Developing Small-Group Prayer
by Bob WolniakWorship is a crucial component of your small group. This can include singing, writing or reading to God, but it certainly includes conversing with him in prayer. How can you make prayer more than just the opening and closing of your Bible study?
1. Take a temperature reading. Discuss what people feel about prayer. What do they know about it? How does it affect them? Does anyone have an experience to share? What part could prayer play in your group?
2. Study a passage of Scripture about prayer. Teaching about prayer is as important as doing it. Matthew 6:5-15, Mark 1:35-39, Luke 11:1-13, John 17 and Nehemiah 1 are just a few good examples of texts you could discuss. Some groups set aside a brief time every few weeks to study such passages in addition to their regular weekly Bible study.
3. Have a regular sharing time. Ask about struggles and answered prayers. Prayer is a great way to get to know one another better in your group.
4. Write a prayer or a Psalm together. Read a Psalm at the start of your meeting for several weeks to get a feel for this kind of prayer poetry. Then at one meeting, pass out paper and ask each member to write down a few lines of a Psalm- like prayer. Collect the papers into a stack and have someone read them out loud, each person's lines contributing to the longer whole. This can be both inspiring and delightfully humorous.
5. Introduce "2Plus." The idea of 2Plus is simply to pray regularly for two non-believing friends and to seek ways to serve them and to introduce the gospel to them. Take time to allow each person to pray for his or her two people.
6. Pair up to pray. Initiate prayer partners who can pray together during the week. This works especially well if you can establish discipling relationships in your group.
The more ideas you try, the more you'll come up with. Use the ideas that work best for your group. Most of all remember this: the attitude a small group has toward prayer will almost always be that of its leader.
For more on prayer, see the following:
Why Pray Together?
Why DON'T We Pray Together?
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this article for educational purposes provided this permission notice, and the copyright notice below are preserved on all copies. Not to be reprinted in any other publication without permission. © 1993 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship of the USA. All rights reserved. This article first appeared in the Fall 1993 issue of Student Leadership Journal®.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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