{"id":1960,"date":"2013-11-19T07:02:30","date_gmt":"2013-11-19T13:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomrainer.wpengine.com?p=1960"},"modified":"2013-11-19T07:02:30","modified_gmt":"2013-11-19T13:02:30","slug":"10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Days of Simple and Strategic Prayer for Your Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chuck Lawless<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I encourage you\u2014even if you struggle with prayer\u2014to keep reading this blogpost. I want to help you pray for your church during the next ten days.<\/p>\n

Think for a minute about praying people in the Bible. Abraham prayed for a city (Gen. 18:20-33). Moses prayed for God\u2019s people (Exod. 32:11-13). Joshua prayed for guidance (Josh. 7:1-26). Hannah prayed for a child (1 Sam. 1:1-20). Solomon prayed for wisdom (1 Kgs. 3:1-15). The prophets of God prayed, too (e.g., 1 Kgs. 18:36-39; Jer. 20:7-18).<\/p>\n

The early church prayed fervently (Acts 1:14, 3:1, 4:31, 6:4, 10:9, 12:5, 13:3, 14:23, 16:25, 20:36, 28:8). The apostle Paul prayed for believers (e.g., Rom. 1:8, 1 Cor. 1:4). Jesus, of course, modeled a life of prayer (e.g., Matt. 26:36-46; Mark 1:35; Luke 4:42; John 17).<\/p>\n

The point is basic: prayer matters, and God\u2019s people must be a praying people.<\/p>\n

Too often, though, we don\u2019t pray until we have to \u2013 that is, until we face a situation we can\u2019t handle on our own.<\/p>\n

We come by this pattern honestly, as we have been taught to be \u201cfixers.\u201d Though unstated, our practical prayer philosophy is obvious: try hard, give it our best, and turn to God as a last resort rather than a first and only hope.<\/p>\n

Simply stated, we evangelicals are often more \u201cfixers\u201d than pray-ers. And why not? We have it all\u2014education, buildings, leaders, dollars, members, structures, programs, literature, experience, youth, training \u2026 except the obvious power of God on our work.<\/p>\n

Where do we start, then, in correcting our prayer patterns? Too often, our strategy is to move from \u201cprayer struggler\u201d to \u201cprayer warrior\u201d quickly. We decide to get up every morning an hour earlier, use that hour for prayer, and then start the day. That\u2019s a great plan as long as it lasts, but seldom does it last long. By the end of week one, discouragement has set in because we\u2019ve failed . . . again.<\/p>\n

Rather than take this approach, I encourage you to start simply and strategically. Find time each of the next ten days to pray these ways for your church. In fact, read this blogpost, and then send it to five of your church members to join you in this simple strategy:<\/p>\n

Day 1 \u2013 Pray for your church staff and leaders<\/strong>. If you are the only staff member, pray for yourself and the other spiritual leaders (e.g., deacons, elders). Pray that all will be holy, passionate, and evangelistic.<\/p>\n

Day 2 \u2013 Pray for your church\u2019s small group leaders<\/strong>. Ask God to give them a caring heart, a teaching ability, and a prayerful spirit. Pray they will willingly reproduce themselves and multiply their groups.<\/p>\n

Day 3 \u2013 Pray for the children in your church<\/strong>. Pray your church will give them such grounding in the gospel they will always think about Christian faithfulness when confronted with the world\u2019s options. Ask God to raise up a next generation of missionaries from your children.<\/p>\n

Day 4 \u2013 Pray for the students in your church<\/strong>. In particular, pray for those whose parents do not attend. Then, pray the students will be vibrant witnesses in their schools. Ask the Lord to give them strength in temptation.<\/p>\n

Day 5 \u2013 Pray for the couples in your church<\/strong>. Lift them up by name, and pray for their marriages. Pray that each husband will love his wife as Christ loves the church (Eph. 5:25). Intercede especially for those couples you know are struggling.<\/p>\n

Day 6 \u2013 Pray Ephesians 6:18-20 and Colossians 4:2-4 for ten leaders in your church<\/strong>. Ask God to give them boldness in sharing, clarity in message, and others ready to hear. A few members with a thirst for evangelism can spark an awakening.<\/p>\n

Day 7 \u2013 Pray for new believers in your church<\/strong>. Ask the Lord to raise up disciplers for them. If your church does not have any new members, ask God to give your congregation a renewed heart for evangelism.<\/p>\n

Day 8 \u2013 Pray for your church to be a Great Commission-minded church<\/strong>. Prayerfully consider committing to pray for an unreached people group around the world. If your congregation is already going to the nations, pray for more members to go.<\/p>\n

Day 9 \u2013 Pray for more laborers in your church<\/strong> (Matt. 9:35-38). Jesus told us to pray that way, so be obedient to His command. You may find you seldom struggle in finding workers when you pray this way.<\/p>\n

Day 10 \u2013 Pray for your church\u2019s next Sunday service<\/strong>. Ask God to make Himself known in such a powerful way in response to your prayers that your members recognize a difference.<\/p>\n

Let us know if you\u2019re committing to pray this way. We\u2019ll join you in praying.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\"Lifeway_Blog_Ad[1]\"<\/a>Chuck Lawless currently serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Dean of Graduate Studies at Southeastern Seminary.<\/em><\/p>\n

You can connect with Dr. Lawless on both Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Chuck Lawless I encourage you\u2014even if you struggle with prayer\u2014to keep reading this blogpost. I want to help you pray for your church during the next ten days. Think for a minute about praying people in the Bible. Abraham prayed for a city (Gen. 18:20-33). Moses prayed for God\u2019s people (Exod. 32:11-13). Joshua prayed…","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n10 Days of Simple and Strategic Prayer for Your Church | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Days of Simple and Strategic Prayer for Your Church | Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Chuck Lawless I encourage you\u2014even if you struggle with prayer\u2014to keep reading this blogpost. I want to help you pray for your church during the next ten days. Think for a minute about praying people in the Bible. Abraham prayed for a city (Gen. 18:20-33). Moses prayed for God\u2019s people (Exod. 32:11-13). Joshua prayed...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-19T13:02:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/10-Days-of-Simple-and-Strategic-Prayer-for-Your-Church.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chuck Lawless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chuck Lawless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chuck Lawless\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/09e294734245d3978e67deffd6991c7f\"},\"headline\":\"10 Days of Simple and Strategic Prayer for Your Church\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-19T13:02:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/\"},\"wordCount\":798,\"commentCount\":44,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/10-Days-of-Simple-and-Strategic-Prayer-for-Your-Church.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Church Answers\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/\",\"name\":\"10 Days of Simple and Strategic Prayer for Your Church | Church Answers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/10-Days-of-Simple-and-Strategic-Prayer-for-Your-Church.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-19T13:02:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/09e294734245d3978e67deffd6991c7f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/10-Days-of-Simple-and-Strategic-Prayer-for-Your-Church.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/10-Days-of-Simple-and-Strategic-Prayer-for-Your-Church.jpg\",\"width\":628,\"height\":250},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"10 Days of Simple and Strategic Prayer for Your Church\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/\",\"name\":\"Church Answers\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/09e294734245d3978e67deffd6991c7f\",\"name\":\"Chuck Lawless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b99cf3a5686c69c6ee0fa69473f5a659bee7daaa31ff24217be46675fd10a5bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b99cf3a5686c69c6ee0fa69473f5a659bee7daaa31ff24217be46675fd10a5bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Chuck Lawless\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Chuck Lawless is a leading expert in spiritual consultation, discipleship and mentoring. As a former pastor, he understands the challenges ministry presents and works with Church Answers to provide advice and counsel for church leaders.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/author\/clawless\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 Days of Simple and Strategic Prayer for Your Church | Church Answers","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"10 Days of Simple and Strategic Prayer for Your Church | Church Answers","og_description":"By Chuck Lawless I encourage you\u2014even if you struggle with prayer\u2014to keep reading this blogpost. I want to help you pray for your church during the next ten days. Think for a minute about praying people in the Bible. Abraham prayed for a city (Gen. 18:20-33). Moses prayed for God\u2019s people (Exod. 32:11-13). Joshua prayed...","og_url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/","og_site_name":"Church Answers","article_published_time":"2013-11-19T13:02:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":628,"height":250,"url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/10-Days-of-Simple-and-Strategic-Prayer-for-Your-Church.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Chuck Lawless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chuck Lawless","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/"},"author":{"name":"Chuck Lawless","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/09e294734245d3978e67deffd6991c7f"},"headline":"10 Days of Simple and Strategic Prayer for Your Church","datePublished":"2013-11-19T13:02:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/"},"wordCount":798,"commentCount":44,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/10-Days-of-Simple-and-Strategic-Prayer-for-Your-Church.jpg","articleSection":["Church Answers"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/","name":"10 Days of Simple and Strategic Prayer for Your Church | Church Answers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/10-Days-of-Simple-and-Strategic-Prayer-for-Your-Church.jpg","datePublished":"2013-11-19T13:02:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/09e294734245d3978e67deffd6991c7f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/10-Days-of-Simple-and-Strategic-Prayer-for-Your-Church.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/10-Days-of-Simple-and-Strategic-Prayer-for-Your-Church.jpg","width":628,"height":250},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-days-of-simple-and-strategic-prayer-for-your-church\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10 Days of Simple and Strategic Prayer for Your Church"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/","name":"Church Answers","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/09e294734245d3978e67deffd6991c7f","name":"Chuck Lawless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b99cf3a5686c69c6ee0fa69473f5a659bee7daaa31ff24217be46675fd10a5bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b99cf3a5686c69c6ee0fa69473f5a659bee7daaa31ff24217be46675fd10a5bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Chuck Lawless"},"description":"Dr. Chuck Lawless is a leading expert in spiritual consultation, discipleship and mentoring. As a former pastor, he understands the challenges ministry presents and works with Church Answers to provide advice and counsel for church leaders.","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/author\/clawless\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}