Ministry Focus: Prayer
By Elizabeth Barnard
Prayer ministry is fundamental to our aim of making disciples and witnessing to others. Typically the prayer ministry group on one of our mission trips will be four people from the missions team and one person from the church. The person from the church helps to guide the team where they think the need for prayer is.
Prayer matters! That’s why we have made “Pray Belize” our theme for 2016. We have seen prayer change many lives in Belize and we have seen God answer in big ways. The act of prayer sensitizes our hearts to God and helps us engage fully in ministry as we see Him work.
How to: Running a Prayer Ministry
Prayer ministry needs willing hearts and open minds and often a Bible (recommended but not required). To prepare to do prayer ministry on a Thirst Missions trip, the best thing to do is actually pray! Pray with your group, pray for your team, pray for the people you haven’t met yet. Be intentional.
Prayer ministry looks different for each group. Sometimes it is a first time for people going into someone else’s home with the sole intention of praying for them and their family. Can this be a nervous time for those new to ministry? Yes. But God is always with us to work through each team when they are listening to Him and His leading, and the nervousness is overcome resulting in a beautiful experience. Praying only gets more natural as you continue to pray for others. Keep it up and it will become second nature.
Seasoned groups often visibly see the power of prayer. Some have seen and felt healing, while others have been encouraged or equipped to do what they are needed to do. The boldness that people have when they are praying is evident in the lives and the homes that we enter.
It’s OK to Start Slow
For one group this was not their normal ministry option and they wanted to stretch what they normally do. The group began by just walking around the community the first day. They prayed for the things they saw as they walked by. If they saw dogs, houses, trees, or vehicles they thanked God for that.
The second day during their prayer ministry time they walked around again praying for these things, but they added praying for the people sitting outside. The team didn’t go up to meet the people sitting outside but they did pray for them and any needs they noticed.
The third day they went around again and began to talk to those outside while still praying for the other things.
By the fourth day they had built up the courage to knock on the doors of the homes of people they had not met. Each time the team knocked they were invited inside and had intentional prayer with those people. It was a wonderful sight to see them grow and to see how God worked.
As they prayed daily the Belizean people became open to what they were doing and began to ask for prayer. The team was encouraged, armed with the knowledge that they can pray in ways at home that they would not typically. People in the village were encouraged because they saw the group truly cared about them and their needs.
If you would like to do prayer ministry in Belize with people from your church, click here to email us. We’re always happy to talk missions!
