Prayer Team Introduction

WELCome!

Welcome to the Prayer Team! You’re going to help usher people into God’s presence and lift up their needs to him. Prayer is vital to our congregation’s life!

Your primary responsibility will be praying for people on Sunday morning after a service on a rotating basis. The commitment is for one year.

how the scheduling process works

When you are assigned to pray on a Sunday morning, you will get an email from “Planning Center Online,” the software that manages the church’s Congregation Relations Management.

We use it for a lot of ministries!

The email will ask if you want to accept the date and time assigned. Please check either “yes” or “no!” When you don’t respond to the email, we have no way of knowing if you are attending or whether we should ask someone else.

If you choose “no,” you have the option to say why, but that isn’t required. If you decline, you’ll simply be invited again in the weeks to come. If you accept, we’ll plan to see you on that Sunday.

how to prepare

Pray over our Sunday morning before you arrive. Pray for everyone who attends, that they will experience God’s love and hear God’s Word. Pray that God would give you the right words when it’s time to pray for someone.

Most prayer team members will attend the service at which they are assigned to pray. However, it’s fine to pray after a service and then attend the next service if you prefer. Please arrive before the service is over in any case.

You will generally hear one of three reasons: family, finances, and fitness (meaning health). Less often, people will ask for prayer concerning matters of faith or forgiveness.

Tell them you would be glad to pray for their request, but before you pray, ask, “Just so I know, are you a Christian?” If they say no, or if they are unsure, then say, “First, let’s invite Jesus into your life, so we put everything in his hands.” Then begin your prayer by doing so. Perhaps say something like, “Jesus, we invite you into (name’s) life. They want to follow you and know you more.”

Then pray for their request. The whole process should take maybe 2-5 minutes. Try to be mindful of whether or not there is someone else waiting to be prayed for. Usually, there are two people on the prayer team at each service.

If you ever see people waiting to be prayed for, but you have not been assigned to pray on that day, feel free to step in and help anyway.

Avoid going to get a pastor. You are on the front line in this ministry, and our pastors already have many Sunday morning responsibilities. If you think someone needs or desires a follow-up meeting with a pastor, give them the church’s phone number or offer to take their phone number, and we will schedule a meeting.

We have to be sensitive to the spiritual beginner. Church may be a new experience for people. We don’t speak in tongues for people on the Sunday morning prayer team. Try to use common, everyday vocabulary. Big theological terms like “sanctification” may be unfamiliar.

If you decide to place a hand on someone’s shoulder, ask them first. “Is it ok if I place a hand on your shoulder while I pray for you?”

Report anything that feels important to a pastor afterwards. If anyone talks about self-harm or harming others, please report it. If someone decides to accept Jesus into their life, let us know!

Feel free to follow up with questions or concerns anytime you would like.

Thanks again for taking on this important role!