Tag Archives: how to pray

How to lead an opening prayer in church

Today I’m going to give you three pointers to help you when leading others in prayer. In many ways when leading a meeting it is more about who you are than what you say! This is not just true for meetings but for every time we congregate with others for a shared purpose. Here are some tips for opening a meeting with prayer:

God is constant, he is always present by his Holy Spirit, always gracious, always wise, loving and holy. We are the ones that change! It is imperative that we are truly present, that as we open a meeting in prayer, we are not ahead of ourselves focusing on outcomes, or behind ourselves worrying about past concerns. Whether it is a church meeting, a small group gathering, a trustee’s group, a Sunday school or family meeting…… be present. Try to pause, breathe, look around you, take in the moment before praying. This is a new moment to us and to God, be aware of that freshness and allow the presence of God to still your heart.

Secondly prepare if you have the time! Bring something creative. It doesn’t matter how small this is. Bringing something physical can really help others to focus on God and engage in the meeting. Visuals are a good idea. For example, it could be as simple as bringing a glass of water, then praying that this meeting would be “full of God’s presence”, that we would come “thirsty for unity”, or that we “would find God refreshing our hearts and minds in this time”. You might like to wait on God and see if a picture comes to mind, and then describe what you see to help inspire others in prayer. Or you could print out an image (www.unsplash.com is a great resource for copyright free images). Sometimes I bring some tranquil instrumental music to play in the background – this can help to still people’s hearts and focus on God. Or if you play an instrument consider leading a short worship song. Other creative options might be to find a poem to read (or ask someone else to read it) that inspires prayer, or even consider giving a short testimony about something God has done in your life recently. This could lead seamlessly into a prayer of thanks for everything that God is doing among us.

Thirdly you need to be aware of the qualities of unity and humility. These need to be evident in any prayer before you begin a meeting. God is always present with us by his Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:20), but we need to be open and present to Him. It is always good to practice coming before God ahead of opening a meeting. Come before him to confess any resentment, to admit any insecurities, to lay down your agenda and allow the Holy Spirit to cover and lead you. A people group will follow in the footsteps of their leader. If you have ill feelings that are festering underneath the surface these things may well effect the people you are leading. Sometimes we need to open in prayer in a very honest and real way. Remember that God works through the vulnerable and the weak. Take time out before you lead to come honestly before God and pour out your sins to Him. Come to Him and receive His forgiveness and love.

So here’s a summary of these three thoughts – be present, allow God to still your heart and soul before you pray. Secondly, be prepared. Consider coming with something creative that will inspire people as they pray. And thirdly, be humble. God blesses the humble in spirit, it’s in the Beatitudes! (Matthew 5:5)

The most important thought I want to leave with you is this. Remember that you are unique and your relationship with God is unique. Therefore, what you bring when you open a meeting will be unique. Don’t try to be anybody else! Relax and just be you and let the Holy Spirit move through the unique you that you are. And until next time, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

p.s. If you need written prayers to say when opening a meeting, you may find this page useful.

4 Tips on How to Start a Prayer Journal

Today I’m going to be looking at prayer journals. I’ve found them to be an amazing gift in my journey with God, and I wanted to share with you four ideas for them that I have found useful.

I have always prayed in this way, so my home is filled with a variety of journals. I have kept them all as they are quite precious to me. There really is no right or wrong way to begin a prayer journal. How each of us do this will reflect our character, our Christian heritage and the season we are in. If I flick through the journals I kept before having a family they are much more ordered, well set out and creative than say one I kept when my children were young! But whichever is your way, neat and structured or spontaneous and creative, keeping a prayer journal can enrich and change your life on so many levels, so I really encourage you to start one if you haven’t yet.

I have found that writing brings out two differing facets of my soul when I focus on prayer in this way. Firstly, there is room to be very real and vunerable because it’s a private a place. It’s the sacred space between myself and God. It’s also a place where I find wisdom and insight as the Holy Spirit leads me, or as I meditate on scripture or hear Gods voice or vision for a given situation. I’ve found that writing my prayers down can help me to process experiences and sometimes unpack feelings. It can correct a wrong thinking pattern in me or reveal a new way to pray for a given situation.

So today I want to give you four ideas to help you keep your prayer journal with God.

The simplest way to begin is to search for a notebook that is personal to you. It may connect with your life circumstances, remind you of your hopes and dreams or have a colour or image that simply draws your attention. Place your journal somewhere where it will remind you to pray. Perhaps by your bedside or favourite chair? That’s really important as it needs to be somewhere you can see it, so you don’t forget to use it!

Just simply open and write the words “Dear God”……then see what pours out….if you are in a good place it might be thanks, or in a worried place an outpouring of thoughts. If you’re in a busy place a petition for help and peace and if a burdened place a prayer for a loved one. Don’t worry, it’s personal, so relax! Then read it back over in your mind or out loud, then simply end with love from ………. I have often signed mine ‘Grace’, it’s not my name but a pet name just between Abba Father and myself!

The second suggestion I have is similar but a more varied form of this, for those of us that either like structure or freedom! In your chosen journal you may choose to develop a structure for yourself. A good way to do this is to begin by a meditation on scripture, then thanksgiving and lastly petition. (Petition is a bit of a religious word which simply means something that you are asking God for). Meditating on scripture gives space for God to speak to us. Here’s a great one:-

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

That’s a simple verse but also very profound. It really helps me to connect with God. Then, let your heart move to gratitude. Become aware of the good things that are in your life and write some of those down. These could be answers to prayer, or God’s provision in your life, or the love of friends or family. When you are in this place, then this is a good time to pray for needs and things that you are worried about. Remember to write those down as well. If you are the organised type, you could write them in point form. I tend to just keep writing!

If you are more of a creative free spirit, try creating a doodle. E.g a mix of drawings, colours, words and scripture which weave together to become your prayer to God in your own unique way.
Lastly, I keep a “Dream Book”. This is an idea that came out of a prophetic word given to me many years ago that I would be a dream machine! This is all about my big dreams for other people, they are often BIG prayers, for friends, family, neighbours etc…. these big dreams have often been things like finding love, conceiving a baby, healing from illness, release from debt. I just write these prayers once. I often read back through the prayers. Many have come true and some I still wait in prayer for!

So, those are four prayer journal ideas which you can try out now. Remember to keep your book visible. Try starting “Dear God” and see what pours out. Or perhaps you are a more organised type of person. Then start with scripture meditation, then thanksgiving, and then pray what is on your heart. Or make your prayers into doodles and colours. And lastly, don’t forget to try the “dream machine”. Dream big for those you love and treasure. Do you have some other ways of keeping journals? Do comment below and let us know your ideas.

I trust that wherever you find yourself in life that you will find ways in which to draw close to your Heavenly Father in prayer. Please do try these ways, give yourself grace in it all. At times I have used prayer journals regularly and wholeheartedly but there have been other seasons in my life where entries have been very intermittent and fragile. If you are in a desperate place, always speak out your feelings not only in prayer but to other brothers and sisters who can pray with you. If that is hard maybe share your prayer journal with someone you feel safe with. May God richly bless you as you come to him. Don’t forget to let us know your comments and thoughts below, and until next time, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

How to Pray for Friends

Hi, today we’re going to be looking at different creative ways that we can pray for our friends and loved ones. If you know someone at the moment that is going through a difficult time you might find these tips especially useful.

Praying for friends or loved ones is a powerful way of releasing blessing. The spaces between the children of the living God are sacred. No matter how far I am away from my brother physically I am connected to them spiritually. It is important to remember God is outside of this dimension/time frame/distance, he sees the whole of creation from beginning to end. He is the author of love and when we love, we commune with God and breathe out his kingdom of heaven upon the earth. Our prayers are powerful because the Holy Spirit was released into the world when Jesus rose back to life from death. It’s like the Holy Spirit is everywhere…… the same Spirit. It’s mind blowing and world changing! Through him our prayer is everywhere, moving outside us, inside us and through us! I say this because sometimes we can feel it is a ‘cop out’ to say ’I’ll pray’! So today I am going to give you four ways and suggestions on how we can pray for our loved ones.

The first one is to imagine a circle around your friend, a circle of Gods provision and protection. Then pray into that circle light, love and healing, and speak out your specific prayers for them. Name the circumstances/troubles or dreams for their lives. Then imagine that same circle and pray out of the circle, fear, shame, pain, hurt, rejection, disappointment, disillusionment and name and pray out all the specific things that you know are hard for them to hold. (If you find a visual way helpful you can draw a circle then write things in or out of the circle.) Then just entrust these things to God, you may find that the Holy Spirit helps you to discern and intercede for them in new ways as you pray in this way.

The second way I call “target prayers”. Begin by taking a blank sheet of paper and writing down the name of each person you are thinking of praying for. Alongside each name just write a word which sums up what you hope for that person. At times it is helpful to distil our prayer in this way, like hitting the centre of a dartboard, all our faith is aimed at one word! You can even go back over these short prayers daily! Even hourly! I find that this way helps if you have many friends or family who are facing hard times, because sometimes we can be overwhelmed by the needs of others around us. Remember our prayers intertwine with the prayers of others, with the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit and praying something is always better than praying nothing! God is more than able to work through our prayers no matter how simple they are.

The third suggestion is one of open blessing. Imagine your friend in your own mind and your heart and allow the Holy Spirit to give you a song! it might be a song that you sing at church, it might be a song that you remember from childhood, it might be a song from a more contemporary setting or if you’re very creative it might be a few words and melody that you spontaneously sing. Sing it softly, sing it loudly and sing it over and over as you think of that person. You may find you change the tense to create a blessing. For example, “Jesus, be her centre, be her hope, be her song Jesus”. God has put us in relationship for a reason. We are the body of Christ, and the body works in unison! When one part of that body is poorly the other parts of the body shift and change to accommodate, when one limb has a limp the other parts take more weight. When you are hard of hearing your ability to lip read increases. It is said that it’s impossible for two parts of the body to feel pain at the same time, and in a similar way thinking of others draws our focus from our own pain. Let’s be aware of each other, pray for one another, look after one another. When we pray, God will answer those prayers and there will be this flow of blessing, love, promise and hope between us as we become brothers and sisters united with our Father in heaven.

Lastly there are times when our concern and feelings for someone we love are overwhelming. There are no words, we run deep with feeling but dry in how to pray. I suggest you find something that represents that person, allow the Holy Spirit to lead you…a stone from the beach, a favourite toy, an item like a clock or clothing or a photo. Then use this as your prayer. Sit and lift you heart to God and hold out the object that represents that person. God loves to talk with us but understands sometimes there are no words. When my son was going through a hard time, I found I would start to pray but end up just worrying about him. Prayer stirred up a lot of concerns but left me tired and more confused! So a friend recommended another way. I found a stone. I was drawn to it because it was heavy and an awkward shape to hold. Every time I felt overwhelmed with grief or worry I would pick it up, and hold it before God. I would cry at times, and that’s OK too! Sometimes I would kneel, other times I would feel peace immediately as I presented my prayer to God. Silence in prayer allows our hearts to rest, to have peace. We can take our troubles quietly to the foot of the cross and trust in the redeeming power of Christ!

Some final thoughts

Well I hope that these suggestions are helpful. So here’s these four different ways of praying for your friends again – pray a circle prayer by praying in the good stuff and out the bad. Try praying target prayers. Thirdly, sing a blessing song for them and finally try holding a physical representation of prayer before God. The other thing just to mention is how powerful it can be to let others know we are praying. It could be a card, a gift of flowers, a text, or an offer to visit and pray with them. At times I have even recorded prayers and sent them to others, so they can hear that prayer over and over. So, as we care for friends let’s be creative, encircling them not just in spoken prayer but with prayer gifts, prayer songs, prayer pictures, prayer company!

Thank you so much for all the comments that you’ve been leaving us about our prayer films. We love to read them. Maybe there are ways which you pray for your friends that I haven’t mentioned? If so, do leave them below. And until next time, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.