Who Will Pray?

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ... 

(Col 4:2-3).

How do you pray?  Who do you pray for?  When you need prayer, where do you turn?  Do you ever pray for someone, or something, or only for yourself?

I have been thinking a lot about prayer lately, not because I am some prayer powerhouse, quite the opposite actually, I feel I don't pray enough.  It all started with our "Pray on Purpose" campaign where we committed to pray for thirty days.  It rocked me.  I learned a lot about myself, what I value, and honestly, what our community values.  Do we value prayer?

I want to start a prayer team.  I have a few ideas but I'll be honest, I don't want to be the guy leading this.  I want to open it up to our community and see if anyone feels led to lead this team.  In my experience, I've seen prayer teams work in one of two ways.  One way is a team gathers and prays for the ministry that is happening: The upcoming mission trip, the teaching tonight, that God would draw people to Himself.  Another prayer experience I have witnessed was a team of people available to pray for anyone who would come and needed prayer: for healing, for faith, upcoming life transitions, a job.  There are positives and negatives for both types and I've seen both teams work well. 

But, I want to see a third type of Prayer Team: one praying that the Gospel would be seen vividly in our community.  A team that gathers at 6:30 every Tuesday night for 20 minutes and is available to pray for the needs of this community, but is also praying for the Gospel to be vividly seen in our ministry.  Instead of praying blanket prayers, they pray selected portions of scripture to be relevant and active in our lives.  They pray for specific needs in our community and for specific people that aren't. 

What would it look like if the Gospel was more evident at The Awakening?  What if this community  was one that sought the Lord and his will for their lives and the lives around them?  What if the blind did see, and the lame did walk, and those who were hungry were fed.  Can our community accomplish these tasks?  Not without Christ and speaking to him through prayer. 

When the Original CORE team gathered last summer to start this gathering, we prayed.  We prayed a lot.  It is time for us to return to prayer.  In my opinion, this new Prayer Team is the most important team of servants at The Awakening.  So what needs to happen next?

• First, I am looking for one passionate leader to step up to the plate and develop this team.

• Second, I am looking for people to support this leader and gather at 6:30 to pray for 20 minutes every Tuesday night.

Let's start this along with the new series through Philippians on March 8th.  Who's in?  Contact Phil if you would like to lead or join this team. (PhilO@fellowshipdallas.org)

Posted by Phil