Drive-by Praying
The first Wednesday evening of every month, our suburban church takes its weekly prayer meeting on the road to pray for the communities of Hillside and Berkeley. We meet briefly at the church for commissioning, jump into our cars with a prepared prayer sheet, and follow a suggested route around a three-mile square. We stop in front of our public high school, city halls, and local businesses. Sometime during the evening, we drive down the streets of the people in each car, claiming those streets for Christ and asking God to use our members as witnesses. We then return to the church parking lot to pray for our outreach efforts in the community.
Bruce Hoppe Hillside Baptist Church Hillside, Illinois
Intentional Intercessors
Our pastors formed a group of key leaders to develop a prayer ministry. The team designated an intercessory room and gathered training manuals, prayer request cards, recruitment cards, weekly schedule charts, card file boxes, prayer postcards with stamps, a calendar, a church members’ directory, Kleenex, and a bulletin board to post announcements. The group also added a telephone and answering machine with a separate number, and printed business cards listing that number.
One month before the launch, the pastor preached a series of messages on prayer; church members were asked to dedicate at least one hour per week to prayer (on a specified day and time for four months). The intercessors were trained in how to enter the prayer room, answer the phone, and utilize the prayer cards.
At the appointed time, the intercessor enters the prayer room, signs in, and spends a few minutes in meditative prayer. Then he or she moves through several stations. At one station are the weekly church ministry prayer requests. At another are the emergency prayer requests. Other stations include files of visitors, new members, and the unsaved; general prayer request cards; and cards for missionaries. The intercessor also answers the phone during the prayer time. While the intercessor does not counsel, he or she may offer appropriate verses of Scripture and prayer.
Young Ik Yoo Global Mission Church Silver Spring, Maryland
Prayer Tech
To increase prayer, we put our computer to work. Each week, worshipers are encouraged to complete a prayer request card and place it in the offering plate. During the sermon, the requests are formatted as weekly prayer updates, which are made available at the end of the service.
Jay Akkerman Central Kitsap Church of the Nazarene Silverdale, Washington
Press 1 for Prayer
The conventional prayer chain was simply not working—often breaking down when a chain member was not home or, on occasion, even altering details of prayer concerns. So First Baptist Church of Gozaburg, Nebraska, brought in “Bigmouth,” an automated voice mail system designed for telemarketing campaigns. It assures that prayer requests and updates are faithfully passed along.
National & International Religion Report (1/23/95)
A more interactive Ideas That Work
Each “Ideas That Work” will address a specific question. Then, in the following issue, we’ll publish the best responses.
This time the question is:
What creative ideas have you used for the Christmas season or other holidays?
We’ll pay $25 for accepted items of about 150 words.
Contact Us or write to:
LEADERSHIP Ideas That Work 465 Gundersen Drive Carol Stream, IL 60188.
1996 by Christianity Today/LEADERSHIP journal
Last Updated: September 17, 1996
