Recently at a YOU Lead women’s leadership training, we had a panel answering questions submitted by attendees. Several past and upcoming posts address those and try to help answer them.
Today’s question is: What does the “prayer group” look like in your church? How many are in the group. How often do they meet? What is the structure of a prayer meeting?
This is the second in a series of 5 posts on this subject. Be sure to read part 1 first.
To move forward let’s address this issue:
What Prayer Will Do for Your Group:
Refocuses perspective from self to Him
Quiets and calms the heart and sprit
Transfers burdens from the person to God
Upholds others who need our prayers
Empowers believers to serve in His power believing His direction
Sensitizes group to God’s will and work
Again, addressing foundational aspects of prayer groups before actually talking about how to set them up, let’s understand knowing some universal things to pray for:
God wants us to grow spiritually (Heb. 13: 20–21)
God desires that we encourage each other (Heb. 10:19–25)
God longs to see souls added to His kingdom (Matt. 28:18–20)
Here are some things that the Holy Spirit will do when we pray:
Create unity
Create understanding and insights through Scripture
Place burdens on church members’ hearts
Offer peace, confirmation, assurance of heart (Rom. 8:16)
Watch for upcoming blog posts in the prayer series. Next time we will get into the nitty gritty of setting up prayer groups.
Some great prayer resources:
Transformed Lives: Taking women’s Ministry to the Next Level, compiled by Chris Adams (Some
of the information above was taken from this resource)
He Speaks to Me, Priscilla Shirer
Discerning God’s Voice, Priscilla Shirer
Oh, God, Please, Leighann McCoy
Whispers of Hope, Beth Moore
Lord, Teach Me to Pray, Kay Arthur
Disciples PrayerLife, Hunt & Walker
Various Studies on Prayer by Jennifer Kennedy Dean
In God’s Presence, T. W. Hunt
The Prayer of Jesus, Ken Hemphill
Follow Me: Lessons for Becoming a Prayerwalker, Randy Sprinkle