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 A Prayer Guidebook for Churches and Associations
The Woman’s Missionary Union, North American Mission Board, International Mission Board and LifeWay Christian Resources are working together to discover what God is doing in prayer and to provide resources. Each entity is trying to help communicate what the Spirit is doing across North America and around the world. There is a coordinated attempt to present universal biblical principles for Spirit-led prayer and awakening while not creating a program.
A. What is Great Commission Praying?
Prayer is foundational to following Christ’s Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. Great Commission Praying keeps prayer as a priority to everything done in and through the life and ministry of every believer. Great Commission Praying includes a comprehensive strategy for local and global intercession.
B. Seek the Spirit’s Plan for a Customized Prayer Ministry. This is an intentional Spirit-led prayer ministry that considers the individual needs and abilities of each church and association.
One pastor helped highlight the need by saying, "Our people have been much more supportive of prayer since we replaced the old ritual prayers with heartfelt cares. We had a lot of people complain when we made Wednesday night a true prayer meeting. Some quit coming but others have come and we have a wonderful time of intercession and thanksgiving. We are seeing answered prayer. The lost are being saved. Believers are giving up vices that interfere with their walk with Christ. Visitors are coming to church."
C. Six Common Characteristics of a Great Commission Prayer Ministry. Here are six of the common characteristics found in state conventions, associations and churches that have responded to Gods call to pray. These six characteristics are included in a comprehensive strategy for a Great Commission Prayer Ministry.
1. Enlist through Prayer the State and Provincial Prayer Coordinators
The first characteristic is to discover through prayer the prayer coordinator for a state or province. Many states and provinces have Prayer Coordinators. These coordinators keep prayer as a priority in the face of so many pressing responsibilities. They also focus on praying and working for the Lord to call out prayer coordinators in each association.
A list of state convention offices and Canadian coordinators with contact information is found in appendix A. An updated list with email addresses is available at the Prayer Communication Networks link.
The state or provincial prayer coordinators remind leaders of the biblical priority of righteous, fervent, specific prayer. They provide networking opportunities for all of the associational prayer coordinators. These opportunities can include prayer breakfasts at the state convention and evangelism meetings. Regional meetings also bring prayer coordinators together for training and communication. A job description for a state or province prayer coordinator is very similar to the associational job description in Appendix B.
One state executive director shared, "Prayer was one of many duties done by our staff. Consequently it was less emphasized because it was not screaming for attention like so many other needs do. I can tell a tremendous difference in our staff morale and productivity since we brought prayer back to the forefront."
2. Enlist through Prayer Associational and Church Prayer Coordinators
The second characteristic is to discover through prayer Associational Prayer Coordinators. Many associational and state coordinators also serve as a church prayer coordinator.
The associational prayer coordinators work with each church coordinator to help each church discover a Spirit-led strategy for a Great Commission prayer ministry. Another primary task is to build relationships with associational leadership for encouragement and prayer support. The associational coordinators provide networking opportunities for all of the church prayer coordinators and provide prayer opportunities for pastors and staff. They pray.
A job description for the associational prayer coordinator is found in Appendix B. The associational prayer coordinator has two primary tasks: help the associational office prioritize a Spirit-led prayer ministry; and help every congregation in the association to prioritize a Spirit-led prayer ministry.
The task can be accomplished in the churches by identifying through prayer the lay prayer practitioners and prayer coordinators in each church. Every prayer coordinator should be discipling others in biblical, Spirit-led prayer. Refer to the information in this Guidebook for the function and areas of responsibility for prayer coordinators.
One Midwestern associational DOM has taken the role of Prayer Coordinator "because it is one of the most important things I can do. Some of the most effective help I can give is to help pastors and leaders to reclaim the church as a house of prayer with the passion for the lost. It is real easy for me to stay busy with paperwork, counseling and putting out fires. Being the prayer coordinator helps me stay focused on the importance of personal prayer too."
a. Church Prayer Coordinator
Most of the associational prayer suggestions can be applied on the congregational level. The church prayer coordinator has the same duties as the associational prayer coordinator on a congregational level. There is a church prayer coordinator job description in Appendix C. The church prayer coordinator has a very difficult job. Satan is constantly working to undermine biblical, fervent, and specific, Spirit-led prayer.
A West Coast prayer coordinator says that "Coordinating prayer in the church is some of the hardest and most fulfilling ministry of my entire life. It is disheartening to see how many people don’t understand the importance of prayer. It is wonderful to see church members get excited about answered prayer. We have seen so many lives changed that can only be attributed to fervent prayer."
b. How to identify and enlist associational and church prayer coordinators
This process, of course, begins with prayer. It may take months (or years) of concentrated prayer for the person to answer God’s call.
- A prayer coordinator will be a prayer practitioner. Find the people in the churches who are already called to the ministry of prayer.
- Remind the church of biblical priority of prayer as foundational to everything done in and through the church. Encourage each member to listen for God’s call to pray.
- Publicize the need for associational and church prayer coordinators. Let them know that training will be provided.
- Elect the prayer coordinator and place them in a position of influence.
- Look to a church prayer coordinator to serve as the associational prayer coordinator.
- Encourage each prayer practitioner to disciple another person in Biblical, specific, Spirit-led prayer.
An associational prayer coordinator prayed for two years before every church had an effective prayer coordinator. In the beginning there was just one. As others were called to be prayer coordinators they began to pray together for other churches by name. The Lord raised up senior adults, young people, and even staff members. They now are praying specifically for every association in the state to have a prayer coordinator.
3. Enlist through Prayer the Associational and Church Prayer Councils
The third characteristic is, through prayer, to convene praying people into an associational prayer council. Then help each congregation to convene a prayer council.
The prayer council serves to keep Spirit-led prayer before the congregation. Some associations and churches prefer to call it a prayer team or a prayer committee. Be careful that the prayer team helps prayer permeate everything done in and through the entire association or congregation. The council helps believers respond to God’s expectation for a corporate culture of godliness and righteousness.
The prayer council should not be seen as the ones who pray like the choir is seen as the ones who sing. Council members are the equippers and planners to involve the entire association or congregation in specific prayer. The prayer council helps believers turn to prayer as the first choice instead of the last resort. Study the life of Old Testament heroes to see that specific, righteous prayer was important to them.
The prayer council in one church had to spend their first months reminding the church staff about the importance of biblical, righteous prayer. "No one was against prayer, they just weren’t committed to it."
4. Provide Accessible Training for Associational and Church Prayer Coordinators
The training sessions for prayer coordinators can follow an outline similar to this Guidebook but adapted for your setting. The training goal is to lead each believer to become a prayer practitioner and to train practitioners to become prayer leaders. The training includes basics on Spirit-led prayer and how to use prayer and evangelism resources. Create a training schedule that can provide local training. Contact for help any of the prayer leaders noted in Appendix A.
a. Begin with reminding people about the importance of prayer. Focus on prayer in the Sunday School and Bible Study hour. Lead each teacher to take full advantage of every minute of the Bible study time. Believers and unbelievers are desperate for the truth that is found in God’s Word. Visitors and members are looking for communities of believers that pray and care for each other. It is no accident that announcements, coffee and prayer requests take up most of the study time. Satan encourages anything that delays or diminishes prayer and relevant Bible study. Encourage each person to pray their requests so all of the prayer time is spent in prayer.
b. Banish "zipper prayers." Take this opportunity to banish the ritual prayers that often open and close a meeting. Make each prayer time a holy time with the Creator of the universe. Ask for several people to pray sentence prayers. Pray in small groups for specific requests. Take time to pray. Listen for what the Lord is saying. Welcome Him to make whatever changes are needed in the church and in each believer. Foster such powerful, intentional prayer that people will not be tempted to take prayer time to prepare to leave.
c. Teach people to take prayer to the streets in order to cover the community with prayer. Henry Blackaby, Steven Hawthorne and Evelyn Christenson are among many prayer leaders that encourage churches to study The Taking Prayer to the Streets:Prayer Journeys Resource Kit. It provides everything needed to mobilize the congregation for community intercession. It also provides specific suggestions for beginning a prayer room and how to start list praying. List praying encourages believers to create systematic daily lists to help them pray specifically for a large number of requests.
d. Encourage an ongoing school of prayer. Provide many different prayer classes to learn about the Biblical importance of prayer. Set a goal to train 75 percent of the entire membership in prayer. Study prayer through any of the prayer resources available such as Experiencing God and the Seven Keys to Effective Prayer.
e. Teach people how to pray for believers, for unbelievers and for personal spiritual need. Taking Prayer to the Streets provides biblical examples to respond to those who say it is not biblical to pray for believers, unbelievers and personal spiritual needs.
1). Praying for believers
In John 17:9b Jesus prayed, "My followers belong to you and I am praying for them" (CEV). Missionaries and evangelism leaders around the globe testify to the effectiveness of praying for believers involved in evangelism and missions. Acts 13:1-3 shows the church commissioning Paul and Silas to evangelistic mission work. First Thess. 3:2 shows the church needs to send believers like it sent Timothy "…to establish you [as believers] and encourage you concerning the faith"
2). Praying for unbelievers
In John 17:20 Jesus prayed, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word." The excellent resource Praying Your Friends to Christ provides six ways to pray for unbelievers:
- Pray for receptive and repentant hearts (See Luke 8:5-12).
- Pray for their spiritual eyes and ears to be opened to the truth of Christ (See 2 Cor. 4:3-4; Matt. 13:15).
- Pray for them to have God’s attitude toward sin (See John 16:8).
- Pray for the person to be released to believe (See 2 Cor 10:3-4; 2 Tim 2:25-26).
- Pray for a transforming life (See Rom.12:1-2).
- Pray for God to send them into His harvest field (See Matt. 9:35-38).
3). Praying for personal spiritual need
In Luke 11:3-4 Jesus instructs believers to pray for our daily bread, pray that we can forgive everyone and that we will not be led into temptation. Personal praying acknowledges that God is the source to meet all of our physical and spiritual needs. This is very difficult in a culture that so easily confuses needs with wants.
Christ’s example helps believers to see that praying for believers, for unbelievers, and for personal spiritual needs are important parts of a Great Commission Prayer Ministry.
f. Work with the evangelism committee to train the church in personal evangelism. Too many believers have been intimidated by the culture to remain silent about their faith in Christ. Lead the church in evangelism training if there is not an evangelism committee. Use several approaches to help the different personality types in the church. Three very good approaches are Faith by Bobby Welch, The Net from NAMB, and How to be a Contagious Christian by Mark Mittleberg.
5. Seek the Spirit for a Customized Great Commission Prayer Ministry. An effective prayer ministry needs to consider the individual strengths and weaknesses of each congregation. These components can be adapted to apply in most situations.
a. Vision statement
A Great Commission Prayer Ministry begins with a prayer saturated vision statement. Proverbs 29:18 warns other leaders "where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained" (NASB). Unrestrained people have no focus on priorities. They are busy spending their time, money and talent on relatively unimportant things.
A vision statement that is becoming popular in many evangelical denominations is "to pray for and share Jesus with every person in the community of the church." This is a well-focused statement for a local congregation. Do not forget to pray for Samaria and the furthest parts of the planet. This uniting of prayer and evangelism gives birth to the term "prayer evangelism." Prayer evangelism draws attention to the importance and effectiveness of praying for lost people.
A newly created prayer council unanimously agreed that "our congregation had a lot of activity but we had lost focus on what really makes a difference in the lives of church members and the lost in the community."
b. Purpose statements
The strategy for the Great Commission Prayer Ministry then creates prayer-saturated purpose statements that support the vision. What can be done in your association to help churches pray for and share Jesus with everyone in that association?
Discover these purpose statements through prayer and Bible study. Listen for what God is doing. It is a human tendency to ask God to come and bless our plans. Humans need to follow God’s plan instead of trying to impose our plans on God.
The strategy statement for an associational or church prayer ministry could begin like this: "to pray for and share Jesus with everyone in our association." We will accomplish this through these three purpose statements:
1). Renew a personal passion to pray unceasingly (See 1 Thess. 5:17). This purpose statement refers to the importance of a personal prayer life. As believers begin to practice a life of unceasing prayer, prayer assumes its primary and foundational place in our lives. In Matt. 6:5-7 Jesus cautions against the vain repetition that may be mistakenly identified as praying unceasingly.
2). Reclaim the church as a house of prayer with a passion for lost people. (See Matt. 21:13, Luke 19:10). This purpose statement refers to the importance of a corporate dimension to prayer. As prayer is placed in its foundational place in a congregation, the focus of ministry turns toward the Father’s focus—the lost world.
3). Link believers in focused prayer for evangelization and awakening (See Matt. 18:18-20, 2 Chron. 7:14). This purpose statement refers to the importance of a kingdom perspective to prayer. Churches that become houses of prayer begin to saturate with prayer everything done in and through their life and ministry. They begin to include prayer for the worldwide harvest. These churches are led to join other congregations in associational, state, national and international prayer initiatives for evangelization and awakening (such as the National Day of Prayer, See You at The Pole, Campus Prayer Journey, Prayer for the Persecuted Church, etc).
There is a lot of power in focused, united prayer. Many believers are focusing their prayer to respond to God’s call for revival and spiritual awakening.
c. Prayer Events
The next step to creating a prayer strategy is to seek the Lord for prayer events to help complete the purpose statements. These events reflect the needs and ethnicity of each church and each community. Ethnic congregations do not have different prayer needs but the prayer events will reflect their cultural and linguistic preferences. The association is a perfect channel to help church prayer coordinators to discover and plan prayer evangelism events.
The diverse needs and interests of churches make event planning difficult. No single approach works in every situation. Every church and association needs to develop and adapt events and tasks in their strategy for a Great Commission prayer ministry that works in their contextual situation.
Use whatever approach fits in your cultural or geographic area. Different prayer approaches include:
1). Prayer Triplets- A prayer triplet has three believers agreeing to pray together each week. Each believer chooses three unbelievers to pray for and shares their names. The prayer triplet prays for the salvation of all nine unbelievers. Often, one of the believers becomes the instrument to lead the unbeliever to Christ.
2). Concerts of Prayer- A concert of prayer is a gathering of believers to pray. There usually are not many people talking about prayer, just concentrated times of group and private prayer.
3). Prayer Revivals or Retreats- A prayer revival or retreat has an extended number of meetings to focus on prayer. It can have a conference or worship service format.
4). Solemn Assemblies- Joel 1:14 and 2:15 provide the clearest call for a solemn assembly of repentance and prayer.
5). Pastor/Staff Prayer Networks- These groups pray for the specific needs of pastors and staff in the church and association. Satan’s counter strategy includes intentional attacks on church leaders. Believers need to provide a hedge of protection around them through prayer. These networks meet weekly, monthly or quarterly. Many of them meet during the worship service to intercede for the Spirit to work freely in the pastor, staff and people.
6). Lighthouses of Prayer- Many believers are being led to open their homes as a house of prayer for their neighborhoods. The lighthouses of prayer are an adaptation of a house of prayer. A family agrees to pray for their neighbors and discover opportunities to care for them and share Christ with them.
7). Outreach Prayer Surveys- A prayer surveyor goes door-to-door in a community asking for prayer requests. Prayer is always well received and provides contacts for later follow-up by evangelism teams.
8). Prayer Journeys- Prayer Journeys are an expansion of prayerwalking to include field teams and support teams to pray for and share Jesus with everyone in the community. An important part of Prayer Journeys focuses on praying for school campuses across North America. Campus Prayer Journeys pray for the salvation, safety and spiritual growth of everyone on the campus. This simultaneous event occurs the night before each September’s See You at the Pole, the student-led call to prayer around the flagpole of their campus. The process of praying for campuses continues throughout the year.
9). Prayer Groups- Create as many prayer groups as possible. It is very helpful for groups with similar interests or occupations to pray together. Affinity groups such as medical, judicial, and postal workers are very effective in praying for the needs of their co-workers.
d. Fifteen prayer-saturated steps for churches- Some congregations have found it helpful to adapt these fifteen prayer-saturated steps from NAMB’s Taking Prayer to the Streets: Prayer Journeys Guidebook. Obviously, all of this begins with prayer for God to reveal His activity.
1). Select a prayer coordinator for the church- The pastor may need to serve as the prayer coordinator in small membership congregations. However, he usually could use some help. There is a job description in Appendix B.
2). Select a prayer council- The prayer council works with the prayer coordinator to help reclaim or renew the congregation as a house of prayer with a passion for the lost. Many churches that have a kitchen committee or a flower committee are seeing the need for a prayer team, committee or council. The prayer council also can provide evangelism and prayer training. There is a job description in Appendix D.
3). Ask the pastor to take the lead by preparing a sermon series on prayer that will remind the congregation of the importance of biblical prayer- Encourage the staff to have intentional and extended prayer times together.
4). Encourage individual prayer through any of the resources available or in the bibliography- Use this opportunity to identify and recruit intercessors through prayer revivals, prayer retreats, special prayer commitment services and conferences.
5). Launch new prayer groups at work places, through the Sunday School, in small groups and Discipleship Training- Encourage prayer groups to meet before and during the worship services.
6). Provide a prayer room- Include resources to help people pray specifically for believers, for unbelievers and for personal spiritual need.
7). Refocus the Wednesday night prayer meeting into a time to pray for believers, unbelievers and individual spiritual growth- Provide national and international prayer needs and opportunities through NAMB (1 800-554-PRAY) and IMB (1 800 395-PRAY) prayerlines. Download requests from www.namb.net/prayer and www.imb.net/pray.
8). Create praying affinity groups for people in your congregation and community- Affinity groups can be created by ethnic group, profession, or interest.
9). Develop prayer lists of lost people and prospects in the community- Send evangelism teams to visit the lost people that have been receiving prayer. Pray for the names in the telephone book.
10). Participate in the annual Week of Prayer for North American Missions and the annual Week of Prayer for International Missions- The trend of some congregations to have a single missions offering and prayer emphasis is reducing specific prayer for missionaries and mission work.
11). Schedule a prayer time during the worship service- Occasionally pray in groups, pray for missionaries, and make prayer a vital part of the worship service.
12). Create a lighthouse of prayer in every community or on every street.
13). Include Prayer Journeys for as many groups as possible and as often as possible.
14). Plan a mission trip that includes a Prayer retreat or Prayer Journey.
15). Work with the associational prayer coordinator to calendar participation in community, associational, state, national, and international prayer initiatives for evangelization and awakening.
6. Involve Ethnic congregations in the association.
Many associations may need to enlist an additional prayer coordinator for each ethnic group. Many ethnic congregations have become models of congregational, foundational prayer. There is always a needed balance of including everyone in the association and providing contextual opportunities for each ethnic group. One Anglo prayer leader commented "We quickly realized that our ethnic congregations were way ahead of us in prayer. We became the students and they taught us how to focus on prayer."
Congregations will want to partner with ethnic churches for prayer events and training.
"Effective Prayer replaces our agenda with God’s agenda, our will with God’s Will."
Almighty God and Father, Your name is blessed and a blessing to the earth. Thank you for hearing my cries. Teach me to be a blessing to You and to give You glory. Show me the ways to bring lost people to conversion through Your Son. I confess to you that the fruit of the flesh is more common than the fruit of Your Spirit. Please let the fruit of Your Spirit characterize all that I say and do. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
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