Archive for prayer – Page 2

Rethinking & Creating Care Teams

            Adult Sunday School teacher, if you try to do it all, your class members will gladly let you do it all! Well, maybe that’s a little cynical way to look at service through your Sunday School or Small Group Bible study, but the truth is most people prefer to be served rather than serve.

            Care Teams, Care Group teams, ministry teams, whatever you want to call them, can play a key role in helping your group fulfill the Great Commission Jesus gave in Matthew 28:18-20, to go into all the world to make disciples. Most adult Sunday School classes and Small Groups are already organized for Bible study. The great need of the hour is the personal touch of these ministry teams, making certain all the members and non-members alike, are loved and cared for.

            Although every adult class or group is different in its unique ministry context, a good strategy in organizing the class is to enlist a care leader for every 4-6 people. These leaders may difficult to enlist at first, but as the class/group experiences new opportunities for ministry and service, as people see the value of service to others, it is probable servant-leaders will step up to help.

            Teacher, start enlisting small, setting a goal of enlisting a new care leader each month until you have the number of teams needed for effective ministry in your class. Too many members in a care group will tend to overwhelm a leader. It’s best for men to be with men, and women to be with women in care groups/teams, if it’s a couple’s class.   

As your class or group organizes itself for ministry to members, non-members, members in service and inactive members, needs will be met, and servants will mature. The teams can each include a variety of these “members.” Adult teachers enlist others to share the ministry God has called them to.

            In closing, Jesus taught His disciples (and teaches us) in John 15:13-14, “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” It’s through service, ministry to others, inside the church and outside the church, that we grow in our obedience to Christ. This does not mean, of course, that we are saved through our obedience, but that our salvation is evidenced by our love for God and service to others.

Care teams are still an effective strategy for classes and groups to help the teacher share the ministry load, but also for members to invest their lives in eternity. Who can you prayerfully enlist today?

Written by Jeff Ingram, Adult Ministry Specialist, Louisiana Baptist Convention

Praying as a Means of Serving

Tucked away in Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth story is a woman named Anna. A widow for almost all of her adult life, the Bible says this about how Anna spent decades of time:

Luke 2:37 (CSB)

…She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers.

Anna’s dedication to prayer was counted as service to the Lord. Prayer can be viewed as service in some very practical and important ways.

First, Prayer serves God. When we pray, we aren’t providing God with information that He needs. But we are providing God with interaction that He wants. Scripture is filled with examples of how God invites us to call upon Him, seek Him, ask of Him, and cry out to Him. Because God desires for us to have this dynamic, active relationship with Him, we serve Him when we pray. 

Second, Prayer serves Others. Within His own sovereign authority, God has determined to work through the prayers of His people to accomplish something in another person’s life. In Acts 12, Peter is in prison, but the Bible makes a point to note that the church was praying for him. God miraculously delivers Peter in response to those prayers. We also serve others in prayer by letting them know that we are lifting up their needs to the Father. Many are encouraged to hear that someone else is praying for them.

Third, Prayer is a service to yourself. In 1 Samuel 12:23, Samuel remarks that to fail to pray for the people of Israel would be a sin against the Lord. Praying for others is an act of service to self because it maintains personal holiness, closeness to God, and greater understanding of His will.

Like Anna, when you pray you are serving God!

Written by David Bond, Executive Administrator, Arkansas Baptist State Convention

Prayer as a catalyst for a focus on serving others

Think back to when you first met Jesus. Would it not have been easy to selfishly grab hold of only what salvation had to offer you? Security. Eternal bliss. Future promises. Walking with God. But what about focus on others? What? One could easily be caught up in the things that God has in store for their life or family, but what about the people of whom God has placed around them? Prayer should actually lead to that type of discipleship mindset. When one humbly comes before Holy God, the main focus cannot be self only. Initially, yes, the heart is drawn to God, but will eventually bend thoughts toward others’ needs – completely outside of oneself.

Consider the passage in Mark 10:37 when James and John asked Jesus, “Allow us to sit at your right and your left in glory.” — asking for a place at the table of glory! We tend to think, “How could they ask such a selfish question?”. In reality, all Christians are capable of such selfish behavior because of a Genesis 3 world. Outside of Christ, no one would be able to live unselfishly. Jesus replied, “On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be slave to all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (CSB)

Then one should ask, if that is true, where is that biblical principle expressed with prayer. Two strong examples come to mind. First, we find Jesus in the upper room with the Twelve. Jesus knows exactly what is about to unfold, yet He prays a prayer over them instead of himself. In John 17:11-16, “Holy Father, protect them . . . that they may be one . . . joy completed in them . . . so that they may be sanctified by the truth”. (CSB)This narrative is an amazing example of selfless servanthood. Through Jesus’ intimate prayers, He called upon the Father to minister to these men who would become future pastors, leaders, and martyrs.

Secondly, the greatest example is found in Mark 14:36, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will but what you will.” (CSB)It could be quite easy for a believer to simply wash over these verses and go on to another activity in their life. Jesus not only placed the Twelve at the top of His priority list, but the entire world of sinners. He died to show that servanthood was more important than glorification.

What does it take for a believer to come to the realization that serving others trumps glorification? Answer: Prayer that leads to humility. When one prays, unworthiness rises to the top. That unworthiness subsequently points to others and challenges one not to serve themselves. Therefore, the goal is to resist selfishness through vibrant prayer that leads to true servanthood.

Written by Dr. Tim Turner, Dir.of Evangelism & Discipleship, WV Convention of Southern Baptists

So What About Prayer Partners in Kids Ministry?

When asking adults to serve in kids ministry on Sunday mornings, the most common reason I’ve been given for not serving is that they don’t want to miss out on the personal connections with other adult class members. My initial response was to assure them that they would still be included in their adult class fellowships. Surprisingly, people often responded that the thing they would miss most from their adult class was the prayer time.

I’ve seen adult classes successfully bridge that gap in one or more of the following ways:

  • Create a Missionary Prayer Board. Each adult class posts pictures of those who would be a part of the group if they weren’t serving in preschool or children’s ministry. Adult class members agree to pray for a specific leader pictured on the board, committing to make regular contact with the leader, asking for specific prayer needs. Those could be personal prayer needs or needs specific to the children in their class and their families.
  • Provide a list of prayer needs. A prayer coordinator from the adult class records weekly prayer requests from adult class members and shares the list with those serving outside the class. This approach allows for a mutual partnership where the preschool/children’s leaders commit to pray for the adult Bible Study members.
  • Send monthly prayer cards. Members of the adult class sign prayer cards that are sent monthly to members in service.

As preschool and children’s leaders experience the joy of partnering with others in prayer, they can begin to teach out of the overflow by encouraging parents of the kids in their class to become prayer partners with their children. Leaders can offer simple ideas to parents of how they can begin to make prayer a regular part of each day. Parents can then progress to asking the child if there is anything specific they would like for them to pray about.  With this kind of partnership, preschool and children’s teachers are helping parents to be the spiritual leaders that God has called them to be.

Written by Vicki Hulsey, Childhood Education Specialist, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board

Forming Prayers Partners and Teams

This series has has shown that prayer is not optional for our groups. Prayer partners and teams are essential ways to display the power of prayer in individual lives, in the group, and in our world.

There are many questions that need to be answered before launching prayer partners. These include the following and so many more: Are partners two or more people? When will partnership start and end? On what will they focus their praying? How frequently will they pray and in what venue.

In the book, It Begins with Prayer, after Dwayne McCrary asks how to partner up people in the group, he asks these 7 critical questions:

Are we asking them to pray with each other weekly or monthly? How will they decide on what day they will pray? Are we expecting them to meet face-to-face, by phone, by texting, or by some other means? How will we help them understand the need for building trust and keeping things confidential as much as possible? How will we explain the value of praying with a partner within the group? How do we deal with those who decide not to participate? What is the duration of the partnership—a year, six months, until Jesus comes back?

p. 26, It Begins with Prayer, by Dwayne McCrary

Prayer Partners

Your experience may differ from mine, and that’s fine. I have seen great benefits from prayer partners including only two people of the same gender who meet twice weekly: (1) by phone at a scheduled time and (2) during group time for 2-5 minutes. After checking on each other, they should check on (and write down) personal prayer concerns and then get down to the business of praying about those concerns and any others requested by the class or church. Of course prayer will continue beyond these times.

One of the reasons why I believe two prayer partners are better than 3+ is simply that there tends to be less talking and more prayer. Prayer should be the focus. In fact, another method is simply each person praying for their own personal requests rather than sharing them. This shares the requests during prayer with the other person. Those requests will need to be written down after prayer (so they can be remembered and lifted up in prayer).

I don’t want to diminish the importance of relationships and trust during prayer. In fact, they are essential in order to be honest and open in our requests and prayer. But at the same time, prayer is the focus. Ensure that prayer receives at least half of the time together.

Prayer Teams

In my mind, prayer teams are different than prayer partners. They would meet less frequently. They would have 3-7 members who focus on one or more specifically assigned/requested topics. The duration of the teams might be shorter or the assigned/requested topics might change. These could be cottage prayer meetings monthly or bimonthly.

Why did I narrow the team to a maximum of 7 members? In my experience, it is easy for a group to allow one or more members of a group of 8+ not to talk or pray. The larger groups don’t do this intentionally, but keeping teams smaller helps this to be less likely to take place.

Which Do I Choose?

Consider the differences between partners and teams. Review the questions above. Then I want to challenge you to enlist prayer partners or teams. Then watch as prayer empowers and changes the lives of group members, the class, and those for whom they pray!

_________________________________________

Darryl Wilson serves as the Sunday School & Discipleship Consultant for the Kentucky Baptist Convention. He is the author of Disciple-Making Encounters: Revolutionary Sunday School and the Sunday School Revolutionary blog.