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Christians pray alone. They pray in large groups in worship, and sometimes even fill stadiums to pray together. But today's Christians often find their strongest moments of prayer in small groups with a few other believers. They do other things in a small group, too : Bible study, singing, and just being a small community together with each other. Prayer is a part of a larger small-group picture.
Small-group prayer is very flexible. Most of what is done in private prayer or in public worship prayer or concerts of prayer can also be done in small groups. Plus there's the flexibility to go from one way of praying to another, which keeps giving different angles to our small-collective relationship with God. Each group develops its own rhythm, style, schedule, and history. If it is a group that meets on a regular basis, it needs a clear purpose that the members invest themselves in.
People in a prayer group are free not to take part in any particular prayer or any specific exercise or approach. Most often, they'll just opt-out by shutting off their mouths and minds without anyone knowing about it. But sometimes, the objection comes out in the open. When it does, find out why, and what lies behind it. The group may learn to adjust, or further discussion is needed, especailly if it is divisive. Often the best solution is for the member to exercise their right not to take part in that particular prayer or method, and for the rest to continue on.
Most prayer group activities are done in a ring or circle. It's the most natural formation to take : each one faces most of the others, looking them in the face. It is a visible oneness (the ring) with visible parts (each person). It becomes even more so when the hands are linked, since the people next to you in a ring, the two folks you're least likely to be looking at, are the ones drawn to you by touch. Some see something mystical about the ring/circle, but its 'magic' is really simple human togetherness -- unity. God takes that and blesses it, since it's what God hopes to create between us. That is what makes prayers powerful.
The procedure that most people find most natural is to stand together in a ring, and have each person share for however long is needed, then going to the next person in the ring, until done. If hands are linked, one person can pass their turn on to the next simply by squeezing the next person's hand or softly saying something. Another common way is for each to share freely, in no particular order, waiting until the person speaking is done. Those who have experience in leading groups say that these are fine ways to begin, but it tends to become a rut, or concentration spans lapse. It helps to move from one procedure of prayer to another. For example :
Sentence prayers : each person, one at a time, offers a brief specific concern, praise, or thanks to God, ending with "Amen" or some other refrain. No explaining it, just saying it and leaving it. (Allow those who don't want to share to say just "Amen" so it passes on to the next person.)
Silent intercessions : The leader reads a general concern, and is then silent. Time is then taken to silently pray for specific people, actions, and ministries involved with that general concern. Then, after a while, the leader speaks a word of the Bible relating to that concern, and a brief prayer on it.
Basket of prayer : each person writes just one concern that is most on their heart, onto a slip of paper. The papers are gathered in a basket, and the group prays over them. This can be done by reading each one or leaving them unread all together in the basket.
Prayer for witness : Each person in the group names one person that they most want to see turn to Christ. This would be someone from work, hobbies, family, or other non-religious activities, that they meet in the course of their daily lives. After each one is spoken, the group then prays for an opportunity for a Christian's witness to hit home.
Two-by-two : at the start, names are randomly drawn to be matched in pairs. The pairs then go to separate locations from the other pairs (like, say, one in the kitchen, another on the deck, another in the garden, etc.). The pair then takes time to minister, share, and pray with each other.
Echos : Someone speaks a phrase of Psalm or hymn or a very specific prayer. Then each person repeats the phrase, with short breaks in between each time it is spoken. This gives everyone time to think on the phrase, or to silently let it sink in, listening for some stirrings within.
Groups confessing : one approach is for a leader to talk briefly about a general kind or category of sin. All those present write onto slips of paper a few words of a specific instance where they committed that kind of sin. These are not to be read by anyone; this is between them and God. The papers are then gathered into a cooking container. All those present gather around it, and speak together a prayer of confession of being sorry for that kind of sin and expressing the determination to cease that sin. Then all take the container to a safe place indoors or outdoors, and then someone lights it, allowing it to burn completely to ash. (Have something to douse or smother it with in case of flare-up.) Once this is done, someone then says that these sins are forgiven due to Christ's work on the cross.
Strong personal needs : Sometimes, in a group setting, someone will be so hurt by life (or so moved by the group or its actions) that they will break down. Other times, composure will hold, but the need for prayer is acute and prayer is requested. Either way, see to it that the person is sitting down securely. (This sitting is known in some circles as the 'hot seat'.) Ask that person to start praying. Then bring the others present to gather around him/her, laying hands and praying until a sense of comfort about the matter comes over him/her, or that person brings it to an end.
Written responsory prayers : Those in liturgical churches know these from worship services. A petition is offered, then ended with a clear ending tag, like, "O Lord" or "in Jesus' name", followed by a standard response spoken by all, such as "hear our prayer" or "let it happen, Lord". Then the next written petition is spoken, and so on. (The tags and response can be much less mundane than that. But simple often works best.)
In group prayer, there's usually time set aside for silent prayer. But most groups spend most of their prayer time praying aloud. That is how those in the group are able to pray together, at once, on one matter, in agreement. Each of us have our own strange ways of praying. That's good, because that's really you praying to God. But some of us will tend to do something else when praying aloud:
Many of us can't turn off our awareness that it's a captive audience -- they're all listening, but they'd find it hard to get themselves to talk back. They're trying to focus on God, but they can't, because their thoughts are being led somewhere else. Look again at what's being said -- those are not prayers at all. They're not directed toward God but to the group. God doesn't need to hear the gospel, doesn't need our counseling, and needs our personal or political posturing even less.
When you pray aloud in a group, there are some basic rules to follow. The first and foremost of these is to address God, and noone else. If it's not being said to God, it does not belong in prayer time. If you're saying a lot of "I" or "we" (especially when combined with "should" or "must"), then it's not being said to God. The second is like unto it: keep it simple. The more you drone on, the longer and more fully explained it gets, the more everyone's mind will wander from the task at hand. If you have to explain it, it's too complex, and it's being directed toward the others and not God. If the petition is not simple in its nature, then in pre-prayer discussions, assign different aspects of it to different people. That not only prevents wandering, but gets others more involved in that specific petition.
Without a deliberate effort to keep prayer concerns as wide as God's world, groups (and people) tend to get ever narrower in what they pray about. This can be prevented by creating a structure in which a broad range of concerns are addressed each meeting. Most common is to start with praise, then introspective and contemplative prayer, then move to prayers for self and family, then intercessions for each other and the faith challenges/opportunites faced each day, then the congregation, then the community at large, the nation, and the world. Then, bring the focus back down to one: Jesus. Then, end with prayers of thanks and praise.
No matter how broad the prayer concern is, the prayers need to be specific. God didn't incarnate as a generic human, but came to be like us. And we are specific beings: our life events, experiences, hopes, and needs are all tied to specific times, places, people, and decisions. Even on the broadest of matters. The same goes for our prayers. So it's not "Hold Dick's family together", but "Give Dick patience and insight, and Jen focus and fortitude." Or, it's not "grant peace in Palestine", but "release the hostages recently taken near Nablus, help alleviate the maze of travel checkpoints, comfort the family of Moishe and the others who lost loved ones in yesterday's bombing, and bring jobs to those in poverty, especially Khalil and his young son". God's already connected to us, and God is connected to them; the cycle is incomplete until we are connected to them. For that to happen, we have to care enough to get down to the details. If you know that a certain general subject will come up in prayer, someone in the group should take on the task of finding out more, to focus in on what the specific needs are, and then share that with the group in its pre-prayer discussions.
There's more about small group intercession in the intercessory prayer pages here. A group can be focused as an intercessor group, but they usually have much more to them than their prayer task, such as friendship, accountability, Bible study, and faith education.
A prayer circle of 5 to 12 people is about the right size.
If it's smaller, it will sputter when members are absent, and
get more ingrown. If it's larger, the members lose touch with
each other, or prayer time can get too complex and wearying. If
it's too big, try splitting it into two separate groups, each
led by someone who has had responsibilities in the original
group. It's a good idea for the groups to keep in touch
regularly after that, exchanging prayer concerns and perhaps
taking on a service activity together.
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Check out this PDF document on intercessory prayer.
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(Please, send your personal prayer requests to this prayer center.)
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