• Help! A family is in need of prayer.
• Alleluia! A long-anticipated healthy baby has joined this world.
• Oh my! There’s been a tragic accident.
• Thanks be to God! The cancer is in remission!

Prayer is not just for pastors. All of God’s people are invited to pray on the behalf of others. Here are some ways to include your congregation in prayer:

Extending Sunday Prayers Throughout the Week

Each Sunday, the congregation gathers for worship and praise. Encourage worshippers to continue to pray throughout the week for those who have been included in prayer at worship. Take this extension of prayer beyond Sunday morning very seriously. Do not let Sunday morning be the only time the congregation remembers prayer requests. Frequently, extend an invitation to the congregation to be intentional about remembering in their personal, daily prayers the prayer requests listed in the bulletin. (This suggestion assumes that the prayer requests are printed in the bulletin -- a good idea!) People might want to get in the habit of putting the prayer requests (listed in the worship bulletin) in a place where they can be easily reviewed during the week for prayer. Add any requests announced during worship.

A simple written invitation in your weekly bulletin might include, "Please pray this week for the following..." Here are some possibilities for weekly prayer requests:

• Those celebrating birthdays this week -- Invite people to pray by name for each person celebrating his or her birthday during the course of the week. This is a simple way to pray for all members of the congregation over the course of the year. Depending on the size of the congregation, these might be named in the public prayers or simply listed in the bulletin.
• Those celebrating anniversaries -- Invite people to pray for couples celebrating their anniversary during the coming week. This is an excellent way to support marriage in your congregation. Again, the size of the congregation might determine if these are named or simply printed.
• Those in need of intercessory prayers -- Invite people to pray by name for those who are facing illness, loss or have other needs.
• Those whom God might be stirring to come and worship with your congregation next Sunday -- Remember to pray for those whom God is calling and gathering to worship with you next Sunday. Pray that your congregation might be receptive and offer hospitality. Pray for courage for members of your congregation to extend invitations which might be manifested in the days ahead.
• The pastor, staff and leaders of the congregation -- Encourage the congregation to pray regularly for the pastor, staff, and leaders of the congregation.
   

Prayer Chains

E-mail -- A simple way to notify people about prayer requests is by e-mail. Push one button and many are notified. Here is a sample prayer request sent by e-mail:

A prayer concern has been requested. (Name) is having cancer surgery on Monday, February 23, (name) Hospital. Please remember (name) in your prayers. Thank you.

Also, the little baby girl, _______________that was born with spinal meningitis is doing very well and is at home now. Thank you for your prayers.

Phone -- Some will choose to be notified by phone. Arrange the phone tree so persons are calling friends or those whom they regularly greet. (Hopefully they would be more aware of good times to call, vacation schedules, etc.) One suggestion is to have no one contact more than 3 or 4 persons. Make it as simple as possible. (Additional resources to help with prayer chains: Organizing a General Prayer Chain.)

Random Prayer Groups

Encourage the congregation to pray for each other by randomly placing three names in an envelope. Invite each person in the congregation (young and old) to select an envelope. During a designated stretch of time (Advent, Lent, summer, 6 weeks), pray for those names in your envelope. The names can be kept secret or openly shared, but this is not a secret Santa. There are to be no presents, except the gift of prayer.

Prayer Teams

Organize groups interested in fervently praying in a particular area of interest. This is not an exhaustive list, but here are some examples of prayer teams:

• Peace Prayer Team: This group might gather regularly for prayer, offer special services when the community prays for peace, or provide a vigil on peace. Perhaps they might covenant with each other to pray each day at noon. This is when the hands of the clock come together as a single unit. With some clocks, there is the tolling of the bell at 12:00. Consider it a call for peace and prayer.
• Prep Prayer Team: This prayer team prepares rooms for worship, learning, and other activities by arriving early and walking through the room and offering prayer. A designated prayer team could walk through the sanctuary before worship to offer prayer, stopping at key places such as the pulpit, baptismal font, altar, entrance doors, or near the location of the choir and musical instruments.
• Evangelism Prayer Team: This team prays for the congregation and individuals of the congregation to be open, aware, and responsive to daily opportunities to share the love of Jesus Christ.
• Discipleship Prayer Team: This team prays for the teachers of specific Sunday School and bible study classes throughout the week. Someone might be assigned a specific children or youth Sunday School class. If so, that prayer partner remembers the students and teacher by name.
• Preaching Prayer Team: This team meets with the preacher briefly before worship for a moment of prayer. Pray for God’s Spirit to fill the heart of the preacher to proclaim God’s Word with clarity, vigor, and truth. Also, this team might pray throughout the week for the preacher and her/his preparation of the preached word.
• CIDS: This team includes those people who say, “Can I Do Something?” (CIDS). “Yes, please pray for our congregation. Be part of ‘CIDS’, the vital prayer ministry of this congregation”. CIDS might include elderly who are saddened because they feel they have nothing left to contribute to the life of the church or shut-ins who long to help. CIDS continues the biblical tradition of the elderly using their wisdom to offer pray. Children would be great asset to the CIDS team. So many times, they long to help in some way, but what better way than through prayer?

-- Written by Robin McCullough-Bade