I believe small groups are critical to the health of a church. Not only are they the place where we learn, grow, and fellowship, but they also ought to be a place of intentional prayer. Much of our praying, though, is focused only on ourselves. We must also pray outwardly.
Help Your Small Group to Pray Outwardly
In contrast, here are some simple ways to lead your small group to pray outwardly:
- Prayer progressive dinners. Plan a progressive dinner (where the group goes from house to house and eats courses of a meal together), but change the focus of the evening. After eating at each home, pray specifically for that family and for the neighbors they are trying to reach. You can cover several neighborhoods in prayer this way.
- “Focus on the Family” praying. Each week, pray the entire week for one particular family in your small group – and for one family the group is trying to reach. That is, pray for a family that attends and one that does not. Who knows what God might do as you pray for many families over the course of a year?
- Prayer outreach surveys. Do a simple survey in your neighborhood or even at your workplace, asking this single question: “Our church small group is praying for our friends and neighbors. Do you have any prayer requests we might include when we pray?” Record the information, pray, and then follow up later. You might build a relationship that leads to someone coming to know the Lord.
