Six Ideas to Develop A More Comfortable Prayer Routine

Yesterday I had a short conversation with a small group leader about the occasional difficulties of prayer in the small group setting. It seems that prayer is one of those things that people are just uncomfortable doing in public. I think the most obvious solution to this is to simply be faithful and consistent with your prayer time in group and eventually people will become more comfortable. However, here are six ideas you might use to help your group view prayer a little differently, and as a result they may become more comfortable with the idea of praying out loud together:

1. Choose a country in the world and spend a week researching that country. As a group pray for the countries’ spiritual, political, social, and physical needs. Pray for the missionaries you may know of serving in that country.

2. Have each person share about a person they have contact with that needs Christ. Pray specifically that God will create faith sharing opportunities with those people.

3. Allow time for everyone to quietly pray and meditate. After several minutes share with each other some encouraging things that God brought to mind during the quiet time.

4. Have each person write their name on a card. Pass the cards out to others in the group. Everyone in the group should commit to carrying the card with them all week and praying for the person on the card everytime they remember.

5. Take turns having a group member sit in the middle of a circle. Have them briefly share a few personal requests. While the group prays silently for the person, have one person pray aloud.

6. Discuss what it means to confess your sins to each other. Figure out a way to do it.

Comments

Discussion Questions for Easter

Have several people ask the question, “What’s the most important thing you’ve ever done?” Ask other people, “What do you hope to accomplish in the next several years of your life?” Tell your class that today you’ll be talking about “life mission” or the one most important thing you do that drives everything else. Tell them that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the defining moment in history, so it should be the defining moment in our lives. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. How does the resurrection impact some of the crucial beliefs of Christianity? How would Christianity be different if there was no resurrection? How would you be different without the resurrection? Read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. What are some specific ways that the resurrection gives us hope? If you had been a friend of Jesus when he was on earth, how would the resurrection have impacted your life? How do you think his followers then were effected by the resurrection? Read 1 Corinthian...

FIGHT CLUB! (iron sharpening iron)

Our youth pastor, Keith Sandison, has implemented "Fight Clubs" with the young men of our church. While these teenagers and young adults aren't actually pummeling each other physically, they are using the opportunity to aggressively challenge one another to be more attentive to their spiritual formation. Right now my son is participating in a fight club focusing on Proverbs. I love it. Keith has created a handout he uses for the fight clubs which lists seven different methods of "generic Bible study". I think the idea started with this post a few years ago, but as he often does; Keith took my thoughts and made them immensely more substantive and beneficial. Check out his system below:

10 Summer Activities To Keep Your Small Group Connected

I just sent an email to all our small group leaders (I do this 3-4 times each month). This week's focus was STAYING CONNECTED THROUGH THE SUMMER. Below is a list of 10 summer activities a small group can use to stay connected. These are specifically created for groups at The Gathering, but you can pretty easily modify the list to fit your church or your community. Go to a Dragon's Game together. You can buy tickets as a group from the church for the game on July 11. Design a Progressive Dinner. Have appetizers at one house, salad at another, the main course somewhere else and dessert at a final destination. Have a monthly barbecue party. Serve together. Pick a place (Good Neighbor House, St. Vincents, Victory Project, Pirate Packs, Caring Partners International, One Bistro) and sign up to serve as a group one afternoon or evening. Meet up at the Family Movie Night on June 15. Spend a day at King's Island. Work at the church for an afternoon. We have many proj...

Creative Community

Search This Blog