CREATIVE PRAYER AND ADORATION IDEAS

Because prayer time is so vital to small groups, below are some suggestions to consider.

1.  Write prayer requests down

Each leader should have prayer request journal sheets to keep in your binder ... or you can use your own personal journal. By keeping track of prayer requests you can be aware of how God answers prayer and praise Him for his faithfulness.

2.  Give everyone an opportunity to share

As a group be mindful of the amount of time remaining and the number of students who still want to share. Students will not be able to share every thought or detail ... so try to keep the students focused. Obviously be sensitive to the fact that a student may be experiencing a crisis and you may need to focus exclusively on that student through extended time and prayer. However, true crises are rare.  To limit the time spent sharing, you can state the following guidelines:

·         "Everyone can share one praise and one request."

·         "Simply tell us what to pray for. We can talk more later."

·         "We're only going to pray for requests about people in our group."

·         "We've run out of time to share prayer requests. Take a moment to write down your prayer request and give it to me."

3.  Just as students are free to share, they're free not to share

The goal of your small group should be to create an environment where each student feels Affirmation, Belonging, and Care. Still not every student will be comfortable sharing. Verbalize that students have the freedom not to share if they don't want to.

4.  No gossip allowed

Don't allow sharing prayer requests to become an excuse for gossip. This is easy to do if you all aren't careful. If you're not part of the problem or solution, consider the information gossip. If a prayer request starts going astray, you should kindly intercede with a question like, "How can we pray for you in this situation?"

5.  Avoid giving advice or trying to fix the problem

When students share their struggles and problems, a common response is to try to fix the problem by offering advice. At the right time, the group might provide input on a particular problem, but during the prayer time, keep on praying for the need. After your prayer time you may choose to speak with the student and offer input into his/her situation.

6.  Keep in touch

Students will feel cared for if you follow up with an E-mail, a phone call, or remember to ask about the prayer request the next time you see him/her. If students truly feel like you care for them, they will be more open to share requests at future small groups.

7.  Prayer is caught more than taught!

Be a person of prayer yourself!  When you pray out loud in the group, keep your prayers honest, authentic, and from your heart.  Model appropriate vulnerability in your disclosures during prayer request time! 

8.  Commit to praying with students — not just for students.