It’s a good thing for families to pray together. That includes the children. Below are suggestions for corporate prayer activites for your individual family and the church family.
5 Summer-Time Prayer Action Steps
1. Family Table ~ Ask every family to take at least one family meal each week to pray for their neighbors (who live nearby, people they work with, fellow students …) AND to keep a log of the names and the needs the Lord leads them to pray for. During a Sunday morning service in August, ask families to come prepared to share their prayers and God’s responses.
2. Church Picnic ~ before the festivities begin, ask every family to form a circle and to pray (facing inward) for the Church and then to pray (now facing outward (for the community)
3. Weeknight Prayer Meeting ~ take the prayer time outside (if some cannot handle the walk or the heat, they may stay inside and pray) and use this as a template: Ask everyone to pray with their eyes open, looking at (and praying for):
1. God’s creation, then
2. the church facilities, then
3. north (is there a school north of the building?)
4. south (business district?)
5. east (hospital?
6. west (homes?)
4. Secret Saint ~ You’ve heard of Secret Santa? (you receive a gift but do not know who it is from) How about asking everyone in the congregation to become an in-secret intercessor? Assign everyone (include youth and older children) someone to pray for on a Sunday morning (a reverse offering; everyone picks a name as a basket is passed) then the following Sunday simply ask for testimonies of what is was like to pray once-a-day- for their person or anyone sensed a special blessing from the Lord because someone was praying for them.
5. Pastoral Prayer ~ recruit someone to “pinch hit” for the pastor over the summer; encourage them to pray from their deepest passion
Phil Miglioratti
Phil is a prayer warrior and prayer leader. A former Pastor ,he states:
As the Lord led me to step down from pastoring a congregation, he gave me a new mission statement: Connecting people to God through corporate prayer … prayer that leads to community transformation. He continues to use the people of God to both supply the resources for me to continue on this path and provide opportunities for ministry.
Phil has written many articles on prayer and facilitating group prayer. Having served as a teacher, leader and facilitator on prayer in various arenas, currently he is a Church Prayer Leaders Network, Facilitator and Pray! Network Coordinator/Administrator. He serves on the National Prayer Committee and is the Illinois Baptist State Association, Prayer and Vision Consultant. Phil is a Prayer Ministries Coordinator for 100 congregations.
(www.PrayerLeader.com (http://www.PrayerLeader.com) &
www.PrayingPastor.com (http://www.PrayingPastor.com))