I N   T H I S   U P D A T E       ...and for our prayers:

*       Pastor Phil's Prayer Letter

1.    UNCOMMON PRAYER
    A PSALM 23 FORMAT
2.    SERMON SERIES ON PRAYER
3.    2.8 MILLION PRAYER GOAL    
4.    FRESH PRAYER FOR MIDWEEK PRAYER MEETING
5.    SETTING A FOCUS FOR PRAYER...
6.    PRAYER ~ BLOCKER
7.    NEW LAUNCH:
    LORD'S WATCH & YEAR OF PRAYER FOR PASTORS
8.    A WARFARE PRAYER
9.    ARE WE PRAYING LIKE WIDOWS OR BRIDES?
10.    A GREAT COMMISSION PRAYER MINISTRY
??.    LINKED
 

1.    UNCOMMON PRAYER
    A PSALM 23 FORMAT
 

2.    SERMON SERIES ON PRAYER
 

>From: Pastor Rande SMith <Myccrm@aol.com>

For complete sermon text, go to:
    http://www.communitychurchrm.com/

SERMON SERIES ON PRAYER - Rande Wayne Smith
 

“The Beginning of Prayer”    Genesis 3:8-13

“Prayer’s Anchor”        Genesis 18:23-33

“Prayer’s Essential”        Genesis 32:9-32

“Prayer’s Possibilities”    Numbers 11:4-34

“Prayer’s Practicality”    1 Chronicles 4:9-10

“Prayer’s Fruitfulness”    1 Samuel 1:1-28

“Prayer’s Frontiers”        2 Chronicles 6:12-42

“Prayer’s Humility”        Daniel 9:1-19

“Prayer’s Relationships”    Job 42:7-10

“Prayer’s Resources”    2 Chronicles 14:9-15

“Prayer’s Delays”        Habakkuk 3

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3.    2.8 MILLION PRAYER GOAL
 

>From: "ANS Story" <ANS_Story@sheperd.com>

2.8 MILLION GOAL FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL PRAYER TEAM REACHED IN JUST 600 DAYS

By Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C.  (ANS) -- The Presidential Prayer Team have reached their goal of enlisting 2.8 million Americans to pray daily for the President of the United States and his cabinet. The announcement came on May 1, the National Day of Prayer.

“Answering the president’s call for our nation to pray after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, The Presidential Prayer Team reached its 2.8 million participant goal in just 600 days (May, 2, 2003). The effort is considered the fastest growing nonprofit organization in the United States, growing by over a million participants in the last three months alone,” said Sally Barton, spokesperson for the group

“With our Commander-In-Chief as a model, himself encouraging prayer before cabinet meetings, millions of Americans are following his example. They pray daily for the president and the crucial decisions that he makes. They pray for the protection of his family, and they pray for the future of our country. All 2.8 million of them!” said Barton.

“Throughout his term, President George W. Bush has been outspoken by calling America a ‘nation of prayer,’ and declaring that prayer is a part of his daily life. Last March he told Americans, ‘One thing that's really great about our country, is there are thousands of people who pray for me that I'll never see and be able to thank.’”

The Presidential Prayer Team’s immensely popular website ( www.presidentialprayerteam.org ) features stories of God’s hand on our nation’s history, as well as quotes from presidents and leaders on prayer and faith in America. The site has been visited over 100 million times in 20 months.

President Bush has repeatedly stated, “…the greatest gift you can give anybody, is to pray on their behalf.”

Today, The Presidential Prayer Team can say that 2.8 million Americans are doing just that for the president each and every day.

For more information on The Presidential Prayer Team, visit <http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org/>.   Membership and participation is free.
 
** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Garden Grove, CA. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in Sept., 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.  
 
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
 
ASSIST News Service is brought to you in part by Open Doors USA, a ministry that has served the Suffering Church around the world for nearly 50 years.  You can get more information by logging onto their website at www.opendoorsusa.org <http://www.opendoorsusa.org/>  

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA     E-mail: assistcomm@cs.com, Web Site: <http://www.assistnews.net/>   If this story has been forwarded to you, click here for your own subscription to Assist News. <http://sheperd.com/assist/us/subscribe.htm>

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4.    FRESH PRAYER FOR MIDWEEK PRAYER MEETING
 

>From: FreshPrayer Notification <webmaster@waymakers.org>

This is the monthly e-mail reminder you requested for the latest version of FreshPrayer from Waymakers.

This month's issue of FreshPrayer is "For those who are sinned against." It springs from 1 Peter 2:20-24 in which Peter highlights the surprising high calling and purpose in following Christ's example to end the vicious cycle of sin, revenge and hatred.

Every issue of FreshPrayer comes with a leader's guide to help you facilitate a small group prayer session. The leader's guide contains extra insights to the text and a few tested ways to help ordinary people pray together with confidence and relevance.

FreshPrayer is free. All you need is the program Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is also free to download without hassle anytime.

Go to http://www.waymakers.org and click on the "FreshPrayer" section to download this month's issue. Photocopy all the copies you will need to re-invigorate your prayer meeting(s).

yours for Christ's greater glory, Steve Hawthorne
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5.    SETTING A FOCUS FOR PRAYER...
 

>From: "Life Action Ministries" <revivallink@lifeaction.org>

"A man may study because his brain is hungry for knowledge, even Bible knowledge.
    But he prays because his soul is hungry for God."
        Leonard Ravenhill
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>From: "Revival Congresses SA" <mwtedeum@mweb.co.za>

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AFFECT OUR PRAYING
 
If you travel, you will soon discover why God has not yet heard our prayers for a nationwide revival - there are evangelical Christians who do not respect their brothers and sisters in Christ in other denominations.
 
It is not language barriers, or the lack of the truth of the Gospel, but the refusal to love Christians in other churches that hinders our prayers for revival.  Worldwide evangelism is hindered, not by not enough praying, but by unwillingness to love and accept others who love and want to obey Jesus Christ, love the Bible and claim salvation through the blood of Christ as we do.
 
Modern missions began when fighting quarreling Lutheran, Calvinist and Anabaptist Christians had a love feast on the estate of Count van Zinzendorf.  They were torn apart by criticism and doctrinal differences - until they repented and accepted each other.  It started a 100-year continuous prayer meeting - and sent missionaries into all the world.
 
New missionary endeavor will also come when evangelical Christians confess their sins: hate, prejudice and condemnation, and unite to do as our Lord commanded us to do before His ascension to heaven.
 
Prayer meetings for revival will be of no avail until we, as evangelicals, confess our lack of love toward each other.  God will not tolerate our hate toward any born-again Calvinists, Arminians, Baptists, Methodists, Mennonites, Pentecostals, Charismatics, etc. etc. The apple of God's eye are those who trust in Jesus for their salvation.  We may have the right doctrine and zeal, and give much to missions, we may have the gift of prophecy and have faith to remove mountains, yet if we have not love for other Christians, it profits us nothing (I Cor. 13: 1; John 1:7; 2:3, 4, 9; 3:10, 15, 16; 4:1, 11, 20, 21; 5:16).
 
In his book, “Prayer's Deeper Secrets,” F.J. Huegel helps us see this hindrance to revival.  Extracts from the chapter “The Law Of Right Relations,” express the importance of good relationships for effective revival praying:
 
“Nothing so affects the Christian's prayer life as his relationship with others.  Here is where prayer founders; here is where the prayers of the Church run aground and lose their efficacy.
 
Jesus our Lord, with His customary incisiveness, ... (says): ‘When ye stand praying, forgive.’ He had just said: ‘What things soever ye desire when ye pray believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.’ But He goes on to say however, it is not as simple as that.  Look well to your relationships with your fellows.  Have you quarreled with anyone?  Go seek your brother and be reconciled.  Has someone wronged you?  Then you must forgive.  Then comes the terrible judgment: ‘But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.’
 
The world's greatest need is for great intercessors - that the power and goodness of Almighty God might be brought to bear upon benighted souls as when a great river invades a parched desert land.  Nothing costs like prayer.  It demands among other things, right relationships.  It costs forgiveness like that wrought on Calvary.  I must forgive my brother if I would approach Him who bore all my sins in His body on the tree that I might be forgiven.  In the face of God's forgiveness, ... all petty human bitterness and all unwillingness to forgive become infinite incongruities.  Nothing will so get you out of step with God as a lack of forgiveness.  Though it may hurt like the pulling of all your teeth, you must forgive, or give up the hope of becoming an effective intercessor.
 
“Missionary labors have taken me to many lands and associated me with almost all the types that make up God's great family today.  There is a general conviction that the greatest need is life from heaven, revival, that which inflamed hearts and revolutionized lives at Pentecost. ... Oh, the longings for genuine revival, and what earnest prayers that God would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might melt at His presence, as we read in Isaiah but the revival does not come.
 
“When one searches into the cause, one is driven to the conclusion that it lies in ourselves.  Our divisions and narrow bigotry, our ill will toward groups with a different theology and distinguishing traditions, our denominational pride and zeal for our own particular group, our unwillingness to recognize the unity of the body with Christ as Head and our passionate labors, which we say is for Christ, but at whose roots there lies the uncrucified flesh...
 
“I can only pray for revival as I stand on universal ground - on the oneness of the body of Christ.  I must say amen to prayers of all the saints.  I must in spirit embrace all God's children, regardless of color or… denominational differences, little different from my own.  I must be willing to die, knowing that we who live are always “committed unto death for Jesus' sake that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor. 4:10).  My pride and disdain for others who differ, will as certainly and effectively close the door of heaven against my prayers, as does open sin of a heinous nature.”
 
United prayer will be, and is, effective!  No power can, or will, triumph over the praying Church of Jesus Christ.  The enemies of the Gospel are noticeably recognizing this.  That is why there is so much demonic activity in heaven and on earth. Victory is won on our knees, for God listens to the prayers of His people who agree in prayer. (Article by Elmer G. Klassen taken from Herald of His Coming)
 
The Bulletin of Revival is part of the ministry of Revival Congresses SA and serves as a Heart cry for a Biblical and Godsend Revival. There are so many "revivals" these days that few people could distinguish between false and real revival. The Bulletin will distribute and publish, sermons, stories and news of current movements of the Holy Spirit in Revival to the subscribers. The Bulletin is also aimed at all leaders, pastors and Christians that prayed and long for Revival. The purpose is to encourage and motivate believers to keep on praying for Revival. The Bulletin is usually sent out biweekly. Visit our website:  <http://www.revivalcsa.co.za> 
___________________________________________>>>

 

>From: "ANS Story" <ANS_Story@sheperd.com>

Prayer Warriors Also Urged To Participate In “Year of Prayer for Pastors"

 Imagine...you are traveling in space - enjoying the view of the earth from hundreds of miles away when you notice a strange glow.

As you investigate, you discover that this warm glow seems to be covering the state of Minnesota.

As you come in closer, you notice that this glow is really made up of hundreds of areas of glowing fire, resting over each of the communities of the state. In each community are smaller lights...churches, businesses and ministries adding their strength to the life-giving fire light.

This is the vision of a new prayer networking site on the World Wide Web <http://www.prayertransformation.com/lordswatch>

"Join us as we establish a prayer cover over our communities, cities and state!" says Rev. Steve Loopstra, executive director of Prayer Transformation Ministries, formerly Midwest Concerts of Prayer.

 

HISTORY OF THE LORD'S WATCH
 

According to the website, a memorable prayer meeting started in August of 1927, and went continuously for the next 100 years!

"This 24-hour prayer watch began with 24 men and women who bound themselves together in an unceasing chain of prayer. Each devoted one hour in the day or night to fellowship with the Lord and to intercede for the church and community," the site states.

It adds: "As the number of participants increased, there was never a silent hour, day or night, before the Lord. These praying believers stood 'on watch for the Lord,' and their influence was felt around the world."

 

NETWORKING PRAYER COVER
 

The site states that many prayer groups with a "Lord's Watch heart" already exist throughout the cities and across the state of Minnesota. "Our desire is to network all of us together in a powerful prayer covering. If you or your group are already praying, just click on a time slot and let us know about you," it says.

 

RESULTING IN REVIVAL AND TRANSFORMATION
 

The site explains: "If we continue to expand our prayer cover over our cities and state, we will see the growth of the 'glow of God's presence.' This glow will result in revival of the Church and spiritual awakening of society. It is our hope for true transformation to the glory of God!"

Loopstra commented: "I am so excited to announce the launching of a new 24-hour Lord’s Watch website at  <http://www.prayertransformation.com/lordswatch>.  This new website is designed to network intercessors and prayer groups around the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) and state in a continuous prayer cover, focusing on revival and transformation.

"By going to the website, you can sign up, individually or as a group, for a weekly or monthly commitment to pray for revival and other prayer needs of our cities. If you already have a prayer group that is meeting, we want to know about you! We know that God has called many intercessors to pray for transformation, and so this website will begin to network us into a powerful prayer covering. This is not designed to replace what is already happening, but to link us together in a concerted way for a united prayer covering."

Go to www.prayertranformation.com/lordswatch to learn more -- and to sign up!

Just imagine a city and state with 24-hour prayer cover…

Loopstra added: "We would love to expand this prayer and information group. To subscribe send and email to: PTM@prayertransformation.com  with the word 'subscribe-intercessors' in the body of the message. This email group is for the purpose of prayer and information. Your email address is not supplied to any other group."

“YEAR OF PRAYER FOR PASTORS”-- Help Launch Prayer Cover for Pastors!

In a related e-mail to Prayer Warriors in Minnesota, Loopstra said: "We need a concerted effort by our intercessors across the Twin Cities, to launch a prayer 'air assault' on behalf of the pastors in the Twin Cities.

"For the next six months, we believe we are to saturate the city with prayer in preparation for the upcoming prayer initiative: '2004 Year of Prayer for Pastors.' We need intercessors who will help with an on-site prayer strategy for churches in their communities or regions. By beginning with the air assault in the spiritual realm, we believe churches will be prepared for critical prayer for pastors in 2004."

Loopstra is organizing a Church Prayer Coordinator’s meeting on Saturday, June 14, from 9:00 to 11:30a.m. at First Covenant Church in downtown Minneapolis (810 South 7th Street).

"We will share the six-month prayer strategy and network you with other intercessors. This is a critical step in our desire for revival and transformation!" Loopstra said.
____________________________________________>>>
 

8.    A WARFARE PRAYER
 

>From: "Pastor Mike Dixon" <pastormiked@ameritech.net>

Heavenly Father, I bow in worship and praise before you. I cover myself with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as my protection during this time of prayer. I surrender myself completely and unreservedly in every area of my life to you. I take a stand against all the workings of Satan that would hinder me in this time of prayer, and I address myself only to you, the true and living God, and refuse any involvement of Satan in my prayer.

    Satan, I command you and all of your demons, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to leave my presence. I     bring the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ between us.

Heavenly Father, I worship you and give you praise. I recognize that you are worthy to receive all glory and honor and praise. I renew my allegiance to you and pray that the blessed Holy Sprit would fill me in this time of prayer. I am thankful, Heavenly Father that you have loved me from past eternity, and that you sent the Lord Jesus Christ into the world to die as my substitute that I would be redeemed. I am thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ came as my representative, and that through Him you have completely forgiven me; you have adopted me into your family; you have assumed all responsibility for me; you have given me eternal life; you have given me the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ so I am now justified. I am thankful that, in Him, you have made me complete, and that you have offered yourself to me to be my daily help and strength.

Heavenly Father, come and open my eyes that I might see how great You are, and how complete your provision is for this new day. I do, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, take my place in Him and I cover myself with the shelter of His Blood. I take my place with Christ in the heavenly realms with all principalities and powers (powers of darkness and wicked spirits) under my feet. I am thankful that the victory the Lord Jesus Christ won for me on the cross and in His resurrection has been given to me and that I am seated with the Lord Jesus Christ in the heavenly realms; therefore, I declare that all principalities and powers and all wicked spirits are subject to me in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am thankful for the armor you have provided and I put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the boots of peace and the helmet of salvation. I lift up the shield of faith against all the flaming arrows of the enemy; and I take in my hand the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and use your Word against all the forces of evil working against my life; and I put on this armor and live and pray in complete dependence upon You, blessed Holy Spirit.

I am grateful, Heavenly Father, that the Lord Jesus Christ spoiled all principalities and powers and made a show of them openly and triumphed over them in Himself. I claim all that victory for my life today. I reject out of my life all the insinuations, the accusations and the temptations of Satan. I affirm that the Word of God is true, and I choose to live today in the light of God’s Word. I choose, Heavenly Father, to live in obedience to you and in fellowship with you. Open my eyes and show me the areas of my life that are not pleasing to you. Work in my life that there be no ground to give Satan a foothold against me. Show me any area of weakness. Show me any area of my life that I must deal with so that I would please you. I do, in every way, stand for you and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in my life.

By faith, and in dependence upon you, I put off the old man and stand into all the victory of the crucifixion where the Lord Jesus Christ provided cleansing from the old nature. I put on the new man and stand into all the victory of the resurrection and the provision He has made for me there to live above sin. Therefore I put off the old nature with its selfishness, and I put on the new nature with its love. I put off the old nature with its fear and put on the new nature with its courage. I put off the old nature with its weakness and I put on the new nature with its strength. I put off the old nature with all its deceitful lusts and I put on the new nature with all its righteousness and purity.

I do, in every way, stand into the victory of the ascension and the glorification of the Son of God where all principalities and powers were made subject to Him, and I claim my place in Christ victorious with Him over all the enemies of my soul. Blessed Holy Spirit, I pray that you would fill me. Come into my life; break down every idol and cast out every foe.

I am thankful, Heavenly Father, for the expression of your will for my daily life as you have shown me in your Word. I therefore embrace all the will of God for today. I am thankful that you have blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I am thankful that you have caused me to be born again into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I am thankful that you have made a provision so that today I can live filled with the Spirit of God with love, joy and peace, with longsuffering, gentleness and goodness, and with faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in my life. I recognize that this is your will for me and I therefore reject and resist all the endeavors of Satan and of his demons to rob me of the will of God. I refuse to believe my feelings and I hold up the shield of faith against all the accusations that Satan would put in my mind. I embrace the fullness of the will of God for today.

I do, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, completely surrender myself to you, Heavenly Father, as a living sacrifice. I choose not to be conformed to this world. I choose to be transformed by the renewing of my mind, and I pray that you would show me your will and enable me to walk in all the fullness of the will of God today.

I am thankful, Heavenly Father, that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. They enable us to cast down imaginations and every lofty thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and to bring every thought captive into obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, in my own life today, I tear down the strongholds of Satan and I smash the plans that he has formed against me. I tear down the strongholds of Satan against my mind, and I surrender my mind to you, blessed Holy Spirit. I affirm, Heavenly Father, that you have not given us a spirit of fear, but the Spirit of power, love and of a sound mind. I break and smash the strongholds of Satan formed against my emotions today, and I give my emotions to you. I smash the strongholds formed against my will today, and I yield my will to you, and I choose to make the right decisions of faith. I smash the strongholds of Satan formed against my body today, and I give my body to you, recognizing that I am your temple; and I rejoice in your mercy and goodness.

Heavenly Father, I pray that now, through this day, you would grant me spiritual life. Show me the ways Satan is hindering and tempting and lying and counterfeiting and distorting the truth in my life. Enable me to be the kind of person that would please you. Enable me to be aggressive in prayer. Enable me to be aggressive mentally and to think your thoughts after you, and to give You Your rightful place in my life.

Again, I cover myself with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and pray that You, blessed Holy Spirit, would bring all the work of the crucifixion, all the work of the resurrection, all the work of Christ’s glorification, and all the work of Pentecost into my life today. I refuse to be discouraged because you are the God of all hope. You have proven your power by raising Jesus Christ from the dead, and I claim in every way your victory over all satanic forces working against my life, and I resist these forces; and I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ with thanksgiving. Amen.

Victor Matthews
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>From: Marc van der Woude <MarcvanderWoude@XC.Org>

"We should stop praying like a widow and start to pray like a bride," says Graham Cooke in this article for intercessors. "Warfare in the kingdom is always concerned with the battle for intimacy. This is a time, the Lord is saying, to come off the battlements and enter a new place of intimate petition. Too many intercessors have become exhausted and burned out. God is raising up an army of Esthers, an army of bridal intercessors, and the Lord says this is a time to come off the wall and rest in the throne room presence of God. This is going to be a difficult thing for some people to do, to come out of one type of ministry into the discipline of resting in God."

LINK: http://www.grahamcooke.co.uk

Joel News International is distributed weekly by e-mail on the basis of an
annual donation. For more information see
http://www.joelnews.org/donation-jni.htm#options.

Has this bulletin been forwarded to you? Then subscribe directly by sending
an empty e-mail to: subscribe-joel-news-international@xc.org.
___________________________________________>>>
 

10.    A GREAT COMMISSION PRAYER MINISTRY

 

Great Commission Prayer Ministry
 

Everywhere you look, signs point to this fact-God is calling His people to heartfelt prayer. As believers answer this divine call to prayer, two things begin to happen. First, God's people begin to return to Him in revival. Second, the church begins to be reclaimed as a house of prayer for all the nations (see Mark 11:17). A Great Commission Prayer Ministry provides a way for churches to become houses of prayer with a passion for the lost.

What Is a Great Commission Prayer Ministry?

A Great Commission Prayer Ministry is a comprehensive prayer plan that assists congregations in their quest to be on mission with Christ through prayer. It will help congregations develop and grow an overall plan of action in prayer.

A Three Part Plan

A Great Commission Prayer Ministry should include three strategic parts:

    Renew a personal passion to pray unceasingly (see 1 Thess.5:17). This part of the plan highlights the personal dimension of prayer.

    Reclaim the church as a house of prayer with a passion for the lost (see Matt. 21:13; Luke 19:10).  This part relates to the corporate dimension of prayer. As prayer is placed in its foundational place in a congregation, the focus of ministry turns toward that of the Father's-the lost world.

   Link congregations in focused prayer for evangelization and awakening (see Matt. 18:18-20; 2 Chron. 7:14). This part refers to the kingdom perspective of prayer. Churches are encouraged to consider ways to join other congregations in associational, state, national, and international prayer initiatives for evangelization and awakening (e.g., National Day of Prayer, See You at The Pole (SYATP), Campus Prayer Journey, Prayer for the Persecuted Church).

Prayer Methods and Approaches

A Great Commission Prayer Ministry becomes a reality as churches use various methods and training approaches to fulfill their prayer ministry plans. Methods and training should be tailored for each unique context. Following, are suggested methods and approaches that church leaders can use to inspire, mobilize, and train people in prayer.

    Lighthouses of Prayer--Homes where believers commit to pray for, care for, and share Christ with their neighbors.
    Prayer Journeys--A comprehensive plan to involve the entire church body in on-site prayer walks, drives, and so forth. Taking Prayer to the Streets:  Prayer Journeys Resource Kit teaches how to use prayer field teams and support teams that help the church pray for and share Jesus with every person in the community.
    Praying Your Friends to Christ/Evangelistic Prayer Training--An excellent way to teach Christians how to pray evangelistically.
    Outreach Prayer Surveys--Open doors for relational evangelism through a prayer--centered visitation approach.
    Prayer Revivals or Retreats--Excellent opportunities to provide prayer training, focus, and inspiration for congregations.
    Intercessory Prayer Room Ministry--Provide a place where individuals can come to the church and intercede for believers, unbelievers, evangelism/mission efforts, worship services, and community concerns.
    Prayer Groups/Triplets--Women's, men's, youth, and children's prayer groups provide great ways to encourage focused prayer for missions, evangelism efforts, revival, and so on.
    Prayer Chains--An excellent way to link believers in unified focused prayer for crisis times in a community.
    Prayer Initiatives--Involve the church body in community, national, and international prayer efforts for evangelization and awakening. Participation in the National Day of Prayer is one way to do this.
    Prayer Partners--Link believers in pairs throughout the congregation for accountability and inspiration in prayer.

Why a Great Commission Prayer Ministry?

It is very easy for one prayer event to become the major prayer effort for a church body. When that happens, prayer becomes another "thing" the church does and takes its place among all other "ministries" in the congregation. Prayer then becomes peripheral instead of foundational. The biblical model is for prayer to be foundational in the life of church (see Acts 1:14; 2:42; 4:31; 13:1-3).

A Great Commission Prayer Ministry helps churches create a comprehensive church prayer plant that is:
    Bible based
    Contextually sensitive
    Comprehensive in its scope
    Evangelistic in its focus
    Relevant in its application

How to Get Started

Use the suggested 15 steps to help you create a Great Commission Prayer Ministry in your church. Visit www.namb.net/prayer to identify resources to assist in training and in implementation of your ministry. Churches should begin with prayer for God's activity to be revealed.
1. Pray for and select a church prayer ministry coordinator. (For a job description visit www.namb.net/prayer.
2. Select a prayer council that will work with church leadership to create a Great Commission Prayer plan that is unique to your church.
3. Ask the pastor to take the lead in promoting, teaching, modeling, and reminding the congregation of the importance of prayer.
4. Encourage individual prayer by using the resources available. Use this opportunity to identify and recruit intercessors through prayer revivals, prayer retreats, special
prayer commitment services, and conferences.
5. Launch new prayer groups at work places, through the Sunday School, in small groups, and Discipleship Training.
6. Provide a prayer room. Include resources to help people pray specifically.
7. Refocus the Wednesday night prayer meeting into a time to pray for believers, unbelievers, evangelism and mission efforts, and individual spiritual growth.
8. Create prayer chains for affinity groups of people in your congregation and community. Affinity groups can be created by ethnic groups, profession, or interest.
9. Develop prayer lists of lost people and prospects in the community.
10. Participate in the annual Week of Prayer for North American Missions and the annual Week of Prayer for International Missions.
11. Schedule a corporate prayer time during the worship service.
12. Create a Lighthouse of Prayer in every community or on every street.
13. Schedule Prayer Journeys for on-site prayer with as many groups as possible and as often as possible.
14. Plan a mission trip that includes a Prayer Journey.
15. Partner with association, state, and other church prayer coordinators to calendar participation in community, associational, state, national, and international prayer initiatives or evangelization and awakening (e.g., National Day of Prayer).*

For NAMB resources, contact the Customer Services Center at 866 407-NAMB (6262) or visit us at www.namb.net/prayer the online resource for prayer strategy and prayer line. The site includes prayer requests, copies of resources, and information on developing personal, church, association, and state prayer strategies. Download a free copy of the NAMB missionary prayer calendar screensaver.

For more prayer resources, contact the International Mission Board at 1 800 866-3621 or www.namb.net/prayer; LifeWay Christian Resources, at 1 800 448-8032; Woman's Missionary Union/New Hope Press at 1 800 968-7301.

How to pray for states, provinces, and countries.

Believers everywhere are deeply concerned about the vast multitudes of people in North America that are without Christ. Below are focused prayers that can be prayed for the states, provinces, and countries listed on this map.

    Pray for revival and spiritual awakening (see 2 Chron. 7:14; Ps. 85:6).
    Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest fields (see Luke 10:2).
    Pray that God would place His people in political leadership and that political leaders who are not believers would come to know Christ (see Prov. 14:34; Rom. 13:1; 1 Tim. 2:1-4).
    Pray for state SBC leaders to increase in God's wisdom, conduct themselves honorably in all things, and grow in favor with God and man (see Luke 2:52; Col. 1:9; Heb. 13:18).
    Pray for open doors for the gospel to be taken to the lost (see Col. 4:2-6).

How to pray for believers.

 It is interesting to note that much of the praying done in the New Testament was on behalf of believers. (see John 17; Eph.1:15-19; 3:14-19; 1 Thess. 3:11-13). The following prayer suggestions can help believers pray for other Christians effectively.

Using Matthew 9:37-38, John 17:11-24, and Colossians 1:9-11 as a guide pray for:
    Christ to send believers into His harvest fields (see Matt. 9:38).
    Christ to keep Christians in His name and character (see John 17:11).
    Christians to have Christ's joy made full in themselves (see John 17:13).
    Christ to guard and protect believers from the evil one (see John 17:15).
    Christ to sanctify (set apart) believers in the truth of God (see John 17:17).
    Christians to be unified in one mission, purpose, and spirit even as the Father and Son are one (see John 17:21-22).
    Christians to be where Christ is and join His work (see John 17:24).
    Christians to be filled with spiritual wisdom, pleasing in all ways to Christ, strengthened spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally, and bearing fruit in every good work (see Col. 1:10-11).

How to pray for evangelism and mission efforts.  

The special evangelistic/mission efforts placed on this prayer map include Strategic Focus Cities and Prayover/Crossover cities. These efforts offer great opportunities for God to use His people to influence the lost world for Christ. Below is a threefold prayer strategy for use with any evangelism event.

€Pray before the event
    Pray for the lost (see Matt 6:9-10; 1 Tim 2:1-4).
    Pray for laborers to be sent into Christ's harvest fields (see Matt. 9:35-38).
    Pray for holiness and unity among witnesses (see Ps. 51:10-13; John 17).
    Pray for open doors for the gospel to be shared (see Col. 4:2-6).

€Pray during the event
    Pray for witnesses to have boldness of speech and to witness with passion and love (see Acts 4:26-31).
    Pray for proclamation to be powerful and Spirit-led (see 1 Cor. 2:1-5; Eph. 3:18-20).
    Pray for kairos timing for proclamation (see Eph. 6:18-20; Col. 4:2-6).
    Pray for protection for witnesses (see Rom. 15:30-33).

€Pray after the event
    Pray that the seed of God's Word that was shared will bear fruit in people's lives (see Isa. 55:10-11; 2 Thess. 3:1).
    Pray for new converts to abound in love for believers and all men (see 1 Thess. 3:9-11).
    Pray that new converts will know and do God's will in their lives (see Eph. 1:17-18; Col. 1:9).
    Pray for new converts to bear fruit in every good work (see John 15:16; Col. 1:10).
    Pray for God's people to have a desire to follow up and nurture new believers (see Matt 6:9-13; Acts 2:42; 1 Thess. 2:5-12).

How to pray for unbelievers.

Evangelistic praying should include prayer for personal spiritual needs, evangelism events, believers and unbelievers.  Prayer on behalf of lost people is clearly mandated by Christ in Matthew 6:9-10. The Apostle Paul models and exhorts believers concerning prayer for the lost (see Rom. 10:1-2; 1 Tim. 2:1-4). R. A. Torrey, great evangelist and president of Moody Bible Institute around the turn of this past century, so fittingly said in How to Pray (Springdale: Whitaker House, 1983), "Prayer avails for the conversion of others. There are few converted in this world in any other way than in connection with someone's prayers...By prayer, the bitterest enemies of the gospel have become its most valiant defenders." What might a believer pray for someone that is without Christ? Below is an acrostic that can be used to pray biblically and effectively for those that are lost.

Pray for their HEARTS to be changed.
   Pray for receptive and repentant Hearts (see Luke 8:5-15).
    Pray for their spiritual Eyes and Ears to be opened to the truth of Christ (see Matt. 13:15; 2 Cor. 4:3-4).
    Pray for them to have God's Attitude toward sin (see John 16:8).
    Pray for the person to be Released to believe (see 2 Cor. 10:3-4; 2 Tim. 2:25-26)
    Pray for a Transforming life (see Rom. 12:1-2).
    Pray for God to Send them into His harvest field (see Matt 9:35-38).
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