church as well Lord. Remove all the worldly things that keep us satisfied

without You. Bless my congregation with an intense longing to seek You and You alone."

I am hungry for more of Him. I pray He fills my inner being with Himself this week. What about

You.

Blessings,

Jon Graf

It Seems to Me . . .

. . . every upside has a downside. The prayer movement's upside is that it is a genuine movement,

resulting in a new awareness of the primary role of prayer in our personal lives and our

corporate expressions. New resources galore; new books on significant aspects of prayer every

month, a quality national magazine devoted entirely to praying, 10, 30, 40 day prayer guides, T-

shirts with pithy thoughts on why we need to pray, even software programs to remind us to pray.

Initiatives from National to Global Days of Prayer that challenge us to pray for the leaders of

our nation and the nations of the world. Networks, such as CPLN, that collate ideas for those who

lead prayer (If you haven't surfed our site recently you'll be very surprised at how much

practical material is available to you). Conferences, seminars, workshops, retreats, summits . .

.

With such a fantastic upside, can there any downside?

Sadly, yes, if there is more movement (see above paragraph) than praying. If our pastors are

preaching to us about prayer more than they are praying with us. If prayer coordinators are more

focused on the task of designing brochures or decorating prayer rooms than they are convening

times and places of praying. If our leaders (youth, children, committee, church councils and

boards, staff and lay) continue to see prayer as a sermon topic or a team that meets monthly to

plan events.

It is never inappropriate to ask, "Is the main thing still the main thing?" Is prayer in our

church still about everyone actually praying? Is prayer expected  throughout the week at the

family table? The office cubicle? The school desk?  Is praying less about the format we follow

than the one we follow?

It seems to me, as leaders in the prayer movement, when we call the church to prayer we must make

sure it results in, well, prayer.

Phil Miglioratti
http://www.prayerleader.blogspot.com
http;//www.lc2c.blogspot.com

Save These Dates

Empowered 2008, our national convention will be held June 13-15 at Shandon Baptist Church in

Columbia, South Carolina.

Seeking Christ's Glory . . . with Passion is the theme. While we are still pulling our speaker

line-up together, we are trusting God for a dynamic conference that will be life-changing for

those who attend.

Click here for more information

Exciting New Member Benefit

Many of you are searching for better ways to train and motivate your prayer teams and people of

your church. We continue to look for ways to come along side you in this effort. We are excited

about a new feature on our website that is now available to CPLN members.

Free Seminars (under the CPLN INFORMATION heading on the right hand toolbar) is a new section

that will be populated with a new audio (and possibly an occasional video) teaching seminar each

month. These are available free of charge. You can listen to them at the site, or download them

if it is easier to use. The idea is to use these seminars--delivered by national and local prayer

leaders--to teach your prayer teams.

Are Your  Prayers Too Small?

Prayer Leader OnLine interviewed Will Davis Jr., author of Pray Big: The Power of Pinpoint

Prayers

Q. Pray Big is an engaging title for a book but it is much more than a hook. What are you telling the reader with this title?
I want to encourage readers not to under-ask in prayer. There is no place in the Bible where God

rebukes someone for asking too much of Him. God’s promises for prayer are massive and limitless.

Our prayers need to be the same. We need to ask for the most that God can handle, not the most

that can handle.

Q. Pastor, what circumstances did the Lord use to reveal our need to pinpoint our praying?
Actually, the idea for Pray Big was born in a prayer meeting, or after it. We prayed for nearly

two hours. When we were finished, I couldn’t think of a single thing that we had asked for that

would require a miracle from God. We’d done lots of “God be with Bill” and “God bless Sue” kind

of praying. I felt the Holy Spirit asking, “What do you need me for?” That’s never a good sign

after you’ve just spent two hours praying.

Q Many Christians and congregations are living a prayer-care-share lifestyle; they pray for unbelievers by name and need. How would praying big help us pray differently for neighbors and coworkers?
Big prayers are scripturally driven. The principles of pinpoint prayer that I talk about in the

book rely heavily on the Bible for their inspiration. When I pray for a neighbor, a co-worker, a

friend or family member, it’s easy for me to want to recreate them in my image. Rather, than

seeking God’s will for them, I seek mine: “Lord, make my neighbor friendlier.” “Lord, please help

my co-worker to be more of a team player.” “Lord, please help my wife to talk less.” Pinpoint

prayers make me pray the Bible instead of my own words. The result is much more focused, anointed

and selfless praying: “Lord, please build your Kingdom in my friend’s life (Mt. 6:10, 33).” “Father, please help my co-worker to glorify you in all that he does (1 Cor. 10:31).”Or, “Father,

please help me to see my neighbor as more important than myself. Help me to meet his needs before

I meet my own (Phil. 2:3-4).” Pinpoint praying aligns your prayers more with the heart of God.

Q. Please respond to these quotes from Pray Big:

"If you're looking for pinpoint prayers that have off-the-chart potential, then learn to pray

with other Christians."

Pinpoint praying is effective because it’s both biblical and specific. It’s the kind of praying

Jesus modeled in the Lord’s Prayer. It’s simple, childlike, and goes right to the heart of God.

Now, mingle the concept of pinpoint praying with what God promised to honor and said that He

loved—Christian unity—and you’ve got one potent combination for prayer. When Jesus said in

Matthew 18:19 that if two or more of us agreed, he used the word for agree that forms our English

word symphony. Agreement happens when two or more believers set aside their differences and

express unity around their hope and passions to God in prayer. When praying as a group, make a

point of agreeing together. Tell the Lord, “Lord we agree.” He loves the unity and promises to

bless it.

"A gathering of believers is more powerful than any other meeting on the planet."

No other gathering of humans has as much promise as a meeting of two believers who meet in Jesus’

name. Jesus promised those who collectively submit to His name and agenda that He would be there

in their midst. Never underestimate the power of a gathering of Christians; for therein, God

promises to send His presence and power. It really is the most powerful gathering of humans on

earth.

"The most radical truth about prayer in the Bible."

Matthew 18:19, “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for,

it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”(See also Mt. 16:19.) In this verse, Jesus

basically handed us the keys to his Kingdom. Whatever we unlock on earth in prayer—love,

blessing, agreement, or hatred, discord and conflict—will be equally unlocked in heaven and then

rebroadcast a hundredfold back onto the earth. Corporate prayer impacts heaven, and heaven

impacts earth. That’s why I think corporate prayer is so powerful in Kingdom causes. Remember,

the Church was born in a prayer meeting, after ten days of corporate prayer.

Q. Give us several suggestions for corporate praying.

1. Seek points of agreement and speak your agreement out loud to God
2. Pray over 1 item at a time
3. Keep prayers short, so all who want to weigh in on an issue can
4. Don’t preach to God or the group. Just ask.
5. Make sure you actually ask for things, don’t just tell God what is going on
6. Use verses of Scripture as your prayer guide
7. Don’t rebuke each other or counter each other in prayer. If you can’t agree with what’s being prayed, don’t say anything.

Q. What is the significance of "The greatest pinpoint pray-er in all of heaven is interceding for you in exact alignment with the will of God"?
Simply stated, Jesus is the world’s most effective intercessor. He always hits the heart and will

of God in His prayers. Hebrews 7: 25 tells us that He is praying for us right now. As a believer,

I find that incredibly encouraging. So even if you don’t know how our what to pray for something,

trust that Jesus does and is praying for you right then. Thank Him for praying for you and tell

Him that you submit to His will.

Q. You conclude with "100 pinpoint prayers from the Psalms." How can a prayer leader utilize this list to train their team members in pinpoint praying?
The 100 prayers are a great resource for your prayer groups. First, you can pray through them.

They make a great prayer script for praying that God’s Word will prevail in your lives. Beyond

that, use them to teach your group how to write their own pinpoint prayers from other chapters.

Tell your group members to read through Psalm 51, 37 or 32. Ask them write several pinpoint

prayers from those verses.

Q. Pastor Will, please write a prayer for congregational prayer leaders (pastors and

coordinators) who want to equip their congregation to pray big.
Lord God, I pray Isaiah 56:6-7 for these leaders. Thank You that they have joined themselves to

You through the Holy Spirit. I thank You that they love You, worship You, and that they keep Your

Word. I pray, God, that You will bring them into Your holy presence. Make them hungry and thirst

for Your presence. I pray that You would make them joyful in Your house of prayer. Let prayer be

for them and the congregations they lead a joy, not a chore. Help them to love to pray. I pray

that You’ll make their prayer groups and churches houses of prayer for all nations. I pray this

in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.

For more information or to purchase a copy of Pray Big, click here.

Lessons from the Prayer Life of Jesus

I remember first meeting Brenda Poinsett when I was editor of Pray! magazine. She helped us plan

an issue that was themed “The Prayer Life of Jesus.” We were led to her after reading her book

When Jesus Prayed. As she presented her thoughts to our staff that day, it was clear she was an

expert on the topic.

Perhaps no sub-topic on prayer is more important to us as individuals and prayer leaders. If we

could learn to pray like Jesus, if we could disciple our congregations to pray like Jesus, that

would be powerful.

We are excited to be able to offer Brenda’s second book on the subject, Reaching Heaven:

Discovering the Cornerstones of Jesus’ Prayer Life, as this month’s super special. Normally a

$12.99 retail price, for the month of November you can purchase it for $6.99 (10 or more copies

are $6.00 each).

Click Here for Information

Newest Items on Website
Be sure to check out the latest issue of Empowered (the prayer leader section of Pray! we put

together). It is themed "Motivating People to Pray Beyond Personal Needs."

New Free Seminar section, offering free training audio downloads.

Latest information on Empowered 2008, our national convention.