One of the most exciting sentences I have ever heard is “ Let’s get together and pray!” Those words usually herald the beginning of a prayer group – a gathering of prayer warriors& intercessors – who are hearing the Spirit call them to pray.
When the Spirit of God puts out the call to gather to pray, it usually means He has something that He wants done, something that He wants to release – answers that He wants us to ask for! It’s an exciting time – it’s also a time of learning, and time of work. A good prayer group, a strong prayer group, is one that will go the distance. A good prayer group takes work and boundaries.
Below are listed some things that our Abbotsford City Prayer Group has learned over the years – things the Lord has taught us along the way, that have enabled us to last 15 years and still going strong. Please understand that none of this is hard and fast – it is simply what we have learned. You still must determined what the Lord is saying to you and your group. There are 9 main points that we've developed over the years - here are the first three points. I'll list the others in a later post.
1. What is Your Mandate?
The first thing any group has to discern is : WHY are we meeting to pray? What has God called you together for? This question can be better understood in one word : mandate.
Many groups do not discern what they have been gathered to pray about, and so, each prayer meeting can become a ‘free for all’. By that I mean, the strongest agenda’s, or the strongest need or personality, will control the way the meeting goes, and what is prayed about.
For instance: if you are called to pray for your church – that entails a lot of territory. You need to ( each meeting) ask the Lord what area of the church He is wanting you to pray into that week – what area does He feel needs to be covered. You may find yourself praying for youth, the children, finances, the pastors, worship ( & all those involved), marriages, the singles, upcoming outreaches or events the church is participating in, families etc. The list of needs that prayer people can cover, as they pray for their church is HUGE! If you do not establish that Praying for the Church, is the main call of the prayer group, you can get pulled into ministering to personal needs, or praying for national crises, or praying for nations, etc. Although they are all good causes and need prayer, IF you spend your time all your praying for those issues, at the end of your prayer time, WHO has prayed for the church? That very area, that God has called you together for, has not been the object of your prayers, and it’s needs have not been lifted up. Yes, you have had a good prayer time and yes all prayer is good – but the thing you were called together for, has not received the attention it is.
Another example is: our group is called to pray for the City and all it’s churches. In our first year together, people would come out to pray, that had other prayer burdens. While we wanted to pray for the city of Abbotsford, others would begin to pray for Canada, some would pray for Israel, others would pray for the political issues – ALL good prayer needs – but ultimately it caused disunity in the group, as no one issue was actually being prayed for completely, and there was a sense of continually wrestling for the floor (so to speak).Personal issues also were a constant source of wrestling for attention. At the same time all these things do need to be prayed about.
Discerning your mandate will also give you a ‘plum line’ to measure other issues up against. Does this line up with why God has called us to pray? It helps keep things focused.
So, pray first: then do personal ministry time. We leave personal ministry till the end of the meeting. That way you never get sidetracked away from the reason why you have gathered together. Determined how long your prayer meeting is to go – one or two hours. THEN decide how much of that time you want to leave for personal ministry to each other, or to pray into other issues that people have come in carrying on their hearts. This way we never rob God of ‘why’ He’s called us to pray.
2. No one person should ever dominate a prayer time.
Everyone in a prayer group needs to agree before you even start, that they are submitting one to another, and to the leader. If one person is dominating the prayer time – praying everything, or praying lengthy, wordy prayers – so that others are not getting a chance to pray, they need to have a teachable heart and humble spirit, and be willing to limit the length of their prayers. This needs to be done so that everyone in the prayer group gets an opportunity to pray.
The reason for this? No one person will have the FULL picture of what God is wanting us to pray! Every person in the group needs to release what they are sensing, what is on their heart – so that the whole picture is revealed through prayer, and covered more thoroughly.
3.Everyone in the group must give their piece.
Since everyone one hears in part, in order to get the full picture, everyone must GIVE their part - what they are hearing or sensing. It’s ‘ok’ if everyone is not hearing the same thing. Remember if we are( in sense) ‘standing on the wall’ around the prayer issue, everyone is seeing from a different perspective, so what one person sees may not look the same as what someone else sees. Like a patchwork quilt, when all the piece are ‘prayed out’ – it’s always amazing at the picture that it reveals. Don’t be afraid of people praying what can even seem contrary to each other. Remember that each person is accountable to giving their piece, and allowing the Holy Spirit to create the bigger picture. This may mean that the leader may have to take time to draw in the quieter ones, and ask them what they are sensing. Recognizing that it is sometimes harder for quieter personalities to ‘jump in’ – so make room for them –draw them out. This also acknowledges that their ‘piece’ IS important.
Read the next post for the more information and the rest of the 'points'!
