A Plan of Attack
How to Pick a Prayer Team
Once you have a prayer leader in place, it is best
to pick a team to come alongside him or her. Some churches
simply leave the selection up to "whoever volunteers." This
can work, but it is best to be proactive in considering
and asking people to join.Like selecting a prayer leader, some churches simply look for the five people who have the strongest hearts for prayer. But a better way would be to either look for the persons with specific needed skills, or go after a cross section of the church. One of the best teams I know of is at Mission Hills Church, a Baptist church in Denver, Colorado. This church has its ministries focused in nine divisions: worship, missions/evangelism, elders, children, youth, women, men, young adults, pastoral/shepherding. Their prayer team is made up of nine individuals--one representative from each ministry area. Since Mission Hills wants prayer to permeate every area of church ministry, its prayer team can effectively coordinate efforts across ministries.
Here are two other possible ways a team can be selected and developed:
- Gifting Mixes. Make sure you have a cross section of the following character types on your team: a visionary, a problem solver, a people person, and an administrator.
- Job Titles. Pick people who can lead specific prayer areas, to be in charge of ministries such as: corporate prayer meetings, pastor's prayer team, prayer chain, discipleship/training, prayer room, and so on. This grouping is more practical if you select a team based on people's hearts for prayer.
