Over the years of working with house/simple churches one of the most meaningful segments of our gatherings are the prayer times. We train church planters to practice several different ways of praying. One of these ways is conversational prayer.Acknowledge God’s presence in the group. Praise and adoration is always good to help focus the group on communicating with the Lord.
Pray short prayers of one, two or three sentences.
Pray about one subject, idea or person at a time until everyone has shared as much and as often as prompted by the Spirit.
Be reluctant to change the subject as you would in any conversation until everyone is finished with it.
Times of silence can give the timid and the thoughtful time to contribute.
The more the conversation with God is passed around the group the deeper the intimacy grows. In time a small group becomes totally unified and purely transparent.
Watch God’s love flow freely, lives transform and answers to prayer abound.
3 comments:
Important post, Guy. Long prayers can send a message that you need training to pray properly. Just having a conversation can be a witness to His actual presence. Thanks for posting.
You're welcome Tim, and thanks for stopping by. We actually teach several different ways to pray in small groups. This is one of my favorites though.
Make it intergenerational. Include the children. Children old enough to form a sentence can pray. We have a prayer sheet so that children that can read can participate easily - along with the adults. Parents or older children can whisper a sentence to the youngest children. When new adults see the youngest of children persevere in prayer, they take courage and follow the example. Often, it is the children's prayers that are the most powerful in theology, humility and openness.
Every 4th week is adoration night. We only praise God for his character and His names. We have a sheet for that also with scripture. It is amazing to hear the saints grow in their theology. Hearing the children speak to God in adoration is stunning.
Keep it all short keeps the participation rates high and the tendency to drift or snooze low.
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