I just finished guiding a thirty-minute prayer time and had an amazing time with the Fatherhood CoMission. Afterward, some leaders asked if I could put a post together to coach the rest of us on using the power of prayer at any time. Here are 3 steps for tapping into the power of prayer as a leader.
3 Steps for Tapping into the Power of Prayer as a Leader
Did you know that you have incredible power and peace and provision available to you that you’re not using very much—it’s prayer. All you need to do is call a prayer huddle. You can pray this way with your wife, family, friends, or any team.
Watch the full video here.
#1 Pray with your wife.
First, God wants you to start praying with your wife every single day. Whether it’s one, two, or three minutes—it doesn’t matter. Hold her hands and say, “Babe, let’s pray. Ask her what the most important thing is that you can pray for her?” Then, ask God to guide and bless your family. Your child or family may need the same intentional consistency.
#2 Pray with those around you.
Maybe it’s the team you’re responsible for leading. Maybe it’s your group of friends. E.M. Bounds said, “When man works, man works. When man prays, God works.” Gather them together and remind them, “Ten minutes of praying will be worth more than ten hours of working.”
How do you guide team prayer time? Start by prompting the group to praise God. You say, “Let’s go around and popcorn our praise for God’s characteristics and greatness.”
Then, ask, “What’s the most important thing that GOD wants us to pray about?” Allow time for people in your group to pray. As the guide, it’s okay to invite individual people by name, particularly introverts, and say, “How can we pray for you?”
#3 Ask what you can pray for.
There is power in asking, “What’s the most important thing I can pray about for you?” Ask, “Who would like to pray for this?” You can also assign someone to pray for them or pray for them yourself. The power of prayer is when everyone prays and you’re guiding the prayer.
You can move any group forward by the Spirit with these questions: “What does God want us to pray about?” “What’s the most important thing I/we can pray about for you?
God inhabits our praise, so enjoy the power of starting with a prayer that praises God’s character. Take time to give God the praise He deserves.
Invite people to briefly share their requests and invite someone to pray right then. If a gap is long, you can pray for that person or request. Be sure to mention the names of various people in the prayer time, whether in person or on screen. You can always say, “Reggie, Mark…we’d love to hear from you or have you pray soon—so be ready to jump in.”
All during the time, be praying in silence that God would involve and guide each person, including who God wants to pray the concluding prayer. You can invite someone who hasn’t prayed to close if they’d like to and be ready to pray last if they pass.
May God prompt and bless many more times of team prayer – prayer huddles.
