I love prayer with action. Sometimes there is nothing we can do and it is all up to God while at other times, we can act. When leading prayer, especially in small groups, I like to take some time to act on a prayer topic. I offer the following examples:
-
After prayer for a missionary or someone who is sick, take some paper and envelopes and invite everyone to write an encouraging note to the person. Mail it or take it to the person.
-
After prayer over a topical issue such as abortion, write letters to a political figure, expressing your views on the issue.
-
After prayer for a local issue, write letters to the people involved and have someone take these letters to them during the week.
-
After prayer for people in need, ask those in the group how to do something tangible to actually meet that particular need.
I usually do one “action point” for each small group prayer meeting. This keeps the “Here am I” aspect alive and everyone involved.
-
Creative prayer is something I like to use especially when it engages every member:
-
When praying for unchurched friends, write their names on a paper, pass the paper around, and have everyone pray for all names.
-
When praying for a missionary, bring a picture of the missionary, a map of where the missionary is located, and lay hands on the picture and map as you pray.
-
Ask each member to bring a photo of their family, place the photos in the center of the small group, and ask each member to pick up a different photo and pray for that family.
Testimony: A small group was praying for bees to come and fertilize some apple trees for someone in the church as the harvest of apples was threatened by the lack of bees. Having prayed, they all wrote a note and sent it to the person who had requested prayer. On Tuesday morning, the gentleman received the letters and that afternoon saw a swarm of bees arrive.
How powerful it is to have tangible evidence of prayer and to see the answer following!