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BUILDING A HOUSE OF PRAYER WITH
A PRAYER COACH

Across the United States today,
more and more pastors and church
leaders are responding to the
“sense of urgency” for
meaningful prayer times that
their members are wanting; which
is all part of the Lord’s final
preparations of His Bride, the
Church, before His return.
Pastors know it requires so much
more than a one-time or
one-weekend effort (prayer
conference or retreat) for a
church to expand their “prayer
ministry” to what Jesus refers
to in three Gospel accounts, a
“house of
prayer”.
Such an expansion requires
someone to coordinate the effort
(breadth and depth) for the
church; to come along side the
pastor and church leadership to
help in transitioning to a
church where prayer “is
the engine that drives the
church” as Pastor Jim Cymbala
describes his Brooklyn
Tabernacle Church.
To fulfill Jesus’ mandate, some
churches are responding by
seeking the help of a
“Prayer
Coach”, who works
closely--for an extended time
frame--to fulfill this
“spiritual” goal of the Lord for
His Church. The term
“Prayer
Coach” means that this
person will maintain an on-going
relationship with the church
(according to a mutually agreed
time frame) rather than just
serving as a one-time “guest
speaker” for a “prayer event”
sponsored by the church. A
successful
“Prayer Coach” utilizes
many of the same leadership
practices that some of America’s
great Christian “Athletic
Coaches” have used to build
their championship “team” of
individual players. The role of
both types of coaches is not
to “run-the-ball” themselves,
but rather, to teach, train,
test and motivate those who do.
The
“Prayer Coach” recognizes
that building a
“house of
prayer” is a process,
not an event. Therefore,
he or she must diligently
maintain their own
“spiritual-conditioning” program
(I Timothy 4:8), so they are
equal to the task the Lord has
“called” them to within His
Kingdom’s economy. They also
understand the parallel between
building a physical
sports team and building a
spiritual
“house of
prayer”. Both are built
gradually with lots of practice;
and both are accomplished with a
team focus and effort
that is based upon a clear “game
plan”.
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