How to Start an Intercessory Prayer Group or Partnership

This article on how to start an intercessory prayer group will gives ideas on what type of intercessory prayer group you want to start, how to organize a group and what kind of format will work best for you.

Step 1: Learn how intercessory prayer works to start a prayer group

Intercessory prayer is asking God’s help or favor on behalf of others. The word intercede means to intervene on behalf of another.

A relationship with Jesus is the key to intercession

Intercessory prayer is made possible because of our relationship with Jesus. Once we accept his saving grace, through Jesus we gain access to God. We no longer intercede on our own merits but rather through the avenue of Christ’s grace and heart and his desire to bring glory and honor to God. (see Hebrews 4:14-16)

Here’s information on how to begin a personal relationship with Jesus.

What the Jesus says about prayer groups

Jesus tells us in the Bible, “Again, I tell you that if two or you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with you.” (Matthew 18 :19,20) In the book of John Jesus tells us, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” (John 14:13 NIV)

In Matthew, Jesus tells us that interceding with two or more like minded Christians, or agreeing in prayer, brings an added dimension to our intercession. He even tells us that when we gather, He is there in our midst!

Agreeing together in prayer is aligning with the character, works, truth, teachings and deeds of Jesus. This verse invites us to explore how the Holy Spirit is leading us to pray with purpose, clarity and agreement that spans both earth and heaven.

This isn’t a magic formula that guarantees that we’ll get exactly what we think we need. Instead, it means we are putting our needs into the hands of Jesus, confident we will get an answer that goes beyond our current view of how to fix things.

Step 2: Seek God’s calling to start an intercessory prayer group

Because you’re reading this article on how to start an intercessory prayer group, you probably have already felt some sort a calling or interest in starting an intercessory prayer group.

Different ways you might be called to start a prayer group

You might be asked by someone like a church staff member to start an intercessory prayer group by your church.

You might feel a need in your own life to get together with a group of people who will support each other in prayer.

You might be looking for a way to cover prayer requests submitted to your group.

You might feel a passion for a group or a cause that needs prayer such as feeling a compassion for troubled teens.

You might be looking for a way to systematically cover your church or organization in prayer.

Pray for discernment and direction

The most important thing at this stage is to pray for discernment to see if God is calling you to start a prayer group. If you’re not sure how to do this, refer to this article praying for direction and discernment. As you pray for direction, pay attention to thoughts and messages you receive in your Bible readings. Take time to silently listen and think. Ask a Christian friend to pray with you or for you during as you seek God’s direction.

Don’t worry if you don’t feel qualified to start a prayer group

If God is calling you, he will help you do it. A number of years back a friend at church began to get the idea of starting a prayer group to cover all of our church staff and volunteers in prayer on a regular basis. Although she wasn’t sure she had the organizational skills needed, she approached our associate minister with the idea. The associate minister was enthusiastic about the idea and my friend realized that if God wanted her to do it, he would show her how to be organized enough to lead a prayer group.

Step 3: Ask God to send you a partner and establish a leader

Once you’ve answered the call to start a prayer group, ask God if there’s another person with whom you can partner to help start an intercessory prayer group. Often when God calls one person, he has also been calling others as well.

Ask God to put a name or several names into your mind and then contact them to find out if they’re interested in helping. Once you have two people, you now have the power of agreeing together in prayer and you’ve already formed the basic nucleus of a prayer group!

Once you have 2 or 3 who are interested, establish a leader. The leader’s role may vary depending on the group. As an example, they may lead the prayer time, take notes on prayer requests to send out to the group, teach the group about prayer, arrange meeting times and places or shepherd the intercessory prayer group members.

Step 4: Explore the different types of prayer groups possible so you can decide what kind to form.

There are a number of different kinds of intercessory prayer groups, each with different missions. Here are some examples.

Issue focused prayer group that prays for world or social concerns. Examples would be groups that form to pray for schools, families, drug addiction, mental health, or elections.

A prayer partnership where two people meet together to pray. Prayer partners

Altar prayer or healing prayer groups. These types of groups pray over people and with people, sometimes by laying hands on them. The focus is on bringing God’s healing presence into the person’s brokenness or illness. Healing prayer groups.

Guided prayer groups. In this kind of prayer group, the leader introduces various topics of prayer one by one and leaves time for individuals to pray silently or out loud on the subject. guided prayer group

Prayer breakfasts are when people meet together for food, fellowship and to pray for a common cause or mission. Prayer breakfasts

Mutual support prayer groups are formed by people who share a common life situation or need, such as raising teenagers. These groups pray for each other’s needs. Mutual support prayer group

Prayer request teams formed to cover requests that are communicated to them from outside of the group, such as covering the list people in the congregation who are sick this week or requests that have been places in a prayer request box. Intercessory prayer group

Life Accountability prayer groups where members support each other in their faith journey.

Mission and ministry support prayer groups who pray for church leaders, staff or non-profit organizations.

Short term prayer groups to support a specific event such as an evangelism event.

Step 5: Decide on the mission of your prayer group, write a mission statement, name the group

After thinking about the different reasons prayer groups form, decide on the type that best fits the idea God has given you for your group. Keep in mind that the list of prayer groups aren’t set in stone. Your group may be a hybrid of several types. As an example, your group might be an issue prayer group praying for the cause of local school system and at the same time be a mutual support prayer group of parents with children in that school.

Naming a group helps you identify it to those you wish to invite and to others who may hear about the group. The name can be as simple as “Tuesday noon prayer group” or more descriptive like “First responders prayer group.” Or the name might be aspirational, such as “Light bearers prayer group.”

Step 6. Decide on a prayer style that works for your members

Most prayer groups pray out loud together, typically using an extemporaneous (spoken without preparation) method as they feel led by the Holy Spirit.

Other groups may choose to do a leader-led group where a designated person prays out loud for everyone after collecting requests and ideas from the group. In this case, the members listen and agree in prayer.

Another method is guided prayer, where the leader prays a prompt and everyone prays on that topic for a designated period of time. Often the members pray silently or in a quiet whisper. In other cases, a group might choose to use a prayer chorus format where everyone prays something different on the subject out loud at the same time.

Groups can also pray in unison using traditional written prayers.

Step 7. Decide how and where your prayer group will meet

Here are some ideas.

How to meet

In person is the traditional way for prayer groups to meet.

Via Zoom or another online meeting space. How to pray together using technology

On the Phone using a conference call system if there are more than two people.

Some groups may sent texts or emails back and forth to pray. I personally prefer a method which allows for real-time interaction between members where you can feel each other’s presence or read it through facial expressions and tone of voice.

Where to meet

Many prayer groups meet in a member’s home. A church sponsored or church-based group might meet in a church. Other groups meet in a private area of an office or place of employment.

Meeting in public places like a coffee shop or restaurant usually doesn’t work well because it lacks the privacy needed for prayer.

Step 8: Recruit members

To recruit members, pray and let God bring names to your mind. Make a list. Think about friends, family members, church members, acquaintances, co-workers and neighbors.

Invite them using the information you’ve already established about the group. Why you were led to start it. The mission of the group. The prayer style you’ll use and how you’ll meet.

You can also target your invitation to a specific group. As an example, at church I attended our church had a weekday Kindergarten program and started a mother’s prayer group that meets after the children are dropped off in class. It was advertised in the Kindergarten newsletter, on their website and via posters in the nursery wing hall.

Some groups ask God to bring a specific number of members to join the group. Others go with the number who naturally join. New members can always be added later as the group gets established and members invite those they know. Even three or four members can form a meaningful and powerful prayer group.

Step 9: Agree on meeting time

We’ve saved deciding on the meeting time until after you’ve recruited members. That’s because you’ll need to find out a time when everyone will be available.

Step 10: Structure your meeting length and the time you will spend on different activities

The basic format of an intercessory prayer group includes some means of sharing prayer requests and praises, a time of prayer and a specified ending time.

Means of sharing praises and prayer requests

Prayer groups share both praises and prayer requests.

Praises consist of updates on how things have progressed on the things the group has previously prayed about.

Prayer requests are the specific situations for which prayer is needed.

Spoken requests. The most common means of sharing prayer requests is having group members share their prayer requests out loud.

If you are using this method of sharing requests, the leader needs to be able to keep the group from spending the majority of the group time talking and not leaving much time to actually pray about the requests.

Take care that one person doesn’t monopolize the time with a long, detailed request. Also, remind members that the purpose of the group is not to solve the problems or offer advice.

Unfortunately, we’re all problem solvers and it‘s easy to immediately jump right in to help! The leader should steer the group towards prayer, not fixing things.

Written requests. Another mode of sharing requests is via written request. These written requests may come from a prayer box used by anyone who chooses to submit a request. These can come from the leaders of the organization being lifted up in prayer who submit specific requests about their program or missionaries.

Written requests can also be submitted by individual group members instead of having everyone share something out loud. This method works well in groups where time is limited and many members are present. The written requests can then be exchanged so that each person has someone else’s request for which to pray.

The Prayer time

How you do the prayer time depends on the prayer method you’re using in your group. No matter how you pray, always spend as much time (or more) praying than you do talking about prayer requests.

During the prayer time some groups create a simple atmosphere of sanctuary by dimming the lights, lighting candles, or having a cross or other symbols as a focal point.

Some groups may use an invocation of some sort. A traditional one is called the Holy Spirit prayer that starts like this: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love…”

Often groups prefer to begin with moments of silent prayer to focus on God and clear their thoughts.

Others use formats where they progress through different prayer segments. One of the more common formats is called the A.C.T.S. model. The A stands for adoration, the C for confession, the T for thanksgiving and the S for supplication. In this model, the prayers start with thanking God for who he is, then confessing our sins and thanking him for what he has given us. Finally, after putting the focus on God and our need for his mercy, we ask him for his guidance, help and intervention.

In a healing prayer group, a common method of prayer is having the group gather and lay their hands on an individual when they are receiving prayer.

Ending the meeting

The person leading prayer keeps their eye on the clock to make sure the meeting ends at the right time. The leader may elect to quickly go over any requests that still haven’t been prayed for and then do a closing prayer.

If there are still pressing things that need further prayer, the leader can pause the prayer time for a few minutes to allow those who need to leave to do so, then the prayers can be resumed.

Step 11: Evaluate the prayer group after a few months to determine any adjustments that need to be made

After several months, hold a discussion with the leaders or members to evaluate what’s working in your group and what things might need tweaking. Prayer groups evolve over time. Don’t be afraid to ask where you see God most at work and then emphasize this direction.

Other helpful tips in starting an intercessory prayer group

Here are just a few other things you might want to consider.

Keep useful supplies handy

Basic supplies for prayer groups would include a Bible, pen and paper and comfortable seating or places to kneel. Other items include anointing oil and a box of tissues as prayer can touch emotions.

Childcare

Childcare may be needed if your group has parents of young children. Members can either take turns watching the children or pool money to hire a sitter.

I was previously in a neighborhood group where all of us had preschool children. We met in each other’s homes. Since I had a playroom over our garage, we designated my house as the nursery and hired a local woman whose name was Beatrice. Our children loved her so much they called her Aunt Bea. Each mother who brought a child pitched in to cover the cost.

Another idea is to meet when childcare is already being offered for other events. Our church has programs for all ages on Wednesday nights and the church provides childcare during this time for everyone who attends meetings.

Confidentiality

Make sure that all prayer group participants understand that all prayer requests are confidential and are not to be shared with others outside of the group without the OK of the person who made the request.

My Personal experiences with intercessory prayer groups

I have personally participated in a large variety of prayer groups over the years. Here’s a description of one in particular that shows the ways the prayer group formed and operated.

I was a member of a local church that was going through some divisive issues and one day after a regular prayer meeting, I stood with two other women expressing my negative opinion about a decision that had been made.

We could all feel our stress level rising as we talked about everything that was wrong. Then one of my friends spoke up and said, “Remember a few years back we had a speaker who talked about a “no coffee, no small talk” prayer group where you come and meet and pray and don’t discuss what you’re praying about? You just come and pray.”

I remembered the speaker, but had never been in such a prayer group.

The woman went on, “Could you all meet at 8 AM here in the prayer chapel and pray together for 15 minutes every weekday for one month?”

I had children in elementary school, so I wasn’t sure if I could meet every day. But they got on the bus at 7:30, so it was doable. And I figured one month wasn’t forever, so we agreed to meet and pray.

At the first meeting it was hard not to chit chat about our kids or even the weather. But we said hello. Then we sat down to pray out loud one at a time about whatever God put on our hearts about the situation.

After a while I noticed a very interesting dynamic during these get-right-to-praying prayer times. First of all, we could cover quite a bit of prayer territory in such a short time because instead of discussing issues between ourselves, we brought them up directly to God in prayer.

Secondly, not chit-chatting prevented us from having discussions that bordered on criticism and gossip in the guise of prayer requests. All three of us were already pretty worried about our church problems and had strong opinions on them. Praying and not chatting kept us from fanning the flames of blame and discontent. And it also decreased our tendency to try and fix the situation ourselves.

A final benefit of using this kind of intercessory prayer group for a church issue was that it gave the Holy Spirit freer rein to work. For one thing, I noticed that through these prayers God kept us all encouraged and balanced. One day one of us might be down and discouraged and someone else might be in a good place and be seeing some positive signs. Through our prayers we could lift up each other. Also, God seemed to give us all different ideas of what to pray about each day so we covered more details that needed prayer.

We never had to tell anybody we wouldn’t be there. We just got in our cars and showed up. There were always at least two of us there. And the majority of the time, it was all three.

At the close of the month our no coffee, no small talk prayer group ended. Our prayers didn’t bring about a big, climatic event that solved all the problems during that month. It’s been so long ago, I can’t tell you all the details or dates. I only know that our church got through that particular issue and it’s still thriving today.

The lesson of the no coffee, no small talk prayer group is that you can whittle down a prayer group to the bare essentials of several people, a mutual concern and nothing but pure and simple prayer. Subtracting the small talk, the human opinions and our how-to-fix-it discussions changes so much.