Well Done! Here is Day 2 of digging deeper with our
7-Day Prayer Challenge!

DAy 2 Challenge – Lead Prayer

1. Read the Excerpt 
   Let this content inspire you, further, into the desire God has already put on your heart.
2. Lead by Example
   Is your heart deeply rooted and convinced that prayer matters?
3. Model Rhythms
   What prayer rhythm are you modeling and inviting others into?

DEVELOPING PRAYING LEADERS

written by Drew Humphrey

“And he was teaching them and saying to them, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?’ ” –Mark 11:17 ESV

Most ministers know how to recruit, train, and release various types of ministry teams—leadership teams, serve teams, small group leaders, mission teams, worship teams, even coffee teams. In fact, if a leader cannot build and release teams, their ability to extend the Gospel’s impact will be severely limited.

But here is a vital question to reflect on: Am I training and raising up teams of prayer leaders, in addition to all the others I equip?

If not, why is that?

The 19th-century prayer leader E.M. Bounds once wrote:

“Where are the Christlike leaders who can teach the modern saints how to pray? Do our leaders know we are raising up a prayerless set of saints? Let them (the leaders) come to the front and do the work, and it will be the greatest work that can be done.”

God’s Highest Purpose For His Church

What would you say is God’s highest purpose for your ministry or church? You might answer with:

1. Matthew 16:13–19 – Confessing that Jesus is Savior.
2. Matthew 28:18–20 – Making disciples of all nations, baptizing, and teaching.
3. Acts 1:8 – Being filled with the Spirit and serving as Christ’s witnesses.

While each of these is biblical and essential, are they the highest purpose? Remember the verse at the start of this chapter: “My house shall be called a house of prayer.”

As David Butts put it in his incredible book on prayer Forgotten Power:

“The owner of the house gets to nickname the house, and God has nicknamed His house the House of Prayer.”

God could have chosen to call it a house of preaching, worship,evangelism, discipleship, or church planting. But He chose prayer. This doesn’t diminish the importance of those other functions, but it does highlight something we often miss: much of our leadership training, strategies, and next-generation equipping does not prioritize prayer.

In fact, many of us do everything else long before we dedicate extended time to prayer—or before we intentionally teach others how to pray.

As spiritual parents, brothers, and sisters to the next generation, we cannot neglect the responsibility of developing praying leaders. If we fail to train them in prayer, we unintentionally train them in self-sufficiency and copy-cat ministry models—approaches that rely on human strength rather than the power of Heaven.

How Do We Develop Praying Leaders?

1. Model Prayer Personally.

The heart of the leader must be deeply rooted in prayer. Romans 2:21 asks, “You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself?” We cannot raise up praying leaders if we ourselves are not convinced that prayer matters. A prayerless life is the closest a Believer comes to atheism. Without prayer, we are silently declaring that we don’t need God’s help.

So, leader, reorient your daily rhythm around prayer. Serious prayer. Pray in the morning and evening. Pray while driving. When counseling someone over coffee, spend more time seeking God’s wisdom than offering recycled advice filled with cliches. In team meetings, dedicate a significant portion of the time to prayer, not just planning.

2. Create Rhythms of Prayer For Others Who Follow You.

What prayer rhythms are you modeling and inviting others into?

a) In worship gatherings, is prayer just a transition between songs or is it a key element of why you are together?
b) Could you take five minutes from a service to form prayer huddles around specific needs? Instead of singing a fifth song, maybe you sing four songs and fill that open slot with these prayer circles.
c) Do you activate prayer teams and prayer altars that encourage genuine intercession during your gatherings?

If someone snuck into the back of the weekly ministry that you lead, what are the odds—in minutes—that they would catch your group praying? I think that number is pretty small for most of us.

What types of weekly, rhythmic prayer groups do you lead and promote? A decade ago, our church had 15 men at an 8am weekly Sunday prayer gathering. Today, 125 men meet weekly—and most are under 23 years old! That didn’t just accidentally happen; it took intention, teaching, and invitations over the long haul.

But don’t limit prayer to church walls. We need to fall in love with living room prayer meetings again—families, friends, and neighbors coming together to be activated in prayer.

3. Teach Them That Prayer Is Service.

Prayer is not only communion with God; it is active service in His Kingdom. When we pray, we intercede for others, call on God’s protection, and ask for His wisdom. And more!

Prayer isn’t meant to be some passive, lifeless activity for only a few in the church. No, prayer is meant to be full of zeal, calling upon the Living God in Heaven as we depend upon Him for all of the needs in our lives, for all of the days of our lives.

It has been said before that people of prayer are the rescuers of the Church from its material tendencies. They pour into it the original spiritual forces, lift it off the sandbars of materialism, and press it out into the ocean depths of spiritual power.

Click HERE for an audio prayer made to accompany this content.