Hosting a Concert of Prayer
by Mac Pier"Concerts of prayer" provide a way to unitedly draw the Body of Christ in the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer in John 17. In a concert of prayer, we see God as the conductor, his body as the orchestra and the Scriptures as his score.
The concert of prayer draws the themes of Worship, the Word, With-ness and Warfare or Intercession together. (See page 21.) It can be a powerful expression of the Body of Christ "rehearsing" for the vision of Revelation 5.
Here is how a concert of prayer might look:
Adoration (40 min.)
- Opening song and prayer
- Welcome by facilitator--why we are here
- Break into groups of four: ask each other why they came
- Corporately read Isaiah 6 as a call to worship
- Sing songs that reflect God's glory
- Vision meditation: a brief talk on God's call to us
- Have small groups worship the Lord for his glory/call to unity (10 min.)
- Moment of silence to reflect and listen to the Lord
Awakening (40 min.)
- Here we focus on the Body of Christ and its needs.
- Have leader prepare group for repentance
- Pray in small groups/large groups sentences of repentance which begin "Lord, forgive us for..." (10 min.)
- Pray for the community/nation
- Pray for the body of Christ to experience unity, holiness, humility, sense of mission and boldness, or other themes from Scripture
- Have leaders pray for church around the world (5 min.)
- Moment of silence to reflect and listen to the Lord
Advancement (30-40 min.)
- Here we pray for those outside of the Body of Christ.
- Pray in small groups for unreached family, friends, neighbors, co-workers
- Transitional song
- Pray for community, national and international concerns (e.g. leadership, political issues, poverty, crime, hunger, families, racism)
- Pray through a portion of the 10/40 Window
- Pray for one or several people groups
- Have leaders pray for those working in difficult places in the world
- Moment of silence to reflect and listen to the Lord
Application
- Take an offering for a mission endeavor
- Someone issues a challenge to deepen personal prayer and involvement in corporate prayer
- Give opportunities to be involved. For example:
I commit to 10-15 minutes of personal prayer per day, or
I commit to start a Lord's Watch in my small group Bible study, or
I commit to attend daily prayer meetings on my campus.
- Close with a reminder from Scripture and a song.
Tips for a successful concert of prayer
- WORSHIP always brings a qualitative dimension to any meeting. So plan your worship carefully.
- Make sure that at least 50 percent of the meeting is spent in PRAYER to avoid people talking about prayer and not praying.
- To build vision there must be strong BIBLICAL CONTENT, examples of what God has done historically, and examples of what God is doing right now.
- To perpetuate a sense of movement toward action, there must be a strong CHALLENGE at the end of the meeting to give ourselves to prayer and further avenues of involvement.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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