Some churches have church covenants and others don't. Some require signatures and still, others don't. Some ask prospects to attend a class, regardless of how long they've been saved, and others just invite them to come down front.
Regardless of how your church operates, one thing that we can strongly agree on is the need for you to pray. Here are seven prayer needs everyone can pray to lift their church up before the Lord.
1. The Pastoral Leadership
The Senior Pastor/Pastoral Staff have some of the most difficult and yet very rewarding positions given to man. It has been said many times, the Pastor has a target on him the moment he is ordained. If the enemy can bring down a pastor, he can bring down the church. Praying for your pastor and other pastoral staff members is something we should do, even when we don't agree with something they have done. That's right! Even if the Pastor has moved forward with a series on marriage, something you've heard for 40 years, and you're not even married, you still have an obligation......a responsibility.....no....the honor! You still have the honor to take your leaders before God and pray his guidance, blessings and direction for them. In fact, not doing so, can leave your leaders open to attacks and praying for them will also help you see them the way God does, despite your pastor's announcement of a three month series that you'd rather not hear.
2. The Lay Leadership
Elders (referring to non-pastors), Deacons, committees that set the agenda (i.e. finance, personnel, nominating, etc) are desperately in need of prayer. These individuals are called to help support the church. These fine individuals need your prayer, because just like the pastor and staff, they are tasked with some amazingly difficult responsibilities. Responsibilities that can never be correctly carried out without God's blessings and direction. You might think that "if they are that responsible, let them pray for themselves," but, your prayers for them are extremely necessary. Pray for them before meetings, during meetings, and after meetings. Petition God's protection around them, because not all right decisions are easy. Ask God to guide them, removing fleshly responses and replacing them with spiritual ones. It isn't us vs. them, we are all in this together. We need to pray like it.
3. The Spiritual Condition
We know that the church isn't made up of the four walls surrounding our sanctuaries. After all, if that is all the church consisted of, praying for the spiritual condition of it wouldn't make very much sense, now would it? Since we understand that the church is made up of every believer, it is susceptible to spiritual warfare and attacks, including dryness and apathy. We should be dillgent in our prayers asking our Holy Father to protect, strengthen, and grow the intimacy that our brothers and sisters have with Christ. When marriages are falling apart, our duty is to pray. When our brethren attends services out of pride, we must pray. When a dryness has overtaken the Body of Christ, we must pray. It didn't catch God by surprise, could it be He is simply waiting on us to.......pray?
4. The Growth of the Kingdom
It only makes sense that we want to pray for Kingdom growth. But how does that impact our prayers for the church? Well, consider for a moment the purpose of the church. Jesus told us to go and make disciples. When a lost person trades their sin for salvation, another number is added to the Kingdom. It isn't enough to pray for Kingdom Growth, it's our duty to pray about the role we play in it. What can our church do to increase the Kingdom? What should we be doing that we aren't and what should we stop doing, that we have continued simply for the sake of tradition? These tough questions must be answered, by God (after all, it's His Kingdom and we are His church) to determine the appropriate steps. Praying for such direction can bring about answers we never thought of.
5. The Growth of the Local Body
"Number's aren't important." Early in my ministry as a Lead Pastor, I was guilty of saying this. Many times I would make the comment that, "it doesn't matter how many people are here, as long as people are here." On the surface, this comment sounds good. It sounds holy and righteous. Focused on the people in the pews and not worrying about those who stayed home. But unpack this statement and you can see a detrimental mistake. All of those "numbers" represent souls. Mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. Each number is a real person. Each number has a real destination. To count out the importance of reaching our communities is to count out the thousands of souls that hunger and thirst for the bread of life and the living water. Our prayers to see more people enter the hallowed halls of our sanctuary/small groups/Sunday school is important. To not focus on the outside, only leaves us focused on the inside and an inwardly focused church will surely shrivel and die.
6. Acts 1:8 Focus
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 churches are not inwardly focused. They can't be! It plainly contradicts the scripture above. Praying to become an Acts 1:8 church is simply asking God to break your heart for missions and the lost world around us. It starts in our backyards (Jerusalem), but permeates into our state (Judea), continent (Samaria) and all around the world. Along the same lines as #5, our prayers must be for action! What are we supposed to be doing to reach all areas of Acts 1:8 for the King? Praying for direction and seeing it through helps us become outwardly focused.
7. Yourself
I know, I know! I just got finished talking about being outwardly focused and now I am asking you to pray for yourself! Such confusion!!! But I'm not actually suggesting you petition God for all your needs. Not at this time, anyway. Remember, you're praying for your church. But then how can you pray for your church and yourself? Allow your prayers to focus on what God needs to change about you, to bring about His glory in His church. This is probably the most difficult thing to pray for many. It might even be more appropriate to be placed at the top of this list, but either way, praying that God will change our hearts, heal our anger, deal with our sin will result in a healthier church. Just think about it, all of these prayers must be initiated by a heart that is willing to serve the King. Too often our churches are interested in serving the false god of tradition and pride. Revival starts in the heart of the believer and change begins with earnest prayer.
These aren't the only prayers you can pray for your church, but in my experience, many Christians don't know what to pray. My hope is that this will get you started and help get your church on the right path, if it isn't already.
