It’s the beginning of the year and many churches across the nation are gearing up for a time of churchwide prayer. Some call this designated period of prayer “21 Days of Prayer” and others have come up with some creative names, but the goal is the same.
During this time of prayer we want people to engage with the Holy Spirit, but we as church staff or creative team members need to make sure our congregants have access to our prayer times and any other resources we’ve made available.
Here are seven things to help guide you in preparation for your time of churchwide prayer:
- Make it virtual! If you are gathering in person for prayer gatherings, make sure you have a way to either live-stream to your social platforms and website or a way to record for on-demand viewing later.
- Create a designated page on your website for this time and add a hyperlink to your home page making this easily accessible for visitors/congregants to find and participate.
- Attach prayer guides to your website. Not everyone will watch live or even during a time when they can listen to what is being said, but they can download a prayer guide and start there.
- Engage your participants. Start a devotional plan on the YouVersion Bible App and invite all of your congregants to join. This encourages active reading of God’s Word, along with prayer times, and also allows your church family to be a part of a community by posting about their time with God.
- Create an event in REALM and invite your congregants to join. This allows you to send daily reminders to all participating, attach documents such as prayer guides to reminder emails, and even reach out individually and pray with those participating.
- GO LIVE! Go live on your social platforms at the time of the prayer event. This encourages those who cannot join in-person gatherings to attend online at the same time.
- RESPOND to your viewers. Many people comment on live viewings and on-demand recordings. Designate a team of individuals to respond to those comments and engage with the viewers. This not only encourages them to come back but it opens the door for building relationships and invites them into your church family.
