I’ve asked Don Ross – Advanced Coaching Alum, Renegade Pastor and Lead Pastor of Creekside Church in the Seattle, Washington Area – to share with you today about a powerful way to mobilize the power of prayer in your ministry:

I first become aware of the concept of a personal prayer team while listening to C. Peter Wagner teach on prayer and he used John Maxwell as an example. He told how John traveled extensively and his prayer team always knew his schedule and prayed for his physical, spiritual, moral and emotional safety. I never forgot the idea, but didn’t put it into practice until years later.

As our church began to turnaround and grow, recovering from an 80% decline, I felt the pressure of resistance from the enemy. I often felt depressed, sometimes angry and hopeless, even though we were growing again.

I hit a breaking point when we grew past the 500 mark, and one day I became extremely angry for little or no reason. I knew I needed help.

Now I know what you’re thinking. There are many reasons for depression, anger and feeling hopeless, and you’re right. But I also knew that I didn’t have the prayer backing I needed, so I began to pray about prayer. That is where I started.

I formed a group of about 8-10 people I trusted and we met weekly for prayer at 6:00 am. At first I was reluctant to ask them to make me the prayer focus. It seemed very selfish, but as I looked back over the last two years, God had done some amazing things.

I knew as a church we were attracting attention spiritually from the enemy and as the pastor, I was a prime target.

It has now been about six months since forming this prayer team. I share with them hopes, dreams, frustrations, ministry plans and discouragements. They share the load… and the victories.

About a year ago I connected our churches larger prayer ministry to my coaching network.  This year I’m coaching 31 churches and each church has two prayer partners from our church praying for them. The results have been incredible!

We have had pastors take a weekend off and come see how we do church, but their main focus was to meet these people who are praying for them, and share results first-hand.

We now have a plan of enlarging our church prayer team of over 200 members who will pray 10 minutes a day in a focused effort. This will give us nearly 20,000 hours of prayer this year! As the times grow darker for the gospel, each carrier of the light must become brighter.

I am convinced that the more we pray, the less we understand how prayer works, but the more we understand that prayer works.

Since forming my personal prayer team, I have been able to focus more, cast vision and solve problems more easily and there is a sense that we really are overcoming. Now each of my staff have a personal prayer team as well. We all need the “cover fire” of other’s prayer.

Pastor, you can’t do this alone. Consider forming a personal prayer team.

It will not solve immediate issues, but the long-term systemic value is awesome. I’m praying you’ll act on this.

For information on the Turn-Around Church Coaching Network, see www.turnaroundchurch.org

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.