Praying for each other - An introduction to personal prayer ministry

Speaker: 
Andrew, Anne & Amanda
Date: 
Thu, 2014-12-04

God is our Father, he loves to bless his children and he is pleased when we come to him in prayer.

Steps

  1. Ask what they would like prayer for if it is not obvious (Jesus sometimes asked!)
  2. Invite the presence Holy Spirit (e.g. Luke 5:17)
    • We can also thank God that he delights in our coming to him.
  3. If you are both comfortable, then you can touch them very lightly on the shoulder or hands. (There are large numbers of examples in the New Testament of the value of laying hands on someone as part of blessing them.)
  4. Start by blessing them. (Jesus’s most common blessing was peace. We can also pray for joy and to know the love of God)
    • You don’t have to rush into prayer, take a moment to quietly ask God if there is anything you should pray for this person
  5. As you pray for their needs, just allow your prayer to flow—don’t stop and analyse everything before you say it. Trust that the Spirit is giving you words. You may find yourself led to pray in a particular direction.
    • Don’t have to pray long complicated prayers but at the same time, don’t just pray one sentence and rush off
    • If there is a particular topic for prayer or the person has made a request then that is what to pray for
    • If just general prayer, pray for blessing, pray for God’s love, pray for more of the Holy Spirit. Pray scripture over them. Pray for understanding, for the presence of God
  6. End with blessing them again.

Prayer etiquette

  • Generally men pray for men, women pray for women
  • Pray with your eyes open. Then you can see if they need a tissue or perhaps they need to sit down
  • Touch appropriately – hand or shoulder
  • Ask, “Do you mind if I put my hand on your shoulder?”
  • Don’t rub their back or do other distracting things; it’s about them and God, not you
  • Don’t prophecy dates, mates, babies or direction!!

Practical Exercises

  1. Divide into pairs, take it in turns to:
    • Ask for the presence of the Holy Spirit
    • Bless the other person, allowing the Spirit to lead you
  2. Divide into pairs, and take 30 seconds to ask God for a verse for the other person. Then take it in turn to give your verse.
  3. Divide into threes and follow all six steps