Another part of the process of establishing an effective prayer meeting is to identify those people who are gifted for intercession. These intercessors need to be raised up and trained to take their place in the prayer ministry. People who are gifted for intercession are able to press through in difficult situation where many would just give up. It may be helpful to encourage the entire local church body to participate in some sort of Spiritual Assessment Inventory. There are many of these assessments available for free on the Internet. These simple tests can help determine who is moving in the gift of intercession.

A great starting point for many people might be establishing a prayer card ministry. These can be printed and distributed to those who show an interest in prayer to help them develop their gifting. Prayer cards can be used to instruct people on how to prayer for the church, the pastors, their families, political leaders, missionaries, etc. People that have trouble staying focused during prayer will find prayer cards very helpful for staying on task. Another important prayer ministry function needs to be the ability to respond quickly to a situation. To manage this need for speed a prayer chain should be set up. This can be done by telephone where from a central location the top of list is called and then each person has one phone call to make to the next person on the chain. Because it is true that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, it is sometimes a good idea to start the request from both ends of the chain. When someone receives a call from the person they are supposed to call every link in the chain has been reached. An email prayer is another effective method of getting urgent prayer requests responded to.
As the prayer ministry develops there are some other important prayer ministries to consider adding. A team of people who are willing to pray for the Pastor while he is preaching is a powerful ministry. Charles Spurgeon had large groups of intercessors praying in a basement room under his pulpit in each service while he preached. He called it his divine ‘furnace room’. The intercessors pray for people to be open to hear, receive, and respond to the message. A team of people who serve as a prayer shield for the Pastor is another important prayer ministry to get started. C. Peter Wagner speaks of three basic levels of intercessors for leaders:

• “Level Three intercessors have a distant relationship with the leader. In some cases, these intercessors have never met the person(s) they are praying for. For example, many people have prayed for Billy Graham on a daily basis and yet have never met him; many others pray for missionaries they have never met.

• Level Two intercessors have a casual relationship with the leader. There is some regular two-way contact, although it may not be one-on-one, intensive, or sustained over any length of time. This may include, for example, Sunday morning worship attendees who pray for their Pastor.

• Level One intercessors have a very close relationship with the person they are praying for, which allows them to pray for items that are personal and possibly confidential. These people have personal contact on a regular basis.”

The people involved in this ministry need to have a love for their pastor, a willingness to be used by God, and have a passion for prayer. At Church Growth Consulting we are confident that following these simple guidelines and seeking the Lord in prayer should be a big help in establishing an effective prayer ministry at your church.

The people who make up the Church are very observant. If the pastors and leaders only give lip service to something as being important but don’t get involved, the people quickly follow suit. In establishing an effective prayer ministry in your Church the people of the church will need to see the Pastors and leaders involved in regular and devoted prayer. While it is easy to get caught up in the business of the church,  the Pastor needs to model an effective prayer life. The Pastor also needs to preach and teach regularly on the importance of prayer and on the value of having an effective prayer ministry established. It is also a reality that the Pastor can’t do it all and that putting the full scope of another ministry on the Pastor isn’t feasible. This is where the appointing of a Prayer Coordinator is a vital part of the process.  At Church Growth Consulting we hope to encourage pastors and leaders to delegate and give away ministry when you can.

The Prayer Coordinator can be a lay person who has a heart for prayer. The Prayer Coordinator should be spiritually mature and have gifts of organization, encouragement and leadership. In most churches, this person is already there. In your prayer times ask God to show you who the candidates are. Establishing a Prayer Coordinator will also add credibility to the Prayer Ministry.