Leadership Tips & Training First Place Prayer Warrior

The Prayer Commitment is truly the power commitment. It is through prayer that our members strengthen their relationship with Christ and the fellowship with other believers. Prayer also changes lives! As I was training for the half marathon, I would run around the indoor track of our church’s Christian Life Center early each morning before going to work. As I was running one day, I realized that I was running past the room where our First Place class met each Sunday. I had been reviewing one of our session verses for each lap I would run, and then I began to pair each memory verse with a specific class member as I ran past our classroom. As my training runs got longer, I decided to pray for one member using a Scripture memory verse for each lap. This made my workout time go very fast, but it also drew my heart closer to those I led. I also was more aware than ever how God was truly working in their lives. I saw myself as a prayer warrior going into battle each morning as I interceded for the needs of my members.

First Place members are asked to pray daily for themselves and for others. Therefore, if the leader expects their members to pray, then they too should be praying. In fact, the leader should be the prayer warrior for the members they lead. Reading through the letters Paul wrote to those he led we can learn how to be effective prayer warriors on behalf of our members.

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.
Colossians 1:9-10

Persistent
This is a prayer that Paul prayed for the believers in Colosse. God had appointed him as a servant leader to these people for whom he prayed on a regular basis. Paul began praying for the Colossians when he first heard about them. As soon as you have the list of names who will be attending your First Place class, begin to pray for them daily. When someone begins the journey to place Christ first in every area of their life, you can expect some opposition! A leader must take the weapon of the Word and pray it for each member as they battle in prayer for them.

Relevant
Paul prayed asking God to give the Colossians wisdom to know the will of God. Reading the list of names on the class roster, asking God to “bless” each one and ending with an “amen” is not necessarily relevant and most definitely not specific. How do you really know if God answered your prayer unless you ask specifics? Asking your members questions that will reveal their needs and heart desires will provide you specifics to pray for your members. Also, Paul asked that God would reveal His will to the Colossians through all “spiritual wisdom.” Leaders should not be the “Answer Lady” or “Answer Man” in their member’s lives. The leader should be the person who prays to the One who has the answers.

Acceptable
As the members are striving to honor God with their bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-10), they need the prayers of their leader. Just as Paul prayed for the Colossians to live lives worthy of the Lord, so too, the First Place Leader/prayer warrior will want to pray that their members will have teachable hearts that are not only willing to learn how to please God, but also desire to please Him in every way. Dwight D. Eisenhower is quoted as saying, “You do not lead by hitting people over the head; that’s assault, not leadership.” As a leader, there have been times when I wanted to beat a member over the head with their blasted CR! There is a fellow leader here at our church who often jokes that she would like to tell those members who do not take the Attendance Commitment seriously to just quit! She says, “Why do they even bother to sign up if they are not going to at least show up every week!” I understand her frustration; however, we cannot give in to the frustration. Instead, we must get on our knees and cry out to God on behalf of our members, asking Him to develop a passion within our members’ hearts to please Him in every way.

Yielding
Wouldn’t you love a First Place class full of members who were bearing fruit in every good work and growing in th knowledge of God? Pray it and believe it! Claim Matthew 21:22 as you pray for each member. “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Pray that they will see results as they are diligent to follow the Live-it and exercise. Ask God to use His Word in their lives as they memorize the weekly scriptures. John 15:7, “If you abide in Me and My Words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you.” There is nothing more rewarding than to see your members yielding fruit after weeks of prayer on your part and work on theirs!

May each First Place Leader become the prayer warrior who persistently prays for their members (and for themselves) in specific, relevant ways, to be acceptable in their behavior, yielding lives full of good fruit.

Pray On!

Nancy Taylor
Leadership Training Director


Nancy Taylor is the First Place Leadership Training Director and joined the First Place staff in 1997. Nancy teaches leadership principles to First Place Leaders throughout the country and at Houston's First Baptist Church where she coordinates all the First Place groups. Nancy also speaks at First Place workshops, rallies, retreats, and conferences, where she delights her audiences with humor and encourages them with boldness. She writes a monthly article, which includes helpful tips for leaders, for the First Place E-newsletter, and was a contributing writer to the Today is the First Day devotional book. Nancy is the resident First Place Bible Concordance because of her love for Scripture memory.