John Lindell | Exodus 33:11-17. Remind participants of the focus of the meeting and cast a vision for why you are gathering to pray for that particular topic. Good Night . And prayer helps the world at large by allowing us to reach out to God and ask Him for guidance, wisdom, and strength during times of need. Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. With the salvation of many has come a transformation in morals, so that AIDS is down to 5 percent. Please watch over those who mean the most to us. 1. Corporate prayer is on par with preaching and teaching as a priority in a healthy church. Track what God is doing in Korea, in China, in India, in Eastern Africa, and you will find behind the scenes prayer meetings. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen. Receive the Daily Devotional, Share prayers with others, and more on the Pray.com app. That has led some to think that David himself did not write it in this form. The 120 were gathered in an upper room praying in one accord when Pentecost comes (Acts 1:13; 2:1). To ensure you receive the best experience on Lifeway.com, we use cookies to process information about your visit. Consider the needs of your group and what will work best for the people who come. It is not right for us to be proud ourselves; rather, let us praise God our Saviour, who has done so much for us by his grace. . We are weak in ourselves and have no ability to do anything pleasing to God; but when we ask His help, He gives us what we need to work for him. What we believe about the gospel and our call to serve every nation. of business. We want you to come and be in the midst of us. "Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend." Ellen White. When done right, a welcome message gets church members focused, sets the tone for the meeting, gives some sense of the agenda and outcomes, and gets everything off on the right foot. It can be helpful to set aside some time for individual silent prayer and preparation before the group prayer begins. Only You truly know what we are setting out to accomplish today. Because ethnicity is part of the good of creation, we seek to honor and celebrate the ethnic identity of those with whom we serve as well as those we seek to reach. Only he can do this! 2 The Lord is a great God! Creating a few simple ground rules will help avoid common pitfalls. If your group includes people who are newer to group prayer, consider choosing methods that avoid making them feel pressured to pray out loud. Ask God to care for each person who came. Sometimes people who are more hesitant may not feel comfortable praying unless theres a clear opening, so silence can be helpful. In my second church, we didn't have the traditional Wednesday night prayer . How can we reach this unity? Showing God in action in and through His people. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Liven it up with a Theme. He never changes his mind or turns back on what he has said. Prayer is an expression of faith in God's power, fueled by a desire for more of him. You got anything to back that up?" Use All Five Senses. An Opening Prayer to Glorify God In All You Do. 4 One day all your prayers will come true because God never forgets about any of his promises made through prayer over thousands of years ago when prophets like David wrote down what they heard from Gods mouth directly through inspiration (Revelation 21:5). The same general rules apply to public prayers that apply to welcome speeches. "the serenity prayer" - the beautiful twentieth century prayer attributed to the Christian theologian Reinhold Neibuhr. (suitable for the leader of a meeting to pray before a hymn or time of congregational praise or worship) Lord, today we recall your faithfulness. We should also be praying for godly men and women to rise up and take leadership roles in our communities within government, business, education and other fields where influence can be wielded over others. The pieces didn't fit, so she took the problem to Jesus. And it all started with prayer. Without you, we are nothing. Use your hobbies and interests to find the best place for you to serve. I'm glad you asked. So pray for the Lords direction as you plan each element of the meeting. If you are unsure how many people are coming, you may need to be flexible. "The Four Immeasurables Prayer" from Buddhism. In Uganda alone, HIV/AIDS once claimed the lives of one-third of the population. There is no wrong or right time to conduct an opening prayer. The World Health Organization predicted the complete collapse of the Ugandan economy by the year 2000. Oops! The focus has been directed to you and your words of praise. Here's how it happened: In those days, as the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. If you meet regularly, you can try different things at different meetings or rotate who leads the time. So, here is what I need. When everyone joins together in fervent prayer He will answer your prayers. Meetings are essential in a social setting. Thank you for being. One way you can start your meeting is by inviting each person to share his or her personal prayer requests. In other passages, Jesus deliberately emphasized the significance of praying together. He is a God of love: if you would give . We pray that this time together will be a time of learning, growing, and healing. It can be hard to go first. With you at my side, nothing will be impossible. We read "you" in that verse and immediately think it's singular, referring to an individual. Let the spirit of wisdom and counsel accompany me to this meeting. Father God, we come before you today laying down our pride and arrogance and confess our need for you. Opening prayers, just as closing prayers, are very important., Not only does praying together show our everlasting love to our Lord, but it also clears our minds of all other thoughts and brings everyone into focus on He who is most important to us.. Keep it short . Sometimes all we think we have time for is a cup of coffee and a bagel before we see our kids off to school and dash out the front door to begin our day. In reality, getting a group of people together to effectively carry out even the simplest task requires planning and organization. 22. He is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Hospital staff sometimes has meetings, families have meetings, and students in the school who have common interests often meet to discuss issues concerning their group. This way, every request will be prayed for by at least one person in the group. Those people may decide not to come to the next prayer meeting. But that is not the point of this passage. Read about individuals who have been transformed by faith. How you lead it can affect the quality of your prayer time and your whole service. You can focus on a specific group, like neighbors, coworkers, members of a small group or Sunday school class, or people with common interests. When your dog is ill, lost, or dying, finding the words to pray can be tough. Explore answers to life's biggest questions. Name any worries or thoughts that could distract you and tell God you want to hand them over to Him so you can focus on praying. Pour your heart before Him. We have attended little prayer-mee tings of four or five, and we have been glad to be there, for we had the promise of our Lord's presen ce; but our minds are grieved to see so little attention . Reflecting Jesus together for the good of the city. If people want to hang out and continue praying afterward, thats great, but make sure that people who need to leave can go at the scheduled time. Or do you think of words like boring, awkward, uncomfortable and necessary? Your email address will not be published. Amen. As the day approaches, remind everyone youve invited about the time and location. You can pick any subject to talk to Him about. 1) The context of this passage revolves around ministries. We're sorry, an error occurred. We should show God our appreciation at the breakfast table when our family gathers before starting another day filled with work, school, errands, and busy events. Beloved, our message this week is entitled, "I am getting out.". -Beloved Father, I pray for your Holy Grace to be with us . Some people meet every week in some organizations. Further, we are talking to our Father. When leading a prayer meeting, or even just leading your own prayers for the leaders in your life, its important to remember that prayer is not limited to the leader of your church. 1. When we try to combine them, the meeting becomes a Bible study and prayer is . We live in very polarizing times. Here is an example of how you might open a prayer meeting: First, were going to take two minutes of silence to individually prepare our hearts and minds so we can focus on prayer. Pray that the church would be healthy and growing, led by leaders who are committed to Gods Word. It wasn't long until somewhere between 10 and 50,000 businessmen were meeting every day in NYC to pray at noon. Understand that this message is not given to minimize personal prayer. Pray for missionaries around the world who are representing Christ abroad through preaching the gospel or teaching truth about Him. You should give people some idea of these expectations when you invite them, but its important to reinforce them once everyone has gathered. You can encourage your group to pray beyond your time together by asking each member to be responsible to pray for specific requests that you recorded during the prayer time. Select a space that offers adequate seating for everyone as well as minimal distractions, such as ringing phones or people traffic. You could use your home, a space at your church or a room at your place of business. Dear Lord, as we go into this meeting, I submit myself before you for wisdom and the right counsel. But God is by your side. If you pray for a specific group of people or a need in your city, contact someone who is involved in a related ministry and ask for prayer requests. 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