How to lead
A Church In Prayer
How To Lead An Opening Prayer in a Church Meeting
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hi today we're going to be looking at
opening a meeting in prayer so if you've
been asked to open a meeting and you
feel a little bit nervous about that or
you're not quite sure how to go about
that then today will be giving you three
tips which will help with that task
[Music]
the first thing to say is that opening a
meeting in prayer is more about who you
are than what you say God is constant he
is ever present he is always with us and
in any occasion we are the shifting
moving entity it's very very important
to be present when you open a meeting
it's so easy to be slightly ahead of
ourselves thinking about agendas and
outcomes it's very very easy also to be
behind ourselves thinking of past
situations where we maybe thought we
hadn't opened the meeting very well or
other things that are going on in our
lives so the first thing is to be
present try to take a moment to talk to
beginning of opening a meeting in prayer
look around you breathe be in that
moment the second thing is to prepare if
you have the time that can be something
as simple as bringing something with you
anything which is visual which gives
people a new idea a refreshing take is
always helpful when you open a meeting
in prayer no matter what that meeting is
why you've gathered together so for an
example something as simple as a glass
of water this makes me feel about
working in the fullness of God's
presence into a meeting it makes me
think of coming thirsty for God to move
and to be be with us and help us as we
work things through and it also speaks
of God's refreshment so something as
simple as a glass of water or another
object can actually be really good an
image to leave people with and they
might continue coming back to that in
their minds as the meeting goes on
another thing that you can try is
bringing an image this is one that I
printed out and used on
and where I wanted us to be more
courageous than the meeting there are
many good resources online which you can
use if you want to find images and that
can be a lovely way of doing that
of course god sometimes gives us ideas
or pictures and so you might have been
praying about the meeting before you
came to it and God may have given you a
picture which is a lovely thing to do to
describe that of course Scripture is an
amazing thing to bring at the beginning
of a meeting ask God ask him to lead you
to the right scriptures to read out and
remember to take your time over that so
that people have time to think about it
and meditate over it don't rush
lastly might be that you can find some
resources on our own site or another
site which have prayers which you can
then read out and if it's the meeting
which you feel quite responsible for and
quite nervous about that you're leading
through it's always quite a good idea to
ask somebody else to read that prayer
poem through for you so that you've got
the time to rest and reflect at the
start of the meeting the third thing is
the importance of coming with the right
attitudes they're actually having an
attitude of humility having an attitude
of openness is so important at the start
of a meeting you are the cotton the sort
of common denominator you are what
brings it to the place that it would be
in so it's very important for our hearts
to be in the right place at the
beginning of a meeting a good practice
is to spend five four or five minutes by
you're by yourself before opening a
meeting just allowing the Holy Spirit to
move in your hearts to confess any
insecurities that you have to confess
any worries or fears you have about the
outcome of that meeting and also just to
see whether you have any kind of ongoing
or left--oh
resentments from things before something
someone said to you confess those all to
God before you begin to lead a meeting
in prayer and whatever you come with
what you open releasing him with what
your heart is is how everybody else will
then come on board and respond during
that time that you have in summary if
you're opening a meeting in prayer there
are three tips the first one is to be
present allow the Holy Spirit to steal
your hearts breathe look around you at
the beginning of a meeting secondly is
prepare bringing something that will
inspire people that will help to focus
people at the beginning of the meeting
is always helpful and the third thing is
a hard thing be humble make sure that
you've spent time with God and you've
worked through any previous worries
resentments insecurities the last thing
maybe to throw in is that you were
unique and how the Holy Spirit will work
through you and bless a meeting as you
open it in prayer would be individual so
relax and just let God use you if you're
finding some of these little prayer
films helpful and you want to see more
resources and more films and do
subscribe to pres gates we would love to
hear from you
but until then may God hold you in the
palm of his hand
[Music]
![Opening Prayer Session - Pastor Oye Oguntomilade [2015 JHDC Prayer Retreat]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8_iZcEK_DVE/mqdefault.jpg)
