Prayer partners

Maybe you have heard that four of us are taking part in LEAD academy seminars for small town churches in our diocese. This course is to help us to plan for where we see our church heading in the future, focussing on growth. One thing we flagged up was prayer in the church and we are looking for ways to encourage people in their prayer lives.

Do you struggle to pray, whether alone or in a group? Maybe you are busy and forget to pray until you are just falling asleep. You could join one of the established prayer groups, maybe the one before the Sunday service or the monthly prayer breakfast. You don’t need to say anything just be there. If you feel you do want to speak you could bring a prewritten prayer, one from the church magazine or maybe part of a psalm or hymn, to start with. There is never any pressure on anyone to speak out loud.

Perhaps the solution is a prayer partner. This could be a friend or another church member. A prayer partner is someone you can get together with, regularly, to spend some time in prayer. It should be somebody you can be comfortable with and who you know to be reliable and trustworthy.        

Praying together builds on that trust and gives you support in difficult times. It will also build your confidence in praying aloud with other people. Having a prayer partner means there is always someone to pray for you. It keeps your prayers from becoming too self-focussed and helps with discernment. You will find you build a deeper and stronger relationship with God as you pray together.

If you are nervous start small, say the Lord’s prayer together. Build up as your confidence grows. Who knows where this will lead you.

I suggest you pray about it and see where God guides you. He may surprise you, He often does.

                                                     Estella