Session Four

Fire

In this session, we’re going to learn how corporate prayer can be like a fire and how a small spark, with enough persistence and fuel, can lead to huge impact.

  1. Read chapter 4 of the book The Prayers of Many

  2. Watch the following video before going through the interactive section below with your small group

Prepare Ahead

  • For the Get Praying section, gather materials for a fire and meet near to a place where you can build and light a fire (it doesn’t have to be big)

 

Teaching Video 04: Prayer is like a fire

 

Small Group Section

Key verses: Acts 2:1-4 | Romans 8:26-27

Discuss

  • Do you ever find yourself secretly trying to keep prayer neat and tidy? Each person praying only once, not too emotional or passionate, prayers just the right length? Why do you think this is?

  • How can you ensure that the rawness of interaction with God is retained, that mistakes are  allowed and every contribution embraced, while also setting safe boundaries?

  • What are you expecting from God as you approach prayer meetings, either as a leader or a participant?

  • In what ways does our approach impact what God can do through the meeting?

 

Review

  • Our attitude and approach to prayer influences the work of the Holy Spirit.

  • We need to ‘pray ourselves into prayer’, pushing through and persevering.

  • Like a fire, careful planning and attention is needed to build a red-hot prayer culture. But once the fire is lit, it spreads.

 

Pray

Watch the prayer tip video (below). Then, as a group, go outside and make a fire, praying as you do - build your prayer time as you would build a fire: 

  • Take unhurried time to invite the Holy Spirit to help you, and pray yourselves into your prayer time. 

  • Encourage everyone to contribute. Each individual will add their own unique fuel.

    REMEMBER: persistence and fuel can make a big fire out of a small spark

 

Prayer Tip

Sometimes it is difficult to keep the prayers flowing, just like it is difficult to keep a small fire alight. In this video, Lloyd Van Vuuren gives practical tips on how to keep prayer flowing and how to incorporate functional silences.

It’s worth watching before you start praying.

 
 
 

Extra

Revival is associated with times when God comes in power, like a fire. One of the hallmarks of revival prayer is simplicity and authenticity. In the video Revival Fire: Surrender, Mike Betts discusses the attitude they had to prayer in the 1921 Lowestoft revival.

 
 

Mike Betts has produced a series of videos on revival, looking at the basic principles found in a historic revival that we can apply as we seek revival for our world today. You can watch more of these videos here, and be inspired for what corporate prayer can achieve.