Have you seen any successful pastoral prayer support teams?
What are the barriers to building a strong, safe (confidential), effective prayer team for the pastor?
What ultimately motivates a pastor to call for prayer support?
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National Prayer Leaders: Thanks for your prayers for Pastor Paul Covert, Prayer Pastor Central Christian, Mesa AZ. Here is the update/praise report from Paul that I received yesterday, Feb 3. Please continue to intercede for full healing!
+++ Message from Pastor Paul on Feb 3:
Thanks Thomas. The doctors believe that I have an autoimmune issue that is attacking my optic nerve. So they put me on an auto immune suppressant which will hopefully stop the attacking of my optic nerve. So far I am seeing well and it appears the med is working. I may have to be on this medication for some time but that is better than a tumor or radiation. So I'm praising God. Thanks brother.
+++ End Message
Blessings, Thomas Bush
PRAY FOR PRAY.NETWORK MEMBER PAUL COVERT
After having a few more years of experience in leading a pastoral prayer support team than I did the last time I posted my thoughts on this topic, and because I now also oversee other prayer teams for pastoral staff at my church. I've seen and learned a lot about pastoral prayer support, and I wanted to share some updated perspectives.
One of the issues I've seen is when intercessors allow pride to gain a foothold in what they do. It causes them to isolate themselves from biblical and practical covering/shepherding and from other intercessors and the accountability that would provide. It ended up ruining their prayer ministry (although God can forgive, redeem and restore, hallelujah), hurting a lot of people connected to the prayer ministry, and wounded the heart of the pastor they were supposed to be supporting. Their original goal in being so exclusive was to protect the pastor, and it turned around to be the very thing that hurt the most.
One of the things we've done to help prevent that sort of thing from happening is to allow anyone who feels called to join the pastoral prayer teams. If we excluded people who seem to have issues, there wouldn't be any teams at all! The pastor whose team I lead trusts the Lord's Sovereign grace to protect him from those who would pray what some call "soul-ish" prayers - prayers based more on their own opinion than on the prompting of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we have a large team. In that team, there are some who have earned mine and the pastor's trust and confidence. Not because they were trying to, but because over time we have witnessed their faithfulness and commitment to the Lord's will. So when there are prayer needs that the pastor does not feel comfortable sharing with the whole group, he will ask that I send it to those few. They don't have a label, and some of them don't even realize they are considered part of the "inner circle".
As a result, we have a great team that enjoys "what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints". (from Eph. 1:18), and Kevin, the pastor we pray for, enjoys the benefits of a healthy prayer team who is accountable to him and to one another. And together, we have seen the Lord bless Kevin's ministry more than we could think or imagine in a a lot of ways.
I realize we see the precedent of the inner circle through Jesus' disciples (the large crowd that followed him, the 12, and then the 3), and I recognize He was very intentional about calling out the 12, but were the 3 - Peter, James, and John - as intentional, or was that a natural result of relationship? It seems to me that it was, and that it was also about their desire to be taught and discipled, and to grow closer to Jesus, instead of a desire to be considered part of Jesus' "elite" team. I am more than willing to be corrected, though, if I am mistaken.
God Himself sent me to start a prayer group in an Anglican Church and God gave a name "Abba Father" to it on the 16.6.2009.
One of things I do : I pray for a list of 42 pastors in our diocese. And during Sunday servises I remain in the room asking God to bless His word and people with alarms and for revival in our church.
Barriers:During these three years I have been there I have discovered : Some pastors are arrogant, some think intercession will take their time, some think revelations hinder their activities. In general ( in Africa- sub Sahara) pastors do not help intercessors financially.
Motivators: Financial problems in his parish some freinds in difficults and political crisis
Berete Jerome
i was talking to one of the leaders from TABLE 71 when they held their meeting in hawaii last week. their large organization had just hired a full time employee at going wage to create more prayer for their organization. i commended him, and also encouraged him that he was on the cutting edge--people are figuring out where the power is
ps on feb 11 i turned 68--pray for me in my youth
As a former prayer coordinator of a mega-church in Georgia, I established a “weapons of warfare” prayer team, consisting of 5 warriors, that was specifically assigned to develop specific prayer objectives for our pastor, based upon the Word of God, and we targeted our prayers for specific and general needs for our pastor and pastoral support. We also had a group of 5 pastoral intercessors that met every Saturday night to pray for 2 hours to pray during the same time the pastor was studying and conducting preparation for his sermons on Sundays.
Many pastors desire to establish prayer teams but the biggest barrier is trust, or a unwillingness for a congregation to move in the direction of the vision of the church.
Based upon my observation, family pressures, increased ministerial and community responsibilities as well as spiritual warfare are the driving forces that enable a pastor to lead in corporate prayer.
It is very vital that any prayer initiatives be conducted in conjunction with prayer teachings of various levels on the different types of prayer (Ephesians 6:18), because in all of our getting, we must have understanding and wisdom.
Stan
Stan, I love that idea about the "weapons of warfare" team! I also appreciate your insight on needing wisdom and understanding regarding the various levels or types of prayer.Our pastors focus very much on Scripture-based praying, which has been so rich for us as a congregation.
I would appreciate any resources you've found that have helped you as a prayer coordinator for your church - books, favorite Bible passages, teachings, etc. I'm currently not leading the prayer team for my worship pastor, as the Lord called me to lay it on the altar back in October. (It was probably one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make.) I know He will restore it to me at some point, and so part of this season is about learning how I can be more effectively used by the Lord in that role.
Thank you for sharing your insight!
Leesha
I lead a prayer support team for our worship pastor. I take the initiative to get prayer requests from him on a regular basis, usually weekly, and then email them to the team. We've had the blessing of seeing God move in direct relation to our prayers. I think one of the keys to success is that the lead person of the team has to take the initiative. If you wait on the pastor to give you the requests, it just won't be very regular. The way we do it, the team is reminded on a weekly basis to pray for Kevin. Being regular is key.
I actually blogged about this topic on my page. If you have time, take a look and share your thoughts. I'll be adding to it as God allows me to.
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