How to Pray for Your Small Group

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Here are 10 tips to increase the frequency and effectiveness of your supplications.

Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey | posted 4/23/2008

Topics:	Intercession, Prayer, Preparation, Spiritual warfare
Filters:	Group Leader, Host, Train
Purpose:	Discipleship
References:	Matthew 6:5-7 , Matthew 6:9-13 , Ephesians 1:17-19 , Philippians 1:9-11
Date Added:	April 23, 2008

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Many years ago, evangelist S. D. Gordon said, "The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is to pray." After 25 years of leading small groups and coaching small-group leaders, I have come to one clear conviction: prayer is the most important activity of a small-group leader. In fact, if a group leader could only do one thing to make his or her group more effective, that one thing would be to pray.

Prayer is a fascinating tool for the person with a heart to minister to others. It is one of the simplest things we can do. All we need to do is sit down and lift someone up to the attention of God. Yet most of us will admit that prayer is one of the hardest things to do for others. We get busy. We get distracted. We get discouraged, and we just don't pray enough.

Highly effective small-group leaders view prayer as a non-negotiable aid in their ministry to others. They use it often and well. They build it into their daily schedules and make it a high priority. They don't just pray a little; they pray a lot.

Here are some tips to help you effectively pray for your small group.

Have a set time, and a set amount of time, for prayer. Those who don't have a set time for prayer rarely take the time to pray. Great people of prayer speak of their appointments with God. Most agree that the "when" of the time is not as important as actually having a time. So set aside a time when you will meet with God daily. Make it your unbreakable appointment with God.

It's also good to set a goal for the amount of time you will spend in prayer. A beginner may start with 10 to 15 minutes and grow from there. An hour in prayer would be a great goal to reach. If that seems like a lot, realize that the more we pray, the more God will work. The small-group leaders making the greatest impact are the leaders spending time in prayer.
Have a usual place for prayer. Our ability to focus and concentrate in prayer is enhanced by having a regular, private place for payer. Jesus spoke of this private place in Matthew 6:5–7. He promised that the God who sees in secret will reward us openly by answering our prayers. Find a place where you can privately and passionately pour your heart out to God.

When my children were little, we lived in a very small house. I found that the best place for me to pray was the sidewalk of my neighborhood as I walked for exercise every morning. Now I pray in my office or as I walk on a nearby track in the mornings. I often go to a park and sit on a picnic table and pray. Again, where you pray is not important, but it's vital to find a "place" to pray.
Have a plan for prayer. Many great prayer warriors speak of using the disciple's prayer of Matthew 6:9–13 as a plan for prayer. They use it as an outline that includes worship (v. 9), petition (v. 10–11), and confession (v. 12). They cover these areas once or even several times when they pray.

Others use the acronym ACTS—Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication—as their prayer plan. But the specifics of the plan do not matter as much as having a plan in place.
Have a place for recording requests and answers. The weakest ink is better than the strongest memory. We do not want to forget someone's requests or needs, but often we do. It is valuable to have a list or, even better, a small notebook in which to record prayer requests. Then you have them right in front of you as you pray. It also becomes a testimony of the many prayers God has answered. When I get discouraged, I often get out one of my past prayer notebooks and look at all the answered prayers.