By Paul Covert
The first vital element of a dynamic prayer meeting is to paint the vision. This is so critical that I like to cast vision at the beginning of every prayer meeting and again at the end. And one of the visions I like to paint for the pray-ers comes from Hebrews 7:25: “. . . because he always lives to intercede for them.”
When Jesus went to heaven, He could have devoted Himself to any ministry throughout the generations. He chose the ministry of intercession! This proves we cannot overestimate the importance of prayer to impact history.
I then exhort our intercessors by reminding them that we can join Jesus in the ministry of intercession. What an honor! Do you see how that raises the value of prayer? This is much more helpful than the typical, “OK, let’s start our time of prayer.”
At the end of the meeting, I might take them to the story of Hannah and Samuel in 1 Samuel 1 or other similar biblical stories. Hannah had gone to the temple to offer sacrifices year after year and to ask the Lord for a child. But this time, God answered her prayer. Nine months later, she gave birth to Samuel.
“I wonder tonight,” I say, “if some of you are like Hannah and have come to the Lord asking over and over for something. Something you desperately want. Maybe for you, tonight is the night that God will move in answer to your cries.”
Ending a prayer meeting with hope and expectation will bring people back again to continue interceding for what might seem impossible.
Making It Work
Have you ever been to a prayer meeting that just didn’t work? There could be lots of reasons: no clear leader, no plan of what you want to accomplish, not starting on time, or allowing the meeting to go too long.
Recently, I hosted an annual Threshold Prayer Conference where Rachael Stohre led a powerful workshop on “Leading More Dynamic Prayer Meetings.” Here are some key thoughts from that workshop:
- Pray before your meeting for faith, energy, insight, and protection.
- Some prayer gatherings spend too much time in fellowship at the beginning and don’t start praying quickly enough. Plan your fellowship times a half-hour before the prayer meeting starts or at the end of the prayer time so that prayer is not hindered.
- Separate personal needs from the agenda of the meeting. This is a hard one. People often will jump over the pre-selected topic of the prayer meeting to pray for a personal need. I like to make it clear we will pray for each other, but it will be at the end of our prayer time. That way we don’t dilute the topic.
Additional Tips
Another important element is creativity in how you pray. There’s no need to be stuck in the same way you prayed last week. With a little research using this magazine or sites like prayerleader.com or prayeru.com, you can find hundreds of creative ways to pray. That creativity will keep people engaged.
As you lead, be sensitive to new people. Never pray going around in a circle. Many people are uncomfortable being put on the spot—and may not return.
Pay attention to how men and women pray differently. This one took me a while to learn. Although this is a generality, women are by nature more nurturing than men—at least that is true of my wife and me. Women are comfortable praying for needs because they have a heart of a nurturer. To be fair, they will pray about other things as well, but they may pray in a nurturing fashion longer than men. Men are generally warriors, and they like to pray for causes. Men will pray eagerly for Kingdom issues like taking a city for Christ or putting an end to corruption in our government. Plan your prayer meetings to include both nurturing times and warrior-type causes.
For years I have focused my ministry on men. Why? Because women are often more open and will pray. But it can be harder to reach men. Therefore, all my advertising and color selections for our website are directed at men. I make sure to plan prayer times with men in mind.
Finally, it is important to take breaks in the prayer gathering. For instance, try saying, “Now we will take a five-minute break and come back and pray for the needs of our city.” Prayer can be hard work and a short break allows pray-ers to be refreshed and recalibrate for the next portion of the prayer meeting.
I teach these and other prayer principles at the Threshold Conference. If interested, you can check it out at thresholdprayer.com.
PAUL COVERT is the author of 52 Creative Ways to Pray, Founder of Threshold Ministries, a conference speaker, and a consultant on prayer.
