We exist to serve pastors, church leaders and congregations in the area of prayer and spiritual development through:

1. Pastors' Prayer Summits
2. Facilitation of Leadership Prayer Retreats for local churches
3. Facilitation of Church Prayer Weekends for local churches
4. Identification of prayer resources
5. Providing a weekly prayer focus online
6. Speaking on Prayer and other issues of spiritual development
7. Training for local church prayer leaders, and prayer teams
8. Training for those ministering to people who respond to an invitation at the end of a message/service
9. Specialized assistance in preparing for and conducting evangelistic outreaches
10. Mobilizing seniors to pray

We trust that through your participation in prayer your church will experience a greater intimacy with God. If we can serve you in any way, please do not hesitate to contact us.

For more information

John Long
Director of Church Development
[email protected]
971-274-1381

These resources are offered with the intention of strengthening your practice of prayer. We want to encourage you in every way possible to have a lifestyle of increasing intimacy with God through prayer. These materials are provided for your own personal use, the use of your leaders, and for the encouragement of prayer among the members of your congregation. If there are resources that you have found useful, please let us know.

We don't want you to build a library of prayer, but a life of prayer. Therefore the materials offered here are meant to be acted upon as the Lord leads you. Beware of the trap of building a file of prayer resources without building a practice of prayer.

Our goal is God Himself, that we might become a Great Commandment people fulfilling the Great Commission.

For more information

John Long
Director of Church Development
[email protected]
971-274-1381

What Is A "Church Prayer Weekend?"

It is a Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday that are set aside for the purpose of seeking God. Meant to be church-wide, the single aim of each participant during the weekend is to draw near to God.

How to Prepare for a Weekend of Prayer

Perspective: Our perspective will powerfully influence our preparations.

The heart of any work of God is PRAYER. Because God must be sought with a whole heart, we insist on the following three commitments before accepting an invitation to serve a church.

• A commitment to Extraordinary Prayer. This means going beyond the usual in order to pray. For some this will mean getting up early, for others, turning off the TV, and yet for others, giving up a meal - for the purpose of prayer. Extraordinary Prayer is simply this: giving up something significant in order to pray. Without prayer we can expect nothing from God.
• A commitment to clear the calendar. This includes the two weeks that surround the weekend of prayer. "Clearing the calendar" means scheduling no Board or Committee meetings, no adult socials, and no youth outings. When the people of the church are asked to pray, it must be the only request being made of them. The church calendar must be clear in order to make it possible for people to seek the Lord wholeheartedly (Jeremiah 29:13).
• A commitment to free the Pastor(s) for ministry during the times of preparation. The lay leadership must accept responsibility for making all the necessary arrangements for the weekend. In the spirit of Acts 6:3-4, the Pastors must be free to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word.

What is your perspective? Ours is to give God every opportunity to work in the lives of His people. Preparations: Our preparations should flow out of our prayers. Pray, then plan. In terms of practical preparations, the following should be prayerfully considered:

• An overall Chairman. His/her responsibility is to stay in touch with our office and see to it that others who have preparation responsibilities are getting their jobs done. This person would also work with the Pastor to set up the room you select for use. He/she may want to recruit a small crew for setup. We will also need communion supplies, candles and matches.
• A Prayer Chairman - preferably a husband and wife team. These two will be responsible for creating opportunities for prayer. Our desire is that everyone would pray. The goal is to make it possible for everyone to pray!
• Housing/meals/transportation. This person secures a place for the facilitator(s) to stay and makes whatever arrangements are necessary for meals and wheels!
• Children's Coordinator. If your church has a significant number of young families, then childcare will be an issue. We encourage churches to approach a neighboring church (or one with whom they have a good relationship) to see if they will accept responsibility for providing childcare workers -- even supervision. The point is to free up the people of your church so that they can all attend.

A Prayer Weekend Outline:

• Friday evening - Two hour worship and communion service.
• Saturday (9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.) - A day of prayer, seeking to draw near to God. A one-hour lunch break would be included (everyone brings their own sack lunch).
• Sunday morning - Preaching service. We often use a combined Sunday School class time to teach people how to have "Fellowship with God."
• Sunday evening - A two- to three-hour service for additional prayer, worship or instruction - whatever is appropriate to what the Lord has been doing during the weekend.

For more information

John Long
Director of Church Development
[email protected]
971-274-1381