Why is it important to listen… To the other pray-ers?



Why is it important to listen… To the other pray-ers?As we are facilitating prayer, many times God speaks to us through the prayers of those in the room. When people are submitted to Him, don’t bring their own agenda with them, and listen to Him, He will direct their prayers. It is a wise facilitator who listens to the prayers being prayed. Only then does that facilitator have the option of catching how the Lord is leading someone in prayer. I have found this is often the way the Lord leads us in a time of prayer.On many occasions as I have listened to prayers, there is one prayer that stands out. It is not necessarily because of the volume, or the intensity, or even the content. Other prayers before and after are good, “right on” prayers. But there is something about this prayer that makes it different. You may identify it in many ways. It is anointed, or directed, or more clear, or more passionate. As participants hear that prayer they notice something different about it. As a facilitator hears that prayer, they should recognize it as being different. It is through prayers like this that God often confirms a thought or direction, or begins to redirect to another topic.Blessed by Doing (assignment) – Make it your practice to listen to the prayers being prayed in your prayer group. Notice when there is a common thread to them or if there is a prayer that the Lord may use to emphasize a certain direction.Why is it important to listen… To the songs sung and the Scriptures read?Just as it is important for the facilitator to listen to the prayers of others, (as mentioned in Question 7.2.2 above) it is also important for them to listen to songs and Scriptures as well. But there is a bit more to mention about songs and Scriptures. The prayers that we hear people pray are always fresh to us. That is, we have not heard that prayer before. The problem with a song or with Scriptures is that we have heard them before, sometimes, many times before. Being over-familiar with a song or a Scripture can rob us of the fresh truth God wants to speak to us from it. So, it is especially important to listen well as these are presented.I remember a key truth God pointed out to us as someone was reading the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 3. They read verse 14-19. But as they were reading, I especially noticed one particular word in verse 18 – “…may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” I have heard and prayed that verse on many occasions. It has wonderful things to say and pray about His great love!But this time, as I was listening to it being read, I noticed the word “together.” Paul’s prayer was that a fuller understanding of love would come to a group. There was something about each person responding, receiving, and interacting with His love that would affect the other people and their ability to grasp His love. So, when he finished reading and praying through that passage, I pointed out that word and gave a very brief explanation. I invited the pray-ers to go back to that passage and consider and pray from the significance of the word “together.” As we prayed it was confirmed on several occasions that this was a truth the Lord wanted us to grasp and pray at that time.On another occasion we had just sung the song, “Come, Now is the Time to Worship.” One of the lines encourages us to come, “just as you are to worship.” It struck me that we were coming to Him in many different conditions. So, I invited us to sing the song again considering the phrase, “just as you are” with the anticipation that we would share how we “are” when we completed the song. After we sang, I briefly restated my invitation encouraging them to begin their prayers with the words, “Jesus, right now I am” (for example, “excited” or “discouraged” or “tired” or “resting.”)For several minutes we expressed to God our “just-as-you-are” condition. This helped people evaluate and understand their current condition. People began to pray deep prayers reflecting their real condition. Weworshipped more authentically and got to know each other more.These times of prayer were possible, not because I had a thought-through agenda, but because I was listening to what was happening, interacted with the Lord about how we could pray what He pointed out, and invited people into it. In each of these cases, the prayers were much higher and deeper than they would have been had I come up with a nice idea of my own. See also Question 4.1.Blessed by Doing – When a song is sung or a Scripture is read, lean forward in your thinking, especially when it is familiar to you. See if the Lord highlights a specific thought that could establish an entry point for prayer.What is the role of prayer tracks in dynamic corporate prayer?There are times when it is helpful to present a prayer track to assist the flow of prayer. A prayer track is a specific question to be answered or a sentence to be completed in prayer that can bring greater focus to a time of corporate prayer. As I referenced earlier, this can be a great way to help equalize a time of prayer. These work best when they are spontaneously connected to what just happened.Here are some specific guidelines.Listen with fresh ears to what is being said or sung.Notice any line that the Lord seems to highlight to you.Ask Him how that idea could be turned into a prayer.Give succinct directions to the group and possibly give an ex-ample.These should be in the form of a prayer stated directly to the Lord, rather than simply a comment about Him.It is best when these allow people to be specific in their prayers.It is helpful to (at times) encourage a corporate response.For example immediately following a very meaningful time of prayer about God’s grace, it may be appropriate to encourage a group to, “Express to the Lord a specific time when you know you sensed God’s amazing grace. Please begin your prayer with the words, ‘God I know I experienced Your amazing grace when….’ and then you complete it from there.” A possible corporate response following each prayer would be, “Yes, your grace is amazing!”This type of prayer activity can be very helpful, but, we should not get caught up in them and let the activity override the primary purpose of the time of prayer. It would be very unusual for this to be a steady diet. Prayer introduced by a prayer track can be very meaningful in and of itself, and it can help lead a group to times of very deep prayer. Also, we would not want the brief prayer encouraged by this style of prayer keep a group from entering into times of more extended prayer.Blessed by Doing – Read over the guidelines above several times until you are quite familiar with them.Then ask the Lord to show you opportunities to provide a track for people to pray upon. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download