Let’s help our Life Groups grow beyond scheduled, polite prayers into bold, specific, vulnerable, and sometimes spontaneous prayer—praying not only for needs, but for growth, holiness, neighbors, and even impossible things.
I tend to take it as a given that our Life Groups pray together—but maybe I shouldn’t. Hopefully our groups pray. Hopefully every week people are willing to open up about what’s going on, and prayer follows. Hopefully when a group opens the Bible, we pray for the Holy Spirit to show us God’s glory and teach us how to follow Jesus. Hopefully when we sit down to eat together, we thank God for all of His good blessings.
But prayer can quietly become predictable.
Some groups have a dedicated time for prayer. Some open and close with prayer. Those are good things. One form of prayer that doesn’t seem to happen very often—though I could be wrong—is spontaneous prayer.
There’s something very healthy about what I’d call conversational prayer. You’re talking about something real, and you just stop. You look up and say, “Father, help us with this.” Prayer right in the middle of a conversation. Prayer that assumes God is actually present as a silent partner in the conversation—because He is.
Now, if prayer feels uncomfortable, that’s understandable. Our Life Groups are meant to be places where we find life for our souls. But that means more than what a friend of mine once called “organ recitals.”
Henry Cloud and John Townsend put it well:
“Help people get beyond the idea that God is concerned only about catastrophes and health issues. Teach them to pray for each other’s brokenness, relationships, stuck places, connections, answers, and growth steps.” (79)
That last phrase matters: growth steps.Are we praying for one another’s growth steps?
One practice we’re encouraging in our Life Groups is for each member to bring the names—and a few details—of three other-than-Christian friends, family members, or neighbors, and for the group to pray for those three names by nameon a regular basis.
Along with that, we want prayer to go beyond health concerns or work stress and move toward growth and holiness. Prayer that sounds almost like confession:
- “I’m struggling with this sin.”
- “I’m struggling in this area of growth.”
- “Pray for me to grow in maturity here.”
Imagine our groups regularly praying things like:“God, show us Your glory.”“Father, help our church see Jesus more clearly.”“Holy Spirit, let our neighborhood see Christ in us.”
We need to be a church that is full of prayer.
Historically, all the great revivals of recent centuries were preceded by intense prayer movements—people praying for God’s glory, confessing and repenting of sin, and praying for renewal.
I remember one church where, every Christmas Eve, people were invited to write down impossible prayer requests—requests they genuinely believed could not be answered. Those requests were prayed over week after week. On several occasions, God did the impossible.
Our Life Groups should be places where it’s safe to ask God for big things.
As Cloud and Townsend note:
“It’s exciting when small group members pray in specific terms, especially regarding group concerns, and then see God bring fruit from their requests.” (79)
It is my prayer that our Life Groups’ prayer lives get bigger.
And not just bigger inwardly, but outwardly as well:
“Have the group pray for important matters beyond the group. For example, pray corporately for your church, community, country, and leadership.” (80)
Many of you have already used the prayer guides from our prayer walks, and more concrete prayer prompts will continue to come. For now, though, the invitation is simple: think about what your group can and will pray for—and lean into prayer marked by specificity, vulnerability, and boldness.
Reflection Questions
- Where has prayer in your group become predictable or limited—and what might it look like to invite more spontaneous, conversational prayer?
- What would it look like for your group to pray more specifically this season—for growth, holiness, neighbors by name, or even “impossible” requests?
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