It Seems to Me . . . 

. . . we should not settle for a map or a compass when we pray.

Listening to speakers teach on the will of God, I remember hearing that "the Bible is our blueprint" or "the Word of God is like a map" to guide us. As I grew more analytical in my faith, I began to dislike the blueprint imagery. It seemed too robotic and offered no room for the individual's created-in-the-image-of-God personality. Of course God directs our steps (Proverbs 16:9) but that same verse reminds us that "in his heart a man plans his course." Blueprint talk  was reassuring as it bolstered my belief that the Word of God is without error and my rule for every aspect of life, but it was not satisfying when it came to understanding life's difficult decisions. Too much of real living presents options or circumstances that have no specific mention or precedent in scripture; some even present two or more good, even righteous, options.

I then began to think of the Bible as a map, an inerrant guide for my path: "I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes" (Psalm 119:59).

Of course, this led me to not just read the Bible but to seriously study it's teachings. A good thing, for certain. My hunger for the Word of God grew and poured a strong foundation for every aspect of my mind-set and life-style. Very comforting until I heard someone say "The Bible is a compass, not a road map." That simple statement gave me the freedom to study the scriptures, not for turn left then turn right at the second street directions but for direction based on the truths of God's Word and the wisdom it contained that could guide and guard my decision-making. God's Word can be counted on to point me in the right direction.

That settled it. Until one day I began to think of a real-life situation. Several international mission trips jolted my awareness of what it feels like to have no idea of where you are, what path (or set of directions) got you there and, most importantly, which way to go forward. Sometimes forward, literally, is not the best choice. It was then I realized, if I was alone and totally lost the blueprints of my vehicle would not be helpful. A map could only help if I knew exactly where I was and were I was headed. The compass could point me to true north but that would be of help only if I knew the right direction to go in the first place.

Then it hit me. Blueprints. Maps. Compass. Each one an important, even vital, tool. But something was better. Someone, actually.

I needed a guide. A guide knew the map better than the cartographers. A guide had an internal compass, always knowing the direction we were heading. It was no contest. Put me in the middle of a desolate road in Zambia or in a mountain top village in Guatemala, I'd have but one request:  Give me a guide who knows this region! He will guide me in the right direction after he gives me wise counsel on what my destination ought to be and how to travel safely.

When we pray, we are prone to ask for blueprints, maps, or a compass. Sensible requests, certainly. It seems to me though, we'd do well to ask for the guide who can instruct us  in how to use them correctly and, as an added bonus, go with us the rest of the way home.

Pastor Phil

Web's Largest Prayer-Only Store Now Offers Affiliate Program

One of the most significate areas of God's blessing on us has been the growth of our resource
division: prayershop.org and our new publishing venture, PrayerShop Publishing.
 
Our desire to provide you with the best prayer resources has brought about a concentrated effort
to develop these areas. Over the past two years we have seen our resource store more than double
in the number of products we offer--now more than 500 different prayer resources. And our
publishing venture, launched in April, has produced five books, ten DVDs and more than 30 training
CDs.
 
Now we are offering those of you who have websites (churches, ministries, etc) a chance to share
the weath by promoting prayershop.org. We are introducing an affilitate program where you can
earn 10% of every sale that comes from a person who clicks on a banner ad for our store at your
website.

Click here fore more information. 

Imagine: A Prayer Conference Where You Actually Prayer

Among the most popular features of Empowered 2007 were the prayer opportunities. Our two seminars
that were actually prayer meetings were well attended. Many went into the prayer room to be
prayed for. And our most popular prayer experience was the prayer room that had the individual
prayer stations. We are planning to again offer a number of prayer experiences at Empowered 2008.

Among them will be the prayer station room again and some workshops that are actually prayer
meetings. But this year we are also offering a mini-comference that is a personal prayer retreat.
Led by Pray! editor, Cynthia Bezek, "A Personal Prayer Retreat" will feature significant lengths
of time where you will be set loose on your own to personally connect with God.

This next week or two you should recieve our Empowered Registration flyer. Make sure you study it
and make plans now to attend Empowered 2008, June 11-13 in Columbia, SC. You won't be
disappointed.
 
Remember, register by March 1 and save! Get other from your church to attend--we offer discounts
at 5 or more and 15 or more from the same church.
 
More information . . .

Creative Prayer Room Alternatives

Many churches understand the importance of having a designated place of prayer but simply do not have a room in their church that can be dedicated for that use only. Here are some ideas other churches have used to overcome that obstacle:

• Set up a mobile cabinet on wheels that can be moved from place to place for prayer times. Your cabinet should contain supplies such as prayer request forms, prayer guides, pens, breath mints, CDs and a portable CD player. It could also contain 3-ring binders by topic with information on various ministries in your church, community and global concerns. A journal logging requests and answered prayers and a church directory would be other nice touches.
• Use a Sunday school room that is empty most of the week for your alternative prayer space. Make sure you install cabinets for your prayer paraphernalia that can be closed away when needed. You might want to consider using an adult or older youth classroom so that tiny hands don’t find their way into your resources. If permitted, find inviting ways to decorate the walls that will encourage people to pray—who knows, you may pick up some new intercessors from the group that shares this space with you!
• Some churches use their sanctuaries as prayer rooms. Not only does it meet the need when another dedicated space is not available, it also keeps prayer on the mind of your congregation. Consider setting up “prayer stations” around the perimeter of the sanctuary with visual prayer reminders at each one. Some churches include maps and globes, pictures of the president and government buildings, missionary photos, bulletin boards for posting requests and answers, etc. Make sure your prayer stations are visually appealing and kept tidy and up-to-date. One church had a TV for training videos and equipment for playing tapes and CDs on a mobile cart that could be moved out of the sanctuary during services.

Watch for an opportunity! When any new building plans are being discussed, use this as a chance to approach your leadership team with a proposal for a new prayer room.

We highly recommend the book Creative Prayer Stations if you are interested in developing prayer stations. It provides a many suggestions.

Have a “Game Plan” for Your Church’s Prayer Ministry

By Dennis Conner

Having been involved in all levels of the sports world for 50 years I found that there is clearly one “common thread” evident in all successful teams: each had a “game plan” prior to going on the field or court!

Today my wife and I serve as “prayer coaches”—partnering with pastors and church prayer leaders to help them build a “house of prayer” (Mt. 21:13) in their church. In this role, I see the importance of game plans.  Church’s whose prayer ministry has a strategy succeed more and struggle less than those who do not. Frequently those that don’t have one will explain that they are choosing to “let the Spirit lead” instead of being bound to a planned-out strategy. But I wonder if that is the policy in all their ministries: 1) Children/Youth, 2) Sunday School/Discipleship, 4) Music/Worship, etc.

As a general rule, the church that has developed a game plan for its prayer ministry—like Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York—and is intentional in communicating and following it, will see a much greater awareness of God’s presence, power, and blessing among its people and ministries.

An intentional prayer strategy will accomplish for a church’s prayer team the same thing it does for any athletic team: FOCUS.

1. Fervency.  Players on a successful team know their roles and play their hearts out when utilized. The degree of commitment and enthusiasm for prayer is greatly increased when people have an understanding of the importance of their position on the team!
2. Objective. Just as every sports team can easily visualize its objective, our goal—to be a house of prayer—needs to be the plumbline. Everything we plan should be related toward reaching that goal.
3. Clarity. Just as good communication makes teams better, the opportunity for success is greatly enhanced when everyone understands the purpose for each prayer ministry, objective, etc.
4. Unity. The common response of every athletic team who has just won a major championship is always very similar: “our team was so close to one another all season.” Having a God-sought game plan for your church’s prayer ministry, will enable your people to bond in corporate prayer opportunities like never before, which ensures God’s blessing according to: Ps. 133:1, Eccl. 4:9-12, Mt. 18:19.
5. Sight. In athletics, a clear goal and a game plan on how to achieve the goal  gives the athletes confidence to succeed. Likewise, when strategies are well planned out, and everyone can see where the church is going with prayer success is inevitable. Why? You can analyze how things are going, tweak what is working or not working, and stay on track.

Don’t delay gathering your pastor and church leaders today—to seek God for His prayer ministry strategy for your church. It will provide the much needed “focus” to take your church to a whole new dimension . . . on its way to fulfilling Jesus’ declared desire for it to be a “house of prayer.”

--Dennis Conner is the co-founder Called to Serve and along with his wife, Betty Jo, serves as the Southwest Regional Representative for the Church Prayer Leaders Network. You can contact him through www.bahop.org .

A Pattern to Help Find Your Prayer Strategy

When I help churches develop prayer strategies there are five steps I encourage them to follow.

1. Broaden the prayer team to help strategize. If everyone on your team is a seasoned intercessor, their strategies are going to be different than those of a ministry leader. You need to have people who can honestly see whether something will work or not. If all you have are people passionate about prayer, you may not end up with a workable strategy. Try to get a cross section of people—leaders and average attenders—who understand the importance of prayer, but who don’t necessarily live and breathe it.
2. Pray about prayer. For the first meeting or two or three, I would do very little else than pray together. Seek God for His direction and strategy. It would be great if some would add fasting to this as well. Perhaps set aside a day where the team agrees to fast and pray.
3. Pass out resources. Before any brainstorming begins, let team members read valuable resources that can put a picture of a praying church in their minds. These books can also give them thoughts as to what might work given your church’s culture. Such books as The Prayer Saturated Church, (NavPress) The Praying Church Sourcebook (Faith Alive) and My House Shall Be a House of Prayer (Pray! Books) as excellent tools to have them study.
4. Brainstorm ideas. Have a meeting where team members share what they are sensing. Talk about the different ideas the resources had. What might work in your church; what might be difficult?
5. Refine the strategy. Begin putting down on paper—mapping out—where you want to go. Make a three- to five-year plan that includes what you would like to launch when, sets goals for involvement of church members, etc.

As you strategize, you also want to develop a plan in two parallel streams:

A. Implementation. What are we going to do. What prayer ministries/opportunities will we start first, etc. What prayer events will we offer, when.

B. Motivation. How are we going to get people to participate. What keeps people from getting involved in prayer? How do we overcome those barriers. Plan ways to motivate your people.

Many churches develop excellent strategic plans, but fail at this second point. They never figure out how they will encourage people to join into the prayer life of the church.

--Jonathan Graf is the president of the Church Prayer Leaders Network. You can purchase a cd of his seminar “How to Develop a Prayer Strategy for Your Church” at our store. Click here to purchase .

2008 to be a Year of Unprecidented Prayer

The following is the text of a letter, Dave Butts, Chairman of America's National Prayer Committe sent to its members prior to the semi annual meeting last week. It speaks of the synergism of all the prayer events we will see happen in 2008. It will be of interest to prayer leaders as well.

Last May as the NPC met in Washington DC, we began to hear about various prayer initiatives that would take place in 2008. As the list grew, my organizational anxiety grew with it. “Oh no, all of these prayer events will conflict and compete with each other. How can we organize this and not overwhelm the Church with too many conflicting prayer events?”  Those were the thoughts going on within me and, I suspect, within a few others there.

Suddenly, there came about in our meeting room a sense of God’s peace and direction. It became apparent to all of us that these events were orchestrated by the Lord and were under his leadership. Our need for control or organizational concern was laid aside and we all enjoyed hearing about what God was up to in our nation.

Since that day, I have prayed much about this year and the prayer events that are coming upon us. The picture the Lord has given me is that of waves of prayer that are breaking upon the shores of the United States. Some waves are larger than others but all are significant and are sent by the Lord.

In the physical realm we don’t stand on the oceans shore and say, “Oh that was a nice wave. Now we don’t need any more.” No…with relentless intensity, the waves pound the shore. And it is the combined affect of the many waves that shape the shoreline.

So I believe it will be for us in 2008. Reign Down USA, Paradise 08, The National Day of Prayer, The Global Day of Prayer, The Call (in various venues), The National Prayer of Repentance, Election Prayer Focus from Presidential Prayer Team-National Day of Prayer-and others, Awakening America Prayer Focus in September, and many others, some of which are still being formulated. Is it a lot? Yes! Is it too much? Can there be such a thing as too much prayer?

In the midst of the uncertainty of our times, the National Prayer Committee has a key role to play. We are called to pray for, and to mobilize prayer on behalf of our nation. An election year certainly brings an urgency to the matter, but this call to prayer is about  much more than electing the right leaders. We pray ultimately for Christ to be exalted in the United States. We pray for revival in the Church and a subsequent overflow into our nation that brings transformation.

Brothers and sisters, now is the time to “pull out all the stops”. Participate in every wave of prayer that you can, whether or not you or your ministry are involved in its leadership. Look for ways to communicate these prayer initiatives to your constituency. Above all, pray with greater intensity, passion, and focus than ever before. May the waves of prayer in 2008 bring the transformative power of the Holy Spirit across our nation!