About two years ago I joined a local pastors' group started by a member of Dee Duke's prayer team and began praying an hour a day. Then I heard about the two-hour prayer group Dee leads and asked to be a part of it. Those groups have been life-changing. God has changed me. He has shown me how much he can change people's hearts if I will pray.

He's also shown me how much He will carry me if I will trust Him in prayer. I would not have made it through the personal and ministry challenges I've faced without the prayer and being held accountable for it.

The group works like this: we have goals that we are mutually accountable to each other for. Each week we send out e-mail reports to the others, reporting how well we did the previous week. We encourage, chastise, chide, and prod each other, because we know that these prayer goals will help us grow closer to Jesus and to be more effective in our ministries and personal lives.

Then, about every six weeks, we meet at Dee's church for an afternoon ...