Prayer group ideas???

LauraNicole · 07-14-2005, 11:06 PM

Hey. I'm trying to start up a prayer group with my youth group. We had it before, sunday nights at 8 ish, but it turned into a social hour.
So do any of you guys have ideas for me? How to start it, how to keep it serious when praying, but yet make it fun... stuff like that. I'm planning on having it at my house the first time, then kind of move around from house to house.
starting out, it'll be me and 4 other people. Then we'll start bringing other youth group kids into it. Not that we're being elitist or anything, it's just that it's stemming from a mission trip experience, and i want us to bond over that, so it's harder for prayer group to fall apart.
and should i call it Prayer Group? or should i say something else?? to just let the others know it's different from before? you know.... well, thanks for any help you can give.

Melissa · 07-15-2005, 08:24 AM

hey - well you could maybe start with something real.....how can i say ... "deep". Like a simple suggestion is to start off the evening with a short message and discussing how Jesus suffered for our sins. Then give each person 3 nails. they should put one in each hand and another between their feet. They should stand with their feet together trying to keep the nail upright and their arms stretched out clutching the nails as hard as they can.while you do this you pray together. I did it with my youth group and I thought it will NEVER work because they always joke around. But for the first time it was like they were really connecting with God. I don't know how long your sessions are, but we get together for an hour - so we basically stood like that praying for 45min. It gave us an idea of how Jesus must have felt when he hung upon the cross....your arms and legs get REALLY tired and a couple of us had cramps in our feet. But knowing what He went through(FOR US) - made us stick it out....

Bro.Josh · 01-01-2006, 03:15 PM

Tell people your starting serious prayer group.And you want people to join but they have to be commited and serious.Just ask the Lord to put his hand in this prayer group and everything else will fall into place.

Damaris · 01-02-2006, 06:53 AM

I second what Josh said....let people know you need to be serious and committed.

If I were you I'd call it something like "prayer hour" because really that's what you're doing. In order to keep it from being a social hour, my suggestion is to not "share prayer requests". A lot of times when people start sharing requests, things get social. So my suggestion is that as soon as there are two people at the meeting, start praying together. When the next person shows up, they simply walk in and join in the prayer. That way there's no "hey, good to see you! What have you been up to? THese are all the things goin gon in my life..." because you can do that stuff afterwards. THe great thing about doing the socializing afterwards is after 1 hour + of prayer together, you mind will naturally be on the Lord and so your conversations will be more CHrist-oriented.

07-14-2005, 11:06 PM	#1
LauraNicole LauraNicole is knitting, or studying XHTML and CSS. Wheee! Edit Prophet/Prophetess	Prayer group ideas??? Hey. I'm trying to start up a prayer group with my youth group. We had it before, sunday nights at 8 ish, but it turned into a social hour. So do any of you guys have ideas for me? How to start it, how to keep it serious when praying, but yet make it fun... stuff like that. I'm planning on having it at my house the first time, then kind of move around from house to house. starting out, it'll be me and 4 other people. Then we'll start bringing other youth group kids into it. Not that we're being elitist or anything, it's just that it's stemming from a mission trip experience, and i want us to bond over that, so it's harder for prayer group to fall apart. and should i call it Prayer Group? or should i say something else?? to just let the others know it's different from before? you know.... well, thanks for any help you can give. __________________ Grammar Freak in support of enforcement of Section 2.06! -LN
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07-15-2005, 08:24 AM	#2
Melissa Melissa Edit Evangelist/Missionary	hey - well you could maybe start with something real.....how can i say ... "deep". Like a simple suggestion is to start off the evening with a short message and discussing how Jesus suffered for our sins. Then give each person 3 nails. they should put one in each hand and another between their feet. They should stand with their feet together trying to keep the nail upright and their arms stretched out clutching the nails as hard as they can.while you do this you pray together. I did it with my youth group and I thought it will NEVER work because they always joke around. But for the first time it was like they were really connecting with God. I don't know how long your sessions are, but we get together for an hour - so we basically stood like that praying for 45min. It gave us an idea of how Jesus must have felt when he hung upon the cross....your arms and legs get REALLY tired and a couple of us had cramps in our feet. But knowing what He went through(FOR US) - made us stick it out.... __________________ For once don't tell God how big your storms are, tell your storms how big your God is! Love yall! mwah
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01-01-2006, 03:15 PM	#3
Bro.Josh Bro.Josh Edit AY! Newbie	Tell people your starting serious prayer group.And you want people to join but they have to be commited and serious.Just ask the Lord to put his hand in this prayer group and everything else will fall into place.
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01-02-2006, 06:53 AM	#4
Damaris Damaris Edit servant	I second what Josh said....let people know you need to be serious and committed. If I were you I'd call it something like "prayer hour" because really that's what you're doing. In order to keep it from being a social hour, my suggestion is to not "share prayer requests". A lot of times when people start sharing requests, things get social. So my suggestion is that as soon as there are two people at the meeting, start praying together. When the next person shows up, they simply walk in and join in the prayer. That way there's no "hey, good to see you! What have you been up to? THese are all the things goin gon in my life..." because you can do that stuff afterwards. THe great thing about doing the socializing afterwards is after 1 hour + of prayer together, you mind will naturally be on the Lord and so your conversations will be more CHrist-oriented. __________________ Let my heart be fixed on Thee My Lord, my life, my love Linger near and gently lead To rapturous joys above.
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