What is it?
Operation P4P is a plan to bring structure and informal accountability to a concerted, united prayer front for the benefit of our pastors and, by extension, the Kingdom of God.
Secondarily, it is a plan to bless our pastors with tangible evidence of the love and support of their congregation. My plan for 2016, in my home church, is to present our "prayers" in October as part of Pastor Appreciation Month. But this can be done in any way, at any time.
Who does it?
Prayer Team Leader(s): Any layperson who has a heart to help bring a stronger, more effective prayer covering to their church leadership. The Prayer Team Leader will spread the word, covertly, to everyone they feel will be able and willing to commit to regular prayer. After recruiting as many prayer team members as possible, the leader's role is then to be the point person whom each prayer partner will report to. The leader will keep track of prayer times reported in 15 minute intervals, and keep a physical representation through some tangible medium. This could be a jar of glass stones, pebbles, small seashells, pennies, or anything that seems appropriate or meaningful for your church. At the end of a specified time, these collective and anonymous "prayers" are presented to the church pastors, to show them tangible evidence of the loving prayer time that has been given for them.
Prayer Team Members: Any layperson (non-pastor or pastor's spouse) who is willing to commit to pray for a specified amount of time at regular intervals. The role of Team Members is then to keep that commitment to the best of their ability while allowing grace and flexibility for, well...life. Each time a Team Member prays for at least 15 minutes, they report their times to the Team Leader(s). This can be done in person, through an anonymous punch card system, or electronically, depending on the leader's and team's preference.
Prayer Team Members: Any layperson (non-pastor or pastor's spouse) who is willing to commit to pray for a specified amount of time at regular intervals. The role of Team Members is then to keep that commitment to the best of their ability while allowing grace and flexibility for, well...life. Each time a Team Member prays for at least 15 minutes, they report their times to the Team Leader(s). This can be done in person, through an anonymous punch card system, or electronically, depending on the leader's and team's preference.
Prayer Recipients: Any person in your church who is fulfilling a specific, recognized leadership role, their spouse, and their children. Examples would be head pastors, associate pastors, children's pastors, youth pastors (oh my!), and worship pastors. This may be a whole team of people, or one person filling multiple roles in a smaller church.
When do we do it?
Operation P4P is not another program or meeting. The time allotted for prayer is completely determined by each team member as they feel led. I highly encourage each team member to find a partner who will help you keep your commitment by praying with you at a specific time, for a set amount of time, at regular intervals.
For example, you could pray with a friend every Tuesday morning on the phone for 15 minutes. Or, you and your spouse could pray for five minutes every night before bed. You and your kids could pray for 15 minutes in the car together on the way to church. Or you could meet with a group in person for an hour once a month. It's really, truly up to you.
Each 15 minutes of prayer/person is then reported to the leader. The leader will be the only one keeping track, and only for the purpose of encouraging our pastors with the tangible gift when the time comes. This part is really important to the whole project, so please don't hesitate because you don't want to 'brag' about your prayer time. The leader will not be reporting any specific names or times: only collective prayers will be seen as little glass stones, each one representing 15 minutes that somebody spent in prayer for our pastors.
How do we pray?
My goal is to post something once each week, hopefully by Monday morning, that will help guide and give ideas for things to pray about in relation to our pastors. With that said, the prayer guide is only meant as a supplement to whatever it may be that God is laying on your heart to pray for your specific church's pastors and circumstances. When you read the prayer guide each week at your own convenience, please take a minute to report in your prayer time to your team leader for the week or month as well.
Where do we pray?
As I said, the location you choose to pray in is completely up to you. Most of it will be done in your home, possibly over the phone, or in a friend's home if you are blessed with time for that kind of commitment.
I am prepared, however, to invite prayer team members from my church to join me in times of group prayer in my home or at the church as needed. I have no specific plans for this at the moment. If I do send out an invitation, it will be completely optional, but I wanted to throw the idea out as a possibility at the start. Your Team Leader may or may not do this as well.
Why is this needed?
Prayer is an intangible yet such a vitally essential part of the church. It is something we all know we should do, yet so often it gets pushed aside. Praying for our pastors gets pushed aside right along with everything else that life crowds out. Yet we all long to see God move in our churches in power, and we all know prayer is the key. I want to do everything I can to help us all be a part of the magnificent things God has promised to do as we pray, specifically as we pray together. That is why this plan is here.
Questions??
This is all very simple and clear in my mind, but I do realize the distinct possibility that I am not communicating some very vital components for those who can't read my mind. If something is not clear, PLEASE ask me to clarify.
Thank you for prayerfully considering your part in Operation P4P! May you be blessed as you obey whatever it is God leads you to do.
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