Skip to main content

A 7 Step Process for Small Group Prayer Meetings

Praying together in small groups is often one of the most awkward and difficult disciplines to develop. Here is a seven step process you can use to devote one of your group meetings to prayer. This will help the group to become more comfortable with the idea of prayer together, while also providing a good model for them to adopt in their personal prayer practice:

1. Focus – Relax, be calm, be still. Give everyone a moment to clear their mind of the day's clutter, and to simply be present in the moment. Perhaps choose an applicable verse or passage you can read during this time.

2. Thanksgiving – Have group members simply call out some of the things for which they are grateful. These might be big items or small items. They may be something that God has done for them or they may be thankful for an attribute of God. Close the time by leading the group in a short prayer of thanksgiving.

3. Requests – Take a couple minutes and have everyone speak to the people on each side of them. During this time, they should each share one request with the people on their sides. After a few minutes, have the group conclude their conversations and allow about 30 seconds for everyone to silently pray for their neighbors.

4. Reflection – Have 3-5 people share something that happened during their day that made them aware of God's presence. Encourage the others to also be thinking about their own experiences during this time. (if more than 3-5 desire to share, go ahead and take the time)

5. Confession and Forgiveness – Having spent time thinking about the previous day, many in the group have undoubtedly been reminded of parts of their day they would like to do differently. Take about a minute for silent prayer. Have the group members use the time to confess their sins to God and ask forgiveness. Encourage them to ask for strength so that today's mistakes won't repeat themselves tomorrow.

6. Renewal – Go around the room and have each person share one area of their life which God is currently renewing, or they might share one area of their life which they desire to see renewed by God.

7. Closure – Choose an appropriate Psalm and have the entire group read it together in unison. (it may be wise to print it on paper ahead of time so that everyone is reading from the same translation)

(this process has been very loosely adapted from what is sometimes called the practice of Examen)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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...
3 comments
Read more

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:
1 comment
Read more

Community Killers Part Four: Complaining

Nothing can tear a group apart faster or more effectively than a spirit of complaining. For some reason, complaints seem to breed faster than rabbits. Once one person’s complaining goes unchecked, it won’t be long until others have joined in and eventually the entire group is sucked into a hopeless vortex of swirling complaints. Often these complaints have little to do with the group, but they have the potential to sideswipe and destroy a group meeting, or if left unchecked, an entire group. Complaints may cover a variety of subjects. Group members might complain about their job, their day, their neighbor, their spouse, or even the church. The role of the leader is to deal with these complaints in a way which is formative for the person, instructive for the group, and glorifying to God. Because a LIFEgroup should be a place where people share their struggles and receive support and prayer, it can sometimes be difficult to know when someone is sharing a difficulty or...
Post a Comment
Read more