Organizing intercession, as a team, around an evangelistic effort. The collective gesture that the rest of the site had left aside.
WhyPrayer and mission cannot be separated
Careful planning, good means, songs, a gifted preacher: all of that is useful, and all of that fails if God is not in it. Yet God does not force His way in: He is invited through prayer.
The distinction: mission without prayer becomes work in the flesh; prayer without mission becomes a self-satisfied Christianity. The two hold together.
"Only the work that is done with much prayer, and is sanctified by the merit of Christ, will in the end prove to have been efficient for good."Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p.362 (public domain)
The personal foundation (why your prayer changes anything) is in the journey The wheel · Prayer & intercession. Here, we move to the collective.
The conviction10 ways the Spirit evangelizes through prayer
When a team prays, the Spirit works upon the community. He:
gives compassion for those who are far off;
brings repentance in the Church and the neighborhood;
teaches how to reach the community rightly;
makes believers able to witness;
raises up workers for the harvest;
guides the outreach;
provides the means and the resources;
gives vitality and life to the Church;
brings about unity;
fills us with the love of God.
OrganizingThe roles and the places
A prayer coordinator: he sees to it that all the activities are centered on prayer, recruits and trains the intercessors.
A team of committed intercessors, who take turns.
A prayer room (or tent): a place where intercessors and visitors lay down their burdens and seek spiritual healing, before the emotional and the physical.
A request basket: everyone places their prayer subjects in it; they are shared each day with the team.
The great deficit of the Church today is not in the programs, the strategies, or the materials, but in prayer. The power for ministry is released only through it.
Before the effortPreparing in prayer
Before a campaign, a series, an open house:
encourage personal and family worship;
recruit and train intercessors committed to the effort;
gather the leaders regularly to pray together.
Pray united for: the project and how it unfolds · the resources needed · the commitment of the members · workers for every post · the place and the community around it · the unity of the Church · the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
During the effortKeeping prayer alive
Open the prayer room; welcome there the visitors who carry a request, at least 10 minutes before each meeting. Its true purpose: to make hearts receptive to the Gospel.
Share specific requests with the team each day.
The intercessors gather before each meeting: Bible reading, reflection, prayer for the requests of the day.
During the songs, 3 to 5 intercessors make a prayer walk around the place: for spiritual authority over the region, and for those who hesitate outside.
Support the one who preaches. Let groups take turns to carry the preacher in prayer while he speaks (Acts 4:29).
A simple toolThe prayer walk
Prayer gains in presence when you walk where the people are and among the places you carry.
Start from a specific need: it keeps you steady.
Choose a time when you are unlikely to be disturbed.
Decide on a route: the aim often sets the place.
Alone or together: 1 to 5 people, no more, to keep the focus.
Keep a verse in mind, prepared by a time of reading.
Walk slowly, observe, and pray according to what you see.
CommittingA concrete step
Nothing moves without a decision. Two lines, write them for real.
Sources: synthesis of « Intercessory Prayer & Evangelistic Campaigns » and Samuel Telemaque, « The Power of Prayer in Evangelism » (Sabbath School & Personal Ministries, General Conference; resources at ministerialassociation.org/prayer). Quotations: Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p.362 ; Testimonies, vol.4, p.528 ; Acts 4:29 (King James Version). Original writing and adaptation.