Moving in the Right Direction

Goal

Create a team that will pray for:

• A spiritual renewal to occur in the congregation’s hearts.
• The strategic initiatives to impact the community and draw people to Christ.

Key Ministry Results:

1. Your congregation will grow closer to God.

2. God will draw people who need your congregation to grow closer to God to you.

3. The Spirit will go before you to loosen the hard soil in the community.

God hears us. 

He delights in hearing from us. He is attentive when we speak and merciful when he delivers. Praying brings glory and honor to him. It aligns us with his will. It cultivates wisdom and discernment to make the right decisions. 

So, what is prayer? 

A prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies. 

Westminster Shorter Catechism Question #98

The first discipline is Preemptive Prayer, which is offered as a first resort. 

Its preeminence can not be overstated. It’s what you “do” before you “do” anything. It’s asking, listening, and contemplating. It’s the wind that fills the ministry’s sails. 

PRINCIPLE: Prayer preempts every endeavor of the church. It lays the spiritual foundation for God to work through the church’s ministries.

Establishing a prayer team who will join your leadership team in prayer is non-negotiable. It’s your responsibility to train those praying. It’s you and your leadership team’s responsibility to set the topics. 

Remember that this is a spiritual exercise. It will build a spiritual foundation. 

Once that foundation is in place, the conditions favor spiritual growth. 

In the beginning, the topics will be broad. 

They might include: 

• The future direction of the church 
• How your church will minister to the community
• The best way to go about it
• The funding, training, and leadership to get there

As you get some time under your belt they will become more specific like: 

• The ingredients to having a successful outreach event at a local school.
• Having more kids attend VBS from outside our church than inside.
• Finding those of like hearts and minds in your community to join you to impact your community.

During the time of prayer, seek him. Pray Scripture back to him. Open your heart to him. Listen. Contemplate. Let your requests be known. Be specific. 

Call to Action:

1. Establish a prayer team.

2. Have them read this post.

3. Find a time each week to pray.

4. Organize your time. Here is the way one church organized their time:

They created categories of people like: the congregation, local schools, public officials, first responders, neighbors around the church, influential people in the community, and other local churches.

They wrote down the names in each category.

They prayed over them.