Praying For Your Team The Way Jesus Prayed For His Team

Praying for those the Lord has entrusted to us is often neglected by Christian leaders.  Christian leaders often assume the protection and growth of their teams, followers and even their families.  So how does a Christian leader pray for his team members?  In John 17, Jesus prays for his team, the twelve disciples, in four different ways.  Jesus prayed for their:

1. Protection - John 17:11 & 15  "Protect them from the evil one."
2. Sanctification - John 17:17  "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth."
3. Presence and Glory - John 17:24  "I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory."
4. Unity - John 17:21 "That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in Me and I am in You.  May they also be in us."

It is interesting to note that as Jesus prayed for His follower's protection, He stated that none of them had been lost except for the son of perdition doomed to destruction.  Jesus prayed for His followers and did not assume their protection.  I have watched many followers of Christ fall away in churches.  In one church, the leaders of the church often profiled young believers during the worship services to hear their story and motivate the body to grow in an area of faith in their lives.  Sometime within the next three months I no longer saw many of them at church.  Having given their testimonies they became targets of the enemy's attack.  So when I pray for those whom the Lord has entrusted to me I pray the following four ways as Jesus prayed for His followers:

1. I pray for the protection of those the Lord has entrusted to me through the themes of Psalm 91.  As I pray through the themes of Psalm 91, I pray that:

• They will rest in the shadow of Shaddai as they dwell in the shelter of the Most High,
• God will cover them with His feathers and wings,
• God's faithfulness will be a shield and outer wall of protection for them,
• God will send His angels to protect them and their families,
• God will lift them up to a high place out of the reach of the enemy because they acknowledged His name, Yahweh. 

2. I pray for the sanctification of my team through the themes of Psalm 19:7-11 & Hebrews 12:7-11.  As I pray through the themes of Psalm 19, I pray that as my team reads God's word they will:

• Make them wise,
• Revive their souls,
• Give joy to their hearts,
• Give light to their eyes,

As those the Lord has entrusted to me endure the hardships of life, I pray through the themes of Hebrews 12 that they will share in God's holiness and that a harvest of righteousness and peace will be yielded in their lives. 

3. I pray that those the Lord has entrusted to me will experience God's presence and glory, by praying the prayers of Paul in Ephesians 1:15-19 & Ephesians 3:14-18.  As I pray Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1, I pray that they will be given the Spirit of wisdom (knowing who God is) and revelation (encounters with God) in order that they may know God in a deeper experiential way.  As I pray Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3, I pray that the Spirit will strengthen them with power in their inner person so that they will know the presence  and love of God in an experiential way. 

4. I pray for the unity of my team, by praying through the themes of unity Jesus prayed in John 17.  It is interesting to note that as Jesus prays for protection for His disciples His stated purpose is unity.  Then again as He prays that His followers experience His presence and glory He is again praying for unity.  In His prayer, Jesus states that He gave His followers the glory the Father gave Him that they might be one.  So when I have prayed that my team experience the presence and the glory of Jesus I am praying for their unity.  Finally, Jesus prays for oneness of His team as He prays that they will abide in Him and in the Father.  So as I pray for the protection of those the Lord has entrusted to me, I am praying for oneness.  As I pray for Jesus' presence and glory I am praying for oneness.  As I pray that the teams the Lord has given me abide in Christ and the Father I am praying for oneness.

What would happen, if Christian leaders prayed for their followers regularly?  Fewer followers may fall away from the faith.  More followers will see transformation in their lives. More followers will experience the presence of Jesus.  Fewer churches and teams will experience divisiveness.  

Prayer Walks

What is a Prayer Walk?

Prayer walking is a movement of the Spirit throughout the United States where believers are asking for God’s blessing on their neighborhoods.  A Prayer Walk is a spiritual discipline of prayer whereby men and women are so moved with compassion for the lost and filled with faith that they break away from the routine of life and prayerfully walk through their neighborhoods.  In so doing, the Spirit of God begins to usher the reality of the presence and power of Jesus in their neighborhoods.  The Kingdom of God will be near!  

A Prayer Walk is:

1.  Calling on the goodness of God to show His favor on your neighborhood by blessing the households you pass and asking for God’s peace within those homes as you walk, (Luke 4:16-19; 10:5,6)

2. Claiming your neighborhood for Jesus Christ by affirming God’s sovereign call in your life and affirming that He is placing households in your hand, (John 3:27,28,34,35; 17:2-4,18)

3.  Spiritual warfare whereby we declare the truth and serve notice to the powers of darkness that Jesus is building His church and their gates cannot prevail against it, (Matt 11:12; 16:18,19: 2 Cor 10:4,5) and

4.  Asking God to make the presence of the Lord Jesus real to every household within your neighborhood by the Spirit. (Luke 10:21,22; John 15:26,27; 1 Cor 2:9,10)

How does a Prayer Walk work?

A Prayer Walk begins when a believer realizes that God wishes to show His favor to his neighborhood and senses God’s call to pray for the households of his neighborhood.  The believer sets aside at least one hour weekly to walk the streets of his neighborhood.  A Prayer Walk is a Spirit led time of prayer, where the believer is worshipping God and listening for His voice.  He listens for the needs God wishes to touch within his neighborhood.  He listens for promises from God’s word to claim on their behalf.  

As he walks, he first prays for God’s blessing and peace to fall on the households within his neighborhood.  Second, he affirms God’s call in his life and the lost souls God is giving to him.  Third he serves notice to the powers of darkness by the authority of the exalted Jesus and by faith declares what Jesus is doing in his neighborhood.  Finally, he asks the Father for the ministry of the Spirit to reveal the presence of Jesus in each household within his neighborhood.

It is important that the prayer walker secure the commitment from his Biblical community and gifted intercessors to pray daily for the Spirit’s leading and protection for him and his family from the spiritual attacks of the enemy.

Discovering The Importance of Geographical Prayer Through Prayer Walking

Years ago, as a Pastor of Small Groups, I began discovering the importance of geographical prayer through prayer walks.  My church was a large rapidly growing church.  I was watching our small groups branch out to neighboring cities.  One such group was a Young Couples Group meeting in the city of Fontana, California.  I was very impressed with the leaders and the young couples in the group.  There was an excitement about Jesus as they met together.  They were full of love for each other.  Then one day the leader said he wanted to meet with me.  He had an affair and his wife left him.  Within weeks his group completely fell a part and not one couple reentered a new group our church.  

A year later, a mature, strong Christian leader approached me wanting to mobilize members and regular attenders in our church who lived in Fontana into small groups.  He did his own research and determined that there were enough people to have seven functioning small groups.  I gave him permission to fulfill the vision the Spirit had placed in his heart.  Two weeks later I contacted him to see how he was doing.  I discovered that his work load had increased at his place of employment, causing him to work more hours through the work week.  His wife had become very ill.  Between these two occurrences he had no time to invest in the members and regular attenders of our church in his city to establish new small groups.  

That same year I felt led to launch a new small group in Ontario, a city south of us.  I contacted all of the members and regular attenders of our church that lived in Ontario.  Six couples responded.  I led the small group meeting every other week for three months.  In that time, I identified a strong Christian couple who had the willingness and giftedness to lead the group.  I empowered these new leaders to lead the group and this new community of believers was doing well.  Two months later I learned that the new leaders relocated out of state for an employment opportunity.  None of the men within the group stepped up to lead the group.  A dear woman who was a mature believer, but had no leadership gifts took over the leadership.  Within six month the group imploded. 

This was all very discouraging.  There was two neighboring cities with three small group failures.  What was going on?  I realized that all of our 40+ small groups were located in two cities.  Rancho Cucamonga, California the city where our church was located and Upland, the city immediately west.  As it turns out I discovered that Fontana had a history of spiritual failures for many churches.  Ontario did not have a history like Fontana, but none the less, we had a misfire as I tried to launch a church within it borders.

One year later a different couple joined our church who lived in Ontario, the city south of us.  I trained and empowered them to launch a new small group in their neighborhood.  Four months later I sensed the leader was discouraged.  I asked him if we could do a prayer walk in his neighborhood.  In the first morning we prayed, the leader and my friend began tearing up and couldn't pray because he was so discouraged.  I prayed for him through the hour of prayer.  He shared that his wife was not embracing their new ministry opportunity.  None of the group members were willing to assume any responsibility for the group life.  In the second week of prayer walking, my friend began to engage in the one hour prayer time as we walked the streets of his neighborhood together.  We met to prayer walk every other week on the week of his group meetings.  After six weeks of prayer, the leader was ecstatic, there was new life in his group.  His wife had a change of heart and was very enthusiastic about the group!  All the couples in the group were volunteering to share in the responsibilities of the group.  Something had changed in the spiritual atmosphere over that neighborhood.

What was the difference?  We persistently prayed, walking through the leader's neighborhood six times and there was a breakthrough.  I concluded that there often needs to be a spiritual work of prayer before there will be spiritual breakthrough in the geographical area where someone is birthing a new church, group or ministry.