Teaming Up Together in Prayer
Executing a Game Plan to Pray
When We Pray With Others – Part 4
In this lesson, we will think of praying together, a little bit differently. If you’ve ever played a team sport, you will at some point come to the understanding that you need the team. It doesn’t matter how good of a player you might be. In a team sport, you need a team. While you might be contributing more than anyone else, it is impossible to win without the other members of your team winning. When we pray together with others, it’s the team’s effort that counts and matters most. Therefore anytime we get together with others in prayer, keep this thought in the back of your mind. I am a part of a team and I need my team. To understand this team concept of prayer, we must cover three dynamics needed for the team to be successful.
- The Prayer Leader
Every team needs a leader. A leader in this respect doesn’t necessarily mean one who will direct every effort, but rather one who rallies the team together for a common purpose. It means we create an organized way upon which we are going to pray. There is someone gifted in organizing the gathering, facilitating the execution of the prayer calls (topics), and initiating the prayer efforts. If we’re going to gather together someone must initiate the efforts.
Here’s an example. Our daughter attends a Christian school. Many times one of the parents may call other parents to gather for prayer just before returning for the fall semester. That parent, by calling for such a time of prayer, has just designated themselves as the leader. She or he makes the call as the leader and gets to set or delegate the agenda for what happens in the allotted time of prayer. As a member of this team of pray-ers, no one should go in with their own agenda and do something different than what the person called it for. It’s not a meeting they initiated. If another person were to do that, he or she is not acting like a team player. Instead it’s their job to be a member of the team, add value to the team, support the team, and help the team be successful. It’s not their job to take the lead. - Positions
While it’s important to play my position to the best of my ability, I must not forget that every team member has a position. Every person is created with a unique gift and that gift adds to the team. It’s our job to find out how we may best utilize such a gift to put us in the best position possible to win.
In football, it’s rare to have a left-handed quarterback, but when that quarterback is the best in his position, being left-handed no longer matters. The bottom-line is this, a person with a gift is useful. We have to use our gift to serve others and when we pray together as a team using our gift is the best way to serve the team. Since we desire to take prayer to the next level, we encourage each player to bring his or her best to the team. Our best comes from the use of the gifts God created us with. Like in any other sport, using your gift, skills, and talents earns your place on the team. A popular Bible verse sums it up this way, a person’s gift makes room for him. [1] - Everyone Plays
We believe in intentional team member inclusion. Every part of the team is important to the success of the team. In one of the letters to the early church reads, “God has put each part just where He wants it.” [2] To be intentional when it comes to praying together as a team means to be inclusive. Each member of the team should be inclusive. We should learn how to intentionally involve the team. Listen to this “all of us together are Christ’s body.” [3] No one is excluded. Everyone included.
Anytime a football team, especially a professional or collegiate one, is going into a game that team has something called a game plan. Far too often we go into prayer without a game plan. A game plan tells us how we are to execute plays during the game. Therefore, when we pray together we all need a game plan if each member of the team is going to know what to do. And we must be intentional about how we include each member of the team during the game. The question you must ask yourself is this. How will I involve my team members when we pray? That could be in a church scenario, in a non-profit organization, even in a corporate organization or at home. How will you involve your team members (others)? Your children? Your spouse? How will we involve the people gathered on the team to pray?
The goal is to execute the game plan so that your family, your organization, your children, your life wins! If you are praying at home, how will you involve your children? If you want your children to become better then you must get better at involving them. How can you have your spouse involved in such a way that is enjoyable for both of you? Can prayer become a time where you and your spouse, together get something out of it? How we win in life is determined by how we execute the game plan in prayer! This is next level prayer!
Question: What ideas do you have or can offer to be more inclusive when you pray together with others?
[1] Proverbs 18:16 NKJV, Bible.com, accessed November 3, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/114/PRO.18.16.NKJV
[2] 1 Corinthians 12:18 NLT, Bible.com, accessed November 3, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/1CO.12.18.NLT
[3] 1 Corinthians 12:27 NLT, Bible.com, accessed November 3, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/1CO.12.27.NLT
All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.
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