Effective Prayer Ministry Makes Praying a Priority


Devote Yourselves to Prayer, Make Praying a Priority

In both our private lives and in the Church, we can let the concerns of this world crowd out our communion with God. Whether personally or corporately, specific time must be set aside for prayer no matter what else is going on if it is going to be a priority. During the stresses and trials of life, we need to pray more, not less. The title of Hybel's book, Too Busy Not to Pray, says it well. We must devote ourselves to prayer for it to be a priority.

Is Praying a Priority in Your Church?

Too often in prayer meetings we can spend so much time on preliminaries or sharing prayer requests that we have little time for actual praying. Token prayers are usually shallow without much passion. To help make prayer a priority, get creative in the way you present prayer requests and handle preliminaries to try to save time in order to allow more time for prayer.

  • Have people write their requests on note cards or slips of paper. Put them all in a basket and pass the basket around for people to randomly choose a request.
  • As people arrive have them write their requests on a transparency or white or chalk board and keep it displayed as you go to prayer. You could also present announcements this way.
  • Collect prayer requests by e-mail or phone throughout the week and type up a list to distribute. People can then pray using the list.
  • Share requests in groups of three and then have only one person from each group pray for all the requests of their group in the larger setting.
  • Structure your time into segments of prayer with a brief time in-between to share something about that segment.

The Prayer Ministry Manual also provides a list of ways to make prayer more of a priority in our personal lives and an assessment to help you know if a prayer is a priority personally and as a church.


Share This with Others:

For More on what will help you develop and maintain an effective Prayer Ministry, read the following:

For More About Praying: Resources for Prayer Ministry