Prayer Room
Transcript of Prayer Room
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Devote yourselves to prayer,
being watchful and thankful.
Colossians 4:2, NIV
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Most Christians agree that prayer is fundamental to the
health and growth of a church. Yet, sadly, many churches
dont have a place set aside in their facility specifically
dedicated to prayer.
This presentation is designed to give some ideas fordeveloping and establishing a prayer room in your church.
For illustrative purposes, we draw from the prayer room
and prayer ministries at Central Assembly of God in
Springfield, Missouri. Obviously, every church is unique.Size of facility and congregation, ministries of the church,
and makeup of the church body all enter into the equation of
creating such a room. Yet, it is our hope that this example
will provide you with ideas and encouragement as you build
the prayer ministry in your own church.
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This presentation is directed at the leader of prayer
ministries in your church. As such, it is important that you
seek God for a unique and clear vision of what this prayer
room can and ought to become within your congregation.
However, for general reference, we want to share Central
Assemblys stated purpose for their prayer room:
The purpose of The Prayer Room @ Central is ultimately to
carry out Centrals vision and to create a culture of prayer.
More than a room, The Prayer Room is a place where people
can learn about prayer, experience Gods presence, and pray
together; a place of strategic signi f icance, where you can pray
for the world, our country, and our ci ty; a place of connection
where you can pray for our staff , our church, and other
people; a place of deep, sincere connection with God.
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A prominent sign directing people to the prayer room can
accomplish at least two goals: First, it reminds churchgoers that
prayer is a central part of how they worship God, grow as
believers, and reach the community. Giving visibility to the prayer
room helps to highlight the importance your church places on
prayer.
Second, such visibility reminds churchgoers that theres a room
devoted to prayer waiting just for them. Their prayers are needed.
After all, the best of intentions often gets lost in the busy-ness of
life. A reminder to pray is a good thing.
At Central Assembly, the prayer sign is clearly visible at the main
entrance. There are many ways you might accomplish this: a
signpost, a framed sign, a painted arrow worked into the dcor of
the wall. See what works best for your church.
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Try to provide clear, visible signage for the prayer
room. Its important that people in the congregation are
able to find it easily. This is especially true in larger
facilities, or when the prayer room also functions as aclassroom or serves another purpose during Sunday or
Midweek activities.
A special note on this subject: If possible, it is good tolocate the room on the main floor of the church. Some
people will have difficulty accessing the prayer room if
they have to climb stairs.
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While it is desirable that the church have a room
exclusively devoted to prayer, this is not always
practical, or even possible. As a result, the prayer room
often doubles as a class room, nursery, or even storage
room.
In the case of Central Assembly, as the photo depicts,
the room is used every week for a Sunday School class.
In such cases, it is still possible to give the room a clear,powerful prayer focus. The following pictures will
demonstrate how even a shared room can be uniquely
focused on prayer ministry.
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Before moving on, its also important to note that the
prayer room need not be particularly large, or evenhighly decorated. A small, simple room devoted to
prayer ministry will bring about the kind of spiritual
fruit in a church that only eternity will fully reveal.
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A great way to decorate the prayer room is by
highlighting specific prayer needs and emphases withinthe church. The Central Assembly prayer room has a
bulletin board featuring every member of the pastoral
staff and their families. We do well to remember our
church leadership in our prayers regularly.
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Similarly, the board members and their families are
highlighted for prayer in the prayer room. You might
want to expand on this in your prayer room by listingor picturing youth leaders, childrens ministry leaders,
Sunday School teachers, or other leaders in your
church. Again, we encourage you to tailor your room to
fit the unique ministries and personality of yourcongregation.
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A computer monitor highlights specific needs in thearea of missions around the world. AG World Missions
provides valuable software and equipment to makes
this possible. More information is contained below.
The World Missions Touchscreen software enablesprayer partners to have the world at their fingertips. A
computer touchscreen allows us to meet our missionar ies
through videos, biographies and prayer requests, which
are regularly updated, and learn what God is doing in themore that 200 countr ies and terr i tories where our
missionar ies live and work. Visit
worldtouchscreen.ag.org to learn more.
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A bulletin board is available that allows members of thecongregation to present their own prayer needs, as well
as praise reports for answered prayer.
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A map of the world serves as a reminder to pray for
needs around the planet. You might enhance this
feature by highlighting specific world missionaries and
ministries supported by your church. Some prayer
rooms will post pictures of the missionaries around the
map, then draw lines or string thread to their specific
locations. This can help put a face to the support your
church gives to ministries throughout the world.
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In a similar way, a map of our nation is featured. As
with the world map, you might highlight ministries and
missionaries your church supports around the country.
In addition, you could invite members of the
congregation to share needs regarding cities or regions
of the country they call home. This is especially
valuable if you have a large college population in your
church. And, in our increasingly mobile society, more
and more of us have relocated to our current homes
from far-off corners of the country.
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The city map allows you to highlight specific ministries
and outreaches engaged in by your congregation
throughout the community. You might also feature a
specific school, neighborhood, or pertinent need from
the community on a regular basis. This serves the dual
purpose of encouraging prayer for your city and
helping to develop a heart and passion for the
community among your congregation.
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Note that if your prayer room also serves as a classroom,
you can still arrange it specifically for prayer during muchof the week. If it must be used as a classroom, seek to ensure
that it is open for prayer during the morning service. One of
the most powerful displays of prayer ministry occurs when
prayer partners seek God on behalf of the pastor and
congregation during that hour.
Also consider configuring the room in a way that promotes
intimate prayer whenever possible. In the picture just
viewed, the room is set up for Sunday School. However, the
chairs can be placed in a circle or even lined up as an altar
in front during most of the week. In the same way, installing
lighting that can be dimmed can be more cost effective than
one might imagine, especially if there is someone in the
church qualified to install it on a volunteer basis.
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We again encourage you to tailor your prayer roomaccording to your unique congregation, facility, and
budget. The fundamental goal is to provide a dedicated
place for prayer in your church. Only eternity will
reveal the fruits of committed prayer within yourchurch, be they focused on your congregation, your
community, and throughout our world.
Be sure to check out our Web
site for additional resources
on establishing a prayer room
and equipping a prayer
ministry, at
www.prayer.ag.org