PRAYER STRATEGY FOR 2018 Introduction As I ve been reflecting and praying for the next level of this ministry, there is no doubting that it has to be undergirded by serious prayer. I thank God that we are a church that appreciates the values of prayer but we are being called to rise to a new level of prayer and that calls for a strategy to organise ourselves and infuse every aspect of this ministry with prayer. 1. WEEKLY PRAYER GUIDES I would like to thank everyone who contributes to the prayer guide on a weekly basis. The prayer guides are very helpful in giving direction for how we should pray as a church. As we enter the new year, the following is how we can move forward; a. All ministry team (& MLC) leaders need to develop a prayer strategy for their individual ministries i.e. each ministry should choose a day when they pray (not necessarily fast) for their ministry. This can be weekly or monthly or by-weekly? Very short prayer points can be used in the group and prayed for without necessarily meeting physically (i.e. use of social network). The whole church does not need to know but it is important that there is prayer cover. b. A prayer guide will now have a standard format to be followed by all prayer guides that are used for Friday prayer meetings. The format is more focused on church life and missional outreach events. We really want to concentrate on souls coming to Christ as well as transformation while at the same time addressing pastoral matters such as praying for the sick etc. Our LIFE events are very good but we need more prayer covering for God to touch hearts and we see souls coming to Christ. Prayer and harvest of souls are interlocked. We need to harness the power of God into where it s needed most. THE PRAYER GUIDE FORMAT I. SUNDAY CELEBRATION - Pick something that you want to cover in prayer pertaining our Sunday Celebration service. This is an important corporate gathering that brings all sorts of people right to our door step! It needs more prayer than we can ever imagine. II. LIFE EVENT OR MINISTRY Always check the SCC church calendar and pray for two or three upcoming events. The church calendar is available from the office or the SCC website. III. LOCAL COMMUNITY/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL - This could be about blessing our community or praying for something in national or international headlines or breaking strongholds. It must be community related in some way. 2
IV. PASTORAL NEEDS - Personal prayer requests starting with those that attend prayer to those that we know about from church. This could be for healing/provision/breakthrough etc. This format must be kept in this way with minimal notes so that there is more freedom in how people pray but also more depth and breadth. This means that the maximum items in a typical prayer guide is 4 items ONLY and must be kept short. The prayer guides uploaded on what s app is what is referred to above. 2. SUNDAY MORNING PRE-SERVICE PRAYER I have noticed with striking frequency that having someone volunteer to lead prayer on a Sunday morning is a challenge and thus we are losing valuable time guessing who will lead. I suggest that; - I. We continue having the Eldership Team lead every first Sunday of each month when all SCC members and leaders come together to pray. This is not optional. II. Service Directors should be next in line to lead the Sunday prayer meeting whenever there are listed in the prayer program to do. In effect, it means that SDs are required to attend pre-service prayer without fail. III. All ministry leaders will have to take slots in leading these prayer meetings. A rota will be put in place and you will be notified in due course. IV. The general rule still stands: If one comes first, they should start leading prayer regardless of numbers, (except for first Sunday of the month). HOW DOES ONE LEAD THE SUNDAY PRE-SERVICE PRAYER MEETING? The main focus of this pre-service prayer meeting is the Celebration Service! I. Items to pray for on a Sunday morning include Salvation; Repentance; Physical and emotional healing; Personal renewal; Relationships established and restored; Marriages strengthened; Commitments to holy living; Anointed teaching/preaching of God s Word; Response of the heart; Impartation; Expectancy and an atmosphere of God s Presence; Various ministries serving that day for God s enabling power and wisdom; Generosity (financial giving); etc. II. The Sunday Pre-Service prayer starts between 09:55 and 10:00am until 10:25am according to the clock in the Jubilee Room! 3
III. If there is a song that you really want to start with or that God is impressing in your spirit, then please try and slot it in the beginning at 09:55am (or at the end at 10:20am) so that we press into prayer as much as we can within a very brief short window of 25 minutes. We certainly don t intend to sing more than we pray on a Sunday morning! IV. Refrain from reading to many Bible verses Read what you need quickly and make very brief comments by way of guiding us in prayer and get people to pray more. The time spent on guidance should not be more than time spent in praying. On Sunday morning, give minimal guidance since the items prayed for are not complicated to explain. V. Finish on time! We need five minutes (between 10:25 and 10:30am) before the start of the main Celebration to welcome people and get ready for the Celebration. Make it a point that you take the initiative to GO and greet people in the Main Auditorium (instead of waiting for them to come to you). Our Sunday services really need a lot of prayer covering! I encourage us to pray a lot in the Spirit on Sunday morning. We need to be full of expectancy and be open for God to do anything - Nothing is impossible with God! We are really praying for open heavens! 3. LEADING PRAYER IN ANY SETTING Again, I would like to say thank you to all the different ones that lead prayer in SCC in various settings, whether it is a prayer rally or a weekly prayer meeting. I am impressed and encouraged by how we are willing and able to take on the responsibility of leading prayer even on very short notice. As a church, we have grown in this practice of valuing prayer. However, we have now come to a time where we need a few guidelines of how to lead prayer in a multi-ethnically diverse Christian community in order for us to continue to reach people and turn them into fully devoted followers of Christ; I. Start on time. Usually our prayer meetings are relatively short (one hour only) because we are aware not everyone is a prayer-veteran but we do have extended seasons of prayer so as to cater for everyone. II. If you choose to start with a song, then be aware that it is meant to stir us into prayer - that means one song may be enough and try keep it a time as a time for praying! III. Please read one or two scriptural references per point to guide us in prayer so that we spend more time in praying, than in Bible reading/study. We do love the Word of God and must use it in the right context to pray but there has to be balance. Usually all our prayer guides have Scripture references that we use to pray. By the time we meet for corporate prayer, it is NOT essential that we read ALL the scriptural references verbatim given the time constraints. 4
IV. When leading, please keep your comments very short. This will give us more time to pray. Avoid explaining/exegeting in great detail what to pray for. Remember people have been praying throughout the day about these items. In practice, can we limit our comments to no more than 2 mins maximum for each point. A lot of time is usually spent reading Scripture and then explaining the prayer guide again! V. In SCC, anyone in any level of leadership must be able to lead prayer. You don t need a special revelation or years of experience to lead people in a prayer meeting! 4. PRAYER GATHERINGS IN SCC In SCC, in case you may not have noticed, we pray and fast corporately three times a year - In January usually for 10 to 14 days; In July for the 21 days Countdown to the Conference; and September for either a full month or 40 days. These are seasons when we seek the Lord much more than usual and produce elaborate prayer guides to take us through those seasons of prayer. However, these are not the only times that we pray. We also have the following going on; I. Pre-Service Prayer on Sunday Mainly for all SCC members not an option! II. Sunday Ministry Team Prayer Moments - Each Sunday, before diving into ministering, each team should gather for a moment of prayer e.g. P&W Team; Refreshments Team etc. Is this still the case? III. Special Pre-Service Prayer on first Sunday of the month - for every member of SCC (LTG leaders responsible for bringing their disciples). For leaders, this is a MUST attend! IV. Thursday Prayer Meeting - This is led by and focused on young people (5:30pm to 6:30pm). It has to be structured to be open to anyone who wants to pray, regardless of age! But for now, it really for young people. Several youths are committed to this one. V. Friday Prayer Meeting - This is the church-wide prayer at 6:30pm to 7:30pm. This is NOT for adults or prayer warriors only - It is open to ALL and everyone! I must commend the elders and their wives for being faithful in attending this particular meeting and a few others. I am yet to see a lot more of us attending this important prayer meeting. VI. 24 Hr Prayer Chain - This is done once a month. I would like the prayer chain guide to be the same one we used for the weekly prayer guides in addition to praying for church leadership as well. 5
Conclusion I would like to affirm to you that I believe in prayer and would like this church to continue to be a House of prayer for the nations. This memo is a strategy to assist in reaching people and turn them into full devoted followers of Christ. With your help and commitment, we can recharge our prayer ministry and bring alignment in how we pray as a church. We thank Mrs E. Bhunu who has kept us informed and tuned into prayer mode. She is doing a great job in this area. You have an important part to play too. I am counting on you to stand up and be counted at this important juncture of the ministry. We cannot go to the next level without prayer. This is our time to make a difference through prayer! God bless you Moyo A. 6