Benefits of Group Prayer
1. Grow in Love for each other
Humbly Praying together causes the hearts to be bonded together in the love of Christ. This pleases the Lord.
Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, that you love one another." John 13:35
2. Help one another experience the Presence of God
Praying with others that are humbly seeking God helps one to focus on God and experience His Presence in a special way. Praying together is a way of discipling each other and growing together.
3. GROW TOGETHER TO BE SHAPED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
One of the goals of the Holy Spirit is to mold believers to grow more and more to love what God loves and hate what God hates. The Holy Spirit will do this work in the hearts of those who come together to humbly seek God in focused prayer. We need to grow in greater and greater degrees to love what God loves (to the same degree that He loves), and we need to hate what God hates (to the same degree that He hates it).
4. MORE PRAYER - LINGERING IN GOD'S PRESENCE FOR AN EXTENDED TIME GIVES THE BELIEVER TIME TO THINK OF THINGS TO PRAY FOR AS THE HOLY SPIRIT BRINGS NEW THINGS TO THEIR MIND AND HEART.
Taking time together in the presence of God will give time to believers to remember important things to pray for. New things will come to mind as The Holy Spirit anoints the prayer time.
5. GOD ANSWERS PRAYER
As we linger in prayer together, we will simply pray more, and praying more means more answers. God said, "Call upon Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things".
Jesus said, "Whatever You asked the Father in My name, He will give it to You." I believe as we pray together we will learn together the heart of God and thereby be truly praying "IN JESUS NAME" = FOR JESUS GLORY. As we pray with purity for what is on God's heart, we will surely get an answer from the ALMIGHTY.
6. THE BOTTOM LINE IS LEARNING TO ENJOY THE PRESENCE AND GLORY OF GOD --- GROWING TO LOVE GOD.
Hopefully the wife enjoys being with her husband. She will if she truly loves him with all her heart. And that is what God wants from us. He wants us to love Him. If we enjoy focusing on Jesus presence, then we will be showing our love for Jesus. Focused prayer time is a way we grow to enjoy the presence of Jesus.
7. WE WILL LEARN TO HUNGER FOR GOD'S GLORY MORE AND MOVE TOWARD BEING READY FOR A POWERFUL MOVE OF GOD (A REVIVAL AND AWAKENING). THE HOLY SPIRIT STIRS TO CAUSE BELIEVERS TO BE MORE AWARE OF THE HOLY PRESENCE OF GOD.
8. GOD WILL GET THE GLORY
If we have had focused times of prayer together, when God begins to work in special ways, it will assure that God gets the glory.
As we linger in prayer together, we will be moving toward being shaped to be ready for an amazing work of God, both in our own lives, and in the lives of others
9. UNITY - HUMBLY PRAYING TOGETHER CAUSES BELIEVERS HEARTS TO BE MORE AND MORE UNITED TOGETHER AND IN TUNE WITH THE HEART OF GOD TOGETHER. THE GLORY OF GOD UNITES TRUE BELIEVERS AS THEY PRAY TOGETHER.
John 17: 22-23 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
10. The World comes to know that The Father sent the Son. The Mission of the church to bear witness to the lost is advanced. The Mission of The Father's Heart is thus fulfilled.
Prayer Meeting Like a Date Night With Jesus
I like to compare prayer meetings, focused on Jesus, as a date with the Lord.
If I take my wife out to eat at Burger King in a rush, it might be 30 minutes, and she might appreciate it, but it would be a lot more special if I took her to Cheesecake Factory (or a nice restaurant on the beach) and took our time ordering, then the restaurant took their time bringing us the food, and then we talked for a good while as we ate, and then we went for a romantic walk after the meal. Now that would take at least 2 hours.
Now if we were there together, and I kept getting involved in conversations with some other patron or with the waiter for an extended time, then my wife would be disappointed because on those special dates, she wants the focus to be on her. But if I keep the focus on her then she will warm up to me and feel valued.
My experience in prayer meetings is that there can come a time when the Lord "warms up to those praying" in a special way that is something that is drawing the worshiper to Himself. Keith Green sung the song and said the words, drawn, "like a moth to a flame".
The Lord can choose by His grace to make the worshiper more intensely aware of His glory and presence. God is always there, but it is very possible for us to become more aware of His glory and presence as Moses did when he came down from the mountain with his face shining.
It is first and foremost about a love relationship. And for us, we are very different from the heathen who think they will be heard for their much speaking. For us, we know we are invited into the Most Holy Place by Grace, and we enter in awe of the Presence of God and know beyond a doubt that He knows every thought and every word even before we think or speak. For the heathen, they are focused with their asking about their own needs. It is all about "self". The immature / self centered Christian may focus their prayer time on themselves too. It is OK to ask for personal needs, but it is not the main focus of a mature Christian's prayer life. The mature believer is focused more on the heart of God. For the Christian, it is about the glory of God and the love relationship with Jesus. And He is pleased for the body to come together to seek Him together in focused prayer / focused on His Presence and seeking His glory together.
An Urgent Call to Group Prayer -
"My House Shall Be Called a House of Prayer" Isaiah 56:7 / Matthew 21:13 -
They all joined together constantly in prayer. Acts 1:14
"and there on the beach we knelt to pray" Acts 21:5
IF NOT NOW, WHEN, IF NOT YOU, WHO, IF NOT THIS, WHAT?
There is a special power in groups of believers gathering in Jesus Name.
An Urgent Call to Group Prayer -
When Groups of Believers are Focused on Praying the Heart of God, they will find God and experience an awareness of His Presence that will transform their lives and the lives of those around them. When the light shines, it expells the darkness.
IT IS TIME NOW TO PRAY WITH PASSION!
In the time of Daniel, God worked mightily to exalt His name among the Nations. It was the darkest time in Israel's history. The people had lost everything, but God had not lost His power or His passion to show His mighty power and glory. Daniel is a book about God's determination to reach the world in His own way and time. God used Daniel, a man of prayer. This is a call to every Christian to seek to be mighty in prayer through a close relationship with God.
Jacob desired a blessing from God and was unwilling to forgo that blessing. Churches will please God if they come together to seek Him in the spirit of humility and hunger for His righteousness. They will be blessed with spiritual riches that lead to revival.
Churches should have a strong focus on praying together. It is time to get desperate for God's glory!
Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them" Matthew 18:20
Prayer that is Focused 100% on God is very powerful. That kind of prayer is different from talking to each other or discussing issues with each other.
Too many prayer meetings end up with 80% of the time with discussing prayer requests instead of praying.
Why talk to each other when you can go together directly to God. Groups lose their focus on God when they think of the meeting as a time to talk to each other. When time is set apart as a time of prayer, God is jealous for that time to be His.
There is a time to fellowship, but our call to focused prayer is not about talking to each other, it is about calling out to God, Praising God, and Listening to God. That is why Reading Scripture during the prayer time is part of the prayer time. There might be a time for silence because of the desire is to hear from God and meditate on His Word.
We need praying groups of believers that will Focus 100% on God with patience and determination to seek God.
Focus on God means one can pray, sing praise, read Scripture all directed to God. The others in the group can listen and pray in agreement. Then someone else can pray. The group could also be silent with music playing as they meditate and seek God. 5 minute prayers can be a blessing, but today many Christians and Churches are missing much of what they could be experiencing if they would just begin to PRAY for an extended time period.
At the very least, Jesus said, "Could you not watch and pray for one hour?" We need prayer groups that will pray at least for one hour. But special times can be planned for more extensive time periods.
If we can watch a football game and focus for 3 hours, then let us see 1000s of prayer groups raised up that will pray with a focus on God for 3 hours. Or let churches plan some all night prayer meetings. 4 groups of people can divide up time slots to gather to pray all night.
Group one 7pm to 10pm
Group two 10pm to 1:00am
Group three 1:00am to 4am
Group four 4am to 7am
Any church that begins to pray that way will begin to find The Presence of God in a fresh and powerful way. If groups of believers will begin crying to God and waiting on the Lord with a deep longing for His Glory, then a revival just may be nearing...
Don't discuss prayer requests, just pray and listen to each other.
Whoever wants to pray, let him pray (taking turns as the Spirit leads).
Listen to each other pray, and join together in agreement
Wait on the Lord and trust the Holy Spirit to bring to mind what He wants prayed for.
Each person praying should limit their time to 7 minutes or less. This will allow others to pray, but the person that prayed first can pray again anytime after some others pray.
Silence is OK to meditate on God's glory and His Word.
Singing to God is OK to praise Him (keeping focus on God not on talking to each other)
Walking around or Laying down is also OK, especially in extended times of prayer for over an hour. It is a beautiful thing to rest and hear others praying or even to go to sleep and wake up while others praying.
Reading Scripture to the Lord and to bless the others in the prayer meeting is OK. One goal is to listen to God. As the Word is read, one can seek to hear from God. This is not a time to discuss or explain meaning. This is a time to focus on God 100% as the group listens to the pure Word of God read aloud.
Playing Christian Music in the Background is OK as the prayer meeting continues.
Being emotional is OK. David was a man after God's own heart, and one thing that is clear throughout the Psalms is that David showed emotion for God, and he reflected emotion in his prayers.
Don't be in a hurry, set your heart to seek God and wait on God. The number one thing for the best kind of prayer meeing in to begin with a mindset that the prayer meeting is going to be one in which the group is not in a hurry. Instead they are showing desperate hunger to seek after God. Of course in many situations there is a time limit, and that is OK too, but the best kind of prayer meeting is open ended in my opinion or at least one hour as Jesus said, "could you not watch with ME for one hour".
How to Lead Group Prayer
Some Keys to Powerful Prayer:
HUMILITY AND FAITH
DETERMINATION TO PERSEVERE
HONEST WITH YOURSELF
HONEST WITH GOD
CLAIM THE PROMISES OF GOD
PRAY BASED ON THE CHARACTER OF GOD
PRAY THE HEART OF GOD
PRAISE AND ADORE GOD
SEEK GOD'S GLORY
I like Ping Pong style - you pray, he prays, she prays, I pray, and whoever wants to pray prays again. Staying focused on God.
There is not one right way to lead group prayer. Some may get together, and in silence, meditate and pray in a group. Some may play music and no one pray aloud, but just have everyone pray to themselves. Others may pray aloud altogether at the same time and do that for an hour. I have heard that called the Korean style of prayer.
The Following is My Favorite Way to Pray in Groups.
Get together with believers and give them instructions for how the prayer time will be focused on God such as the model below.
We are called to "run the race" the word for race is agon from which we get our English word agony. It is a great way to begin a prayer meeting with this idea, that the prayer time is part of the race being run, and encourage those praying to set their hearts on agonizing and persevering to seek God through praying together.
Begin Praying
Pray first to claim John 15:2-3 "Every branch that bears fruit He purges so that it will be more fruitful"
Don't discuss prayer requests, just pray and listen to each other
Whoever wants to pray, let him pray (taking turns as the Spirit leads).
Listen to each other pray, and join together in agreement
Wait on the Lord and trust the Holy Spirit to bring to mind what He wants prayed for.
Each person praying should limit their time to 7 minutes or less. This will allow others to pray, but the person that prayed first can pray again anytime after some others pray.
Silence is OK to meditate on God's glory and His Word.
Singing to God is OK to praise Him (keeping focus on God not on talking to each other)
Walking around or Laying down is also OK, especially in extended times of prayer for over an hour. It is a beautiful thing to rest and hear others praying or even to go to sleep and wake up while others praying.
Reading Scripture to the Lord and to bless the others in the prayer meeting is OK. One goal is to listen to God. As the Word is read, one can seek to hear from God. This is not a time to discuss or explain meaning. This is a time to focus on God 100% as the group listens to the pure Word of God read aloud.
Playing Christian Music in the Background is OK as the prayer meeting continues.
Being emotional is OK. David was a man after God's own heart, and one thing that is clear throughout the Psalms is that David showed emotion for God, and he reflected emotion in his prayers.
Don't be in a hurry, set your heart to seek God and wait on God. The number one thing for the best kind of prayer meeing in to begin with a mindset that the prayer meeting is going to be one in which the group is not in a hurry. Instead they are showing desperate hunger to seek after God. Of course in many situations there is a time limit, and that is OK too, but the best kind of prayer meeting is open ended in my opinion or at least one hour as Jesus said, "could you not watch with ME for one hour".