INTERCESSORY PRAYER MINISTRY

This page is meant to orient you to a unique intercessory prayer ministry.

As a pastor, I pray for my church and its mission to our community constantly. One of my biggest blessings as a pastor is having my church family pray WITH me.

One unexpected blessing I found when I became a pastor at Creekside is that our church has a "secret" intercessory prayer team that prays daily for every pastor and ministry leader. This means that every day of the week, a trusted member of my church family is praying for me, my family, and the specific requests I ask them to bring to the Lord. It's beautiful. And powerful. I'm certain we'll never begin to understand the impact this prayer ministry has had for the kingdom.

I'll tell you briefly how it works, then I'll leave you to contact our intercessory prayer team leaders to talk about what next steps could look like in your setting.

HOW IT WORKS

Each pastor or ministry leader on our team has their own prayer team. We don't publicize this in the church so as to avoid any politics related to people wanting to "get in" with the pastors. Each team consists of a team leader, and then 6 or 7 team members. The pastor has a brief (as short as 15-30 minutes) meeting each week (or as often as possible) with the team leader, in which he or she talks about life and ministry and gives prayer items. The team leader then passes these requests on to the team members, each of whom has a specific day of the week on which they pray all day for the pastor. The whole process is confidential. It's intended to allow the pastor to voice tension even with church members, staff, or elders in a context where the prayer team simply prays without judging or gossiping.

Imagine your own prayers being amplified every day by a committed team of people you trust. And then imagine that every day, you have someone praying for your protection from burnout, temptation, and anything else that could derail your ministry. What could be more important for your church?

-Mark Beuving

IF YOU ARE A PASTOR AND YOU'RE INTERESTED, your first step would be to pray for a team leader. When God brings someone you trust to mind, you can cast the vision and see what they think. From there, the team forms slowly as you pray about who you want on the team.

IF YOU ARE NOT A PASTOR BUT WANT TO BRING THIS MINISTRY TO YOUR CHURCH, your first step would be to prayerfully talk to your pastor about what this could look like. If he or she is interested, you can prayerfully pursue the team from there.

START HERE

If you're interested in exploring this ministry for your church, start by reaching out to our Intercessory Prayer Ministry team leaders. They'd love to send you our training manuals for Ministry Directors, Team Leaders, and Team Members. They'll also give a fuller picture of how the ministry functions at Creekside and talk with you about how it might be adapted to your context. There is no charge for any of this, and no strings attached. We simply want to see the Church and its mission fueled by prayer.

If you're ready, start by sending an email to ipministry@creeksideonline.com.