Psalms are a great resource for guiding a group into prayer topics.  This one was used one Tuesday morning at a congregational prayer time.  Start by having each person read a verse.  The leader moves the group to the four main categories.  Having a printed copy reminds people of potential topics, and they can take the page home for later prayer. The ASK portion can be general, like the list below, or very specific (individuals who are sick,  name the staff members, etc)

Psalm 67

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

2 that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.

3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!

6 The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.

7 God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!

 

Israel knew its role as God’s special people who were to provide a blessing for all the nations.  Our inherited role is to be God’s special people as witnesses of what He has done. We hope the Israelites were thinking (and that we ARE thinking) “Bless us, O LORD, so that YOU will look good to others.” Rather than “Bless us, LORD, so that WE will look good to others.” 

Praise God – Blessings, “Fear” him; be glad and sing for joy

Confess Sin – things like Paul’s list in Galatians 16.19-21: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, division, envy, drunkenness, orgies

Give Thanks for forgiveness of sin, providing our daily bread, opportunities to witness, God advancing the kingdom, judgment and grace

Ask:

Healing

Comfort

Finances

Wisdom

Unity

Building issues

Staff

Personal issues / family issues

In 2000 or 2001, our youth group tried the Lighthouse Prayer Method (it would be accurate but weird to say “at the turn of the century”).

The prayer activity was explained simply as “Pray a blessing on five neighbors five times a week for five weeks.”  The ongoing work was summarized in the phrase “Prayer, Care, Share”, with the end goal of sharing the gospel after establishing a relationship with your neighbors.

The document we used was a booklet, Make Your Home A Light-House, written by Alvin J. Vander Griend, Director of Houses of Prayer Everywhere (HOPE) in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I can’t find the booklet in a quick Google search, but there are other similar possibilities and some monographs from the booklet available.

This is more of a long term commitment than a one-time Group Prayer activity, but the ideas can be helpful.

The first question we ran into was “What is a prayer of blessing?”  The booklet gives a list of generic topics using the letters of BLESS – Body, Labor, Emotional, Social, Spiritual. But the kids wanted to know more about how to pray for these things when you might not know the people very well.  Providentially, we looked at Numbers 6.22 – the High priestly prayer, combined with our understanding that we are a royal priesthood of believers (1 Peter 2.9), made that a natural “blessing.”  We also used several of the prayers in Paul’s epistles as models, particularly the doxologies.

The results and excitement varied.  Some had immediate answers to prayer, like the girl who asked if she could go to church with our youth group student.  Most started well but thistles and thorns got in the way.  We could have done a better job of follow up on the prayer requests and alerting the kids to upcoming events they could invite their friends to.

The concept is straightforward.  As the title of Chapter 9 states, it’s not a program, it’s people.  It requires persistence; maybe this is how the widow was praying for the unrighteous judge in Luke 18!

Numbers 6.22-27 (High Priestly Prayer):

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

Since we are a holy and royal priesthood of believers (1 Peter 2.5, 9) the charge to Aaron and his sons falls to all of us.  Part of our job is to bless the body of Christ.  We are to put Christ’s name upon our people and expect that God will bless them.

Take a few minutes to jot down specific blessings we are asking from God for our congregation.  Then we will pray, using our jottings.

 

Some of the prayers at our meeting were about:

–          Wisdom and understanding

–          Kingdom growth

–          Unity

–          Healing for the sick

–          Repentance and faith for those wandering or lost

–          Growth in prayer, scripture reading, and evangelism

–          Resources and ability to be good stewards

This is a simple instruction:  Write down three reasons that stand out to you right now that God is AWESOME!

The explanations can be broad and global, like “He is the creator of the whole universe, and yet he knows me better than anyone.”  Or very current and personal – “I just got a new job.”  The key is how each person has experienced God recently.

Give time for personal reflection – some will need a release from a busy day and a chance to consider God’s greatness. 

 

Depending on how much time is available, have each person share their favorite or share all.

Allow time for prayers of praise and thanksgiving based on each other’s insights.

Praying for the Church’s missionaries should be a regular part of the ministry of the church. 

Print out a list of their names, maybe including additional information like the country / region where they are serving and specific prayer requests from them.

The following quote from Tommi Sitton, To Every Tribe Ministries, in Reckless Abandon: A Modern-Day Gospel Pioneer’s Exploits Among the Most Difficult to Reach Peoples, is helpful in bringing up things to pray for:

When people ask me how to pray for missionaries, I tell them they need to be remembered daily, because these kinds of stresses are everyday realities. Pray for the big things: that the gospel will advance through their efforts; that they will be sustained through loneliness; that the Lord will provide financial partnerships; and that He will protect them from illness and those who would do them harm. But also remember to pray for the everyday things: transportation to the market, strength to do tasks such as washing clothes and making meals, finding correct boundaries in relation to possessions and privacy, and enduring the stress of long periods of separation. Pray for the Lord to sustain their relationship with Him and with one another. And, particularly, pray for their children. (pp.64-65)

Regularly preaching the gospel to yourself is a good way to stop being robbed of joy by the pressures and weeds of everyday life.  Similarly, preaching the gospel to each other is a good way to remind a group of the foundational things of “first importance.”

Prayer activity: 

Hand out paper. 

Each person has five minutes to write a summary of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Feel free to use Bible verses, hymns, catechism answers, or your own words. 

Each person preaches the gospel to the others.

Pray, especially giving thanks and praise to the author of salvation.

It can be tempting to cut short the prayer time at the beginning of a meeting.  I know in my personal prayer times, I can feel some resentment toward the people I am praying for if I feel like my “important” tasks for the day are being delayed.  So it is with the vital agenda items that await the group; the worry is that the prayer time will just make the meeting adjourn later.

BUT, please remember the One True God for whom the ministry is being conducted, the Creator of the universe who has promised to be with you when you pray, the source of all wisdom and revelation who wants you to get to know Him (not your issues) better.

Just as God promises that you cannot out-give him materially (Luke 6.38), so he promises to give wisdom abundantly if you ask (James 1.5).   If you don’t believe it, keep track of it. 

First, pray for wisdom at the beginning of the meeting.  Go through the agenda, asking for God’s input on the topics.  Concentrate on asking God, and let His thoughts increase your understanding.

Then during the meeting, keep alert to moments when good ideas pop up, sound words are spoken, a new option presents itself.  Jot down the findings and give thanks at the end of the meeting (Colossians 4.2).

If you cannot see answers to your prayers for wisdom, then you probably have a bigger problem than long meetings (see James 1.6-7).

Verses 153-160 of Psalm 119 all start with the Hebrew character RESH. This stanza is like all the others in the psalm in that the Law of the LORD is embraced and extolled. 

Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law.

Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise!

Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes.

Great is your mercy, O Lord; give me life according to your rules.

Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not swerve from your testimonies.

I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands.

Consider how I love your precepts! Give me life according to your steadfast love.

The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

 Read the psalm aloud, each person taking a verse in turn.

If your devotion time includes Bible study, you could use questions like

– What is the mood of the psalmist?

– What is the psalmist’s view of God?

– How does the writer communicate his appreciation for the Law of the Lord?

– The phrase “give me life” occurs three times.  What is the scope of “according to… your promise, your rules, your steadfast love.”

For Prayer, call attention to

– Requests the psalmist makes: for help and redemption

– Praise the psalmist offers: God’s mercy, psalmist’s love for the law

– The three uses of “give me life”, according to your promise, your rules, you steadfast love.

 

This prayer activity works very well with larger groups that can split into subgroups.

Psalm 119 has 22 stanzas, each with an eight-pack of verses.  In Hebrew, each verse in a stanza begins with the same letter.  The whole psalm celebrates the Law of the Lord.  Each subgroup will be assigned specific stanzas to read aloud and then pray through.  The verses lend themselves readily to thanksgiving, praise, and supplication. 

Start by allocating stanzas to groups of three or four people.  You could say, “Group One, work with Aleph through Gimel.”  Since most people probably will not have the Hebrew alphabet memorized, you probably want to assign “the first three stanzas.”  For clarity, you also want to give verse numbers for each group.

You may want to bring everyone back into a large group and ask for brief sharing of findings from the scripture or from the prayer time.  If so, let everyone know at the beginning.  Let the small groups know how much time they have together and then how much time you will spend in the larger group.  With a one-hour prayer time at consistory, we would expect small groups to pray forty minutes, the large group sharing to last ten minutes, and ten minutes would be taken up with instructions and movement.