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Red Moon Rising: 24-7 Prayer and the Coming Spiritual Awakening By Pete Greig & Dave Roberts Even with the world getting darker, a new generation is learning to pray ands obey like never before. This is their extraordinary story, an honest account of pain and perseverance alongside a pioneering mission and miraculous answers to prayer. It's a story of the 24-7 Prayer movement, which started in 1999 in England and has since exploded to more than fifty countries. An army of normal individuals are now simultaneously praying night and day around the world. Things will never be the same. |
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Praying For Others: Thrilling and Fulfilling |
Guidelines for Corporate Times of Praying For Others
(audio version )
Prayer groups within a church or home setting can be an exciting vibrant time of working with God and your team to see Jesus move in the world, your nation, city, congregation and homes.
Coming together in small groups of 2 - 8 can be fruitful and effective. If your group is larger, consider breaking into smaller groups within the same meeting. The following guidelines hopefully will inspire your team as you enter into prayer.
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Appoint a leader
It is a good idea to rotate leadership of small prayer groups. The leaders job is to facilitate prayer by:
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Ensuring the different guidelines are applied
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Making sure each topic is prayed through before moving on to the next.
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Opening and closing the prayer time
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An average small group prayer time should be no longer than 60 - 90 minutes, including worship.
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- Appoint a scribe
The scribes duties are:-
List the people present (optional)
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Write down prayer items in the prayer book. It is very encouraging to have a prayer note book that you can go back to, and see answered prayer over the weeks and months that you meet.
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Summarize any important scriptures, pictures or anything else significant that was prayed for each item.
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Make sure the prayer book is put away in the same spot every time intercession ends, so it can easily be found for the next session.
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- Start with a short prayer of thanksgiving.
If it is possible, perhaps start with a couple of worship songs that would quiet your spirit and prepare you as a group for intercession. Praise God for who He is, and for the privilege of engaging in the same wonderful ministry as the Lord Jesus
Hebrews 7:25 (NIV) Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Praise God for the privilege of cooperating with Him in the affairs of men through prayer.
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Ask the Lord to search your heart
Ask the Lord to search your heart for any unconfessed sin that would hinder you from hearing from Him. This can be done in silence. Don't dwell too long at this point if nothing comes to your heart immediately.
Psalms 66:18 (NIV) If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV) Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
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Die to your own imaginations, desires, and burdens for what you feel you should pray.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 28:26 (NIV) He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.
Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)" For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
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Submit your mind and imagination to be used by God
2 Corinthians. 10: 3 - 5 (NIV) For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Admit to God that His thoughts are much higher than our thoughts and that you lay down any preconceived ideas of how you thought the prayer time should go. Be willing to lay down prayer requests that you felt were important if the Lord has other plans for the session.
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Ask the Lord for protection as you pray and take proper authority over the Enemy
Rebuke the enemy and remind yourself of your authority in Christ.
James 4:7 (NIV) Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Deal firmly with the enemy. Come against him in the all-powerful Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and with the "sword of the Spirit"--the Word of God.
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Praise Him in advance and expect Him to speak to you. He's a remarkable God and will do something consistent with His character.
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Wait on the Lord, in silence for a few minutes (about 3 or 4 minutes). Expect the Lord to speak to you
John 10:27(NIV) My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
Psalm 62:5 (NIV) Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
Micah 7:7 (NIV) But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
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Believe the things that come into your heart and mind, as they are submitted to the Lord are coming from Him.
Pictures, scriptures, impressions. In obedience and faith, submit to the group what God brings to your mind, believing.
John 10:27(NIV) My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
Keep asking God for direction, expecting Him to give it to you. He will
Psalms 32:8 (NIV) I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
After a few minutes, the Leader goes around the group and asks each person to share what they felt was to be prayed about. If you did not receive anything, feel free to say so. If there seems not to be a central theme, go back into prayer, asking the Lord to clarify. If possible, have your Bible with you should God want to give you direction or confirmation from it
Psalm 119:105 (NIV) Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
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Pray believing!
Pray each item through before moving onto the next prayer item.Don't just pray a 'general prayer of blessing', ask for God's finances, provision, wisdom, protection or whatever is exactly needed in each situation. God want us to be be specific and direct with him, just as a child would ask their father directly for specific needs in his or her life. A child tells their father they are hungry, they ask for new clothes, they are detailed in their requests.
The leader is responsible for moving on from one topic to another. Make sure you don't move to the next subject until you've given God time to discharge all He wants to say regarding this burden; especially when praying in a group. Try to keep your prayers brief and to the point, prayed in authority. Rambling, long winded prayers can cause others in the group to lose focus. If there is a long silence, this is a good indicator it is time to move on to the next prayer item.
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End with Thanksgiving
When God ceases to bring things to your mind to pray for, finish by praising and thanking Him for what He has done. Ask the Lord to remove from you any burdens that you are not to carry out of that intercession session. End with another worship song and/or prayers of thanksgiving for the things God accomplished during your prayer time. Believe in faith that all things prayed have been heard by the Father, and He is at work! Thank the Lord that He spoke to you and that His will was accomplished.
© 2007 : Katherine Walden
With thanks and gratitude to Joy Dawson of Youth With A Mission for providing a brief outline of this teaching in 1981. Please do not publish, print or copy to an email, website, blog or mailing list without permission.
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Strategic Prayer By Eddie Smith & Michael L. Hennen Prayer practitioners Eddie Smith and Michael L. Hennen identify twenty-seven principles that will equip you to pray more purposefully and effectively. Using them, you will:
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