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Team Ministry
Practical Guidelines for Corporate Intercession
and Prayer Ministry Teams
This lesson deals with two specific types of teams.. Corporate Intercession Teams and Prayer Ministry Teams... It provides guidelines for both types of teams.
Corporate intercession is praying effectively together as a team. It is coming together before God as a group and waiting on Him to catch His heart and then agreeing together on it.
Big goal is unity in the spirit. If the team is NOT able to be joined together in unity.. if there are unresolved conflicts and/or serious interpersonal issues, then you should not be coming together to a place of warfare and intercession. Instead, you need to look at what is broken in your team, and fix that first. Then, after you get things right amongst yourselves, you can come together to intercede. This is the same principle that we see in Matthew 5:22-24:
- But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
- Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
- Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
If you want to be effective in corporate intercession, those on the intercession team must make sure that they don't have ought against each other and that they are not wrongfully the cause of another team member having "ought" against them.
Okay, with that out of the way, let's look at some practical guidelines for praying effectively together. There are many different excellent corporate intercession models, we are just examining one of them here:
The silence time is a listening time. It is a good way to tune into God and what He wants to do.
It works like this. Someone starts the topic. They introduce it in prayer, careful to keep their opening prayer concise and restricted to a single topic. Everyone prays along the same topic as the Holy Spirit leads. It is OK (in fact it is encouraged) for anyone in the group to pray more than once on a given subject. Team members should feel free to share scripture that goes with the given subject as God quickens it to you. Build on each other's prayers as the spirit leads.
Prayer ministry teams exist to facilitate the move of the Holy Spirit under the direction of pastoral leadership; to release Gods love, healing, empowering and deliverance to those who indicate a desire for prayer; to edify, exhort and comfort. This is similar to what prophecy does. According to 1 Cor 14, prophecy is to edify, exhort and comfort. John Arnott says, "It is to build up, lift up, and to cheer up."
There are different models. You have the Benny Hinn or Rodney Howard Brown who operate on their own. This is great. I will do anything to receive all that God has for me. Katherine Kuhlman in the past.
Everyone gets a good prayer for it is controlled. That is the positive. If 5000 are there you may not get much prayer. So with team praying for you you can get much more attention and time. Both have their place in the body. They are two different models.
What prayer ministry team is not...
Give words of blessings, but if you seem to have a word of direction or correction you need to go to the pastors of the house. You never know the spiritual level of those you are praying for. Pastors may have insight or knowledge of their lives.
When you do give a correcting word (after given permission) you must give it in humility. Don't act like a big shot. Don't be blowing on people because you want to copy another person.
No one hears perfectly from God every time and is mistake free.
Examples:
"Thus sayeth the Lord I have written Michelob over this door." (The word is Ickabod.)"Thus sayeth the Lord I am not in this place. Again, Thus sayeth the Lord I am not in this place." Moments later... "Thus sayeth the Lord I am not in this place and I really mean it this time."
"Yea, yea thus sayeth the Lord I will lead you my people even as I had my servant Abraham lead my people through the Red sea, oops. " (You know you are in trouble when God says OOPS!)
If God gives you a word to share, you don't need to use King James English or to puff it up. Just give it in humility.
Remember that this is not a counseling ministry. This is not the time for that. This is prayer time.
If you are a member of a prayer team, then these things are expected of you:
Servant's test. When someone treats you like a servant you don't care. If you get all huffy, then you need some work. Always accountable to leadership. Follow directions such as arrival time and other practical commitments. Attend all required training sessions, and participate in the pre-prayer with the rest of the team.
Avoid sin
Submit to correction....We all need this!! Anyone who is not
open in this area is out of order. Teachableness is
essential. Character is far more important than gifting.
Look at Paul. In Gal. 1:11-12 he writes "No man taught me" This is his first book. One year later, he calls himself the "least of all the apostles" 1 Cor. 15:9; 5 years later, "least of the saints" Eph. 3:8 and then couple of years after that near his end, "Chief of sinners" 1 Tim. 1:15
This was spiritual progress for Paul. As He grew in God, he also grew in humility. This is the attitude we need.
Be on time and be prepared to stay late.
Be born again.....this is a "no brainer".
Tithing to the local church....shows you are accountable. This is about faith. You are saying. "God, I trust you. You will take care of me." Tithing demonstrates your faith level.
Your Pastors permission and your spouses permission.
Two important marks of an authentic Christian are: Humility and Obedience. We do not naturally want these qualities. But this is what Jesus was. Phili. 2:8 "and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even the death of the cross." And Jam. 4:6 says "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
Other vital Qualities
Two pray-ers and a catcher. Exceptions....too many people, if there are too many people waiting for ministry for the teams of two to handle in a reasonable timeframe, it is acceptable to minister individually if you feel comfortable doing so.
Catchers are an Important aspect of renewal.. Their presence allows people to freely receive without fear of getting hurt. It keeps things in somewhat of a order. Serving as a catcher is a good training ground because they can watch and listen. Here are some practical guidelines for catchers:
Men with men and women with women. Exceptions are church pastors or when instruction is given from the platform. Never pray alone (off by yourself) with the opposite sex unless you have explicitly been released or instructed to do so by the person in charge of the ministry time.
Touch softly on forehead or hands. Never push!!! This is offensive and will cause people go grow resistant to the real manifestation. We want to help God out.
Dress nicely. Use Proper hygiene..... deodorant, mints (don't want your breath to knock them over)
Pray with your eyes open. Watch what the Holy Spirit is doing. Do not rush your prayer. Be patient. If they fall you can keep praying for them. Encourage them to soak and not be in a hurry.
Remember the goal. Not a certain manifestation, but an impartation of the Holy Spirit.
Don't talk loud in the ministry area. Don't step over people Pray positive Biblical prayers that lift up, build up and cheer up. Here are a few simple examples of things to pray when you are not sure what to say:
One team member does the interviewing and beginning prayer encounter. The other team member intercedes. One is the team leader and you should work through them. You can switch every other time.
Team Motto.....