LEAD THE WAY
5. Community

CONNECT

  • Connect through care, prayer and loving accountability for previous “I will …” statements

DISCOVER

COMMUNITY - Our Relationship to Each Other

  • Devote yourselves to loving one another as a family of brothers and sisters in Christ

  • Work through Be The Way - Community (now or previously).

  • What are your reflections and questions from Be The Way - Community?

The One Anothers

  • Consider the following One Another commands from the New Testament.

    • A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another (John 13:34)

    • Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2)

    • Spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24)

    • Encourage one another and build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

    • Serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13)

    • Teach and admonish one another (Colossians 3:16)

    • Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit (Ephesians 5:19)

    • Confess your sins to one another (James 5:16)

    • Forgive one another (Colossians 3:13)

    • Comfort one another (2 Corinthians 13:11)

    • Care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25)

    • Pray for one another (James 5:16)

    • Offer hospitality to one another (1 Peter 4:9)

  • How might a MicroChurch be especially suited to pursue these One Anothers?

Praying for One Another

  • You can direct the prayers by asking, “Could someone say a prayer of praise to God for His goodness to us this week?” Or “Thanks for sharing that need, Sue. Mary would you pray for her right now?”

  • As with every aspect of the MicroChurch, don’t let anyone dominate the prayer. More people praying shorter prayers encourages participation and engagement.

  • You can pray as a whole MicroChurch or in groups of 2 and 3.

  • Whole meetings dedicated to worship and prayer can be powerful in God’s Kingdom.

  • Regularly, put a chair in the middle of the group (the hot seat) and take turns sitting in it, sharing prayer requests and gathering around the person for laying on of hands, prayer and prophetic ministry.

Communion and Prayer Combo

  • To mix things up a bit, how about combining the Lord’s Supper with your prayer time?

  • Once again, put a chair in the middle of the group and take turns sitting on it.

  • This time, however, start by serving communion to the person on the chair and then ask for their prayer request and gathering around and pray for them.

  • Then that person who was just in the chair serves communion to the next person to sit in the chair and you pray for that person and so on.

5 Step Prayer Model

  • Here’s a model for prayer. It’s not necessary to use it every time you pray for each other. But it’s especially helpful when praying for healing or spiritual interventions.

 

5 STEP PRAYER MODEL

Here’s a simple model to follow when praying for someone. This is only a model and not a magic formula.

1. ASK

“How can I pray for you?” or “What would you like Jesus to do for you?” Listen well and it may be helpful to reflect back their request. “So you’re asking for ….”

2. INVITE

Ask the Father/Jesus/Holy Spirit to come and to show His presence and love to the person you’re praying for. Let the person know that you’ll pause for a moment to just be still. This gives space and time for the person to experience God’s presence personally and for you to listen for direction from the Spirit. Be okay with a bit of silence. Your comfort will make them comfortable.

3. PRAY

Pray for what the person has requested. Pray as the Holy Spirit leads. If appropriate, lay hands on the person. Generally, keep your prayer short and sweet. And don’t preach through your prayer. Just pray.

Note that the prayers that Jesus and the early church prayed were usually quite short and direct. In fact, in many ways, they were more declarations, even commands, than prayers, such as, “In Jesus’ name, medical condition be healed” or “In Jesus’ name, demon come out.” Jesus has authorized us to use His name boldly and compassionately for His Kingdom.

Pray something like this: “Lord, thank You for Your loving presence and Your healing power. I pray that You would heal _____’s knee. Knee be healed in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

4. CHECK

Ask, “What’s happening?” or “What’s God doing?” For example, if the person asked for prayer for their knee, you could ask them how it’s feeling or how the level of pain is now or if they can do something they couldn’t do before. If the person asked for prayer for wisdom in some life decision, you could ask if they’re getting any thoughts that may be helpful. If the person asked for a breakthrough in some relationship, you could ask if they’re getting any ideas on how to seek reconciliation. If the person asked for help in overcoming some trauma or addiction, you could ask if they’re experiencing any new hope.

After checking, you may want to return to prayer, thanking the Lord for what He is doing and asking Him to continue to do more.

5. NEXT?

Ask, “What’s next?” What about getting together again to pray? Does the person know Jesus? How could you introduce them to Jesus? Could you invite the person out for coffee? How about inviting them to church? How can you use this prayer encounter as an opportunity to develop a deeper relationship with them and possible discipleship to Jesus?

 

Laying On of Hands

  • Regularly lay hands on each other and pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit and the activation of spiritual gifts.

  • Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and activate any spiritual gift the Spirit has for you. Pray that the Holy Spirit would come upon you to empower you to live and witness for Jesus boldly.

14:26 Gathering

  • That’s a reference to 1 Corinthians 14:26 - What should you do then, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one has a song, has a lesson, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all these things be done for the strengthening of the church. 

  • The idea is that you allow the Spirit to lead your meeting by simply asking, “What has God been saying to you and doing in your life?” and “How do you need God to move in your life?”

  • The movement of the Spirit and the needs of the group, then, set the agenda.

  • It’s probably best not to use this at every Gathering. But it’s a nice change of pace if you’re regularly using the Gathering Guide.

Staying Connected

  • Encourage connections between family gatherings. Do life together. Do coffee or lunch together. Set up a WhatsApp group chat to share prayer requests and updates. Get people into Discovery Discipleship Groups (We’ll cover this in our session on Discipleship).

Community and Kids

  • Kids are great in community. Include them in sharing prayer requests and in praying. Ask them to lay hands on the adults and pray over them. Get the kids involved and not only will they, but the whole family will be blessed.

Gathering Guide

  • Note the Gathering Guide on Community.

LIVE / LEAD

  • What did you discover in this training session?

  • What is your “I will …” statement flowing from this training?

  • If you’re working through Be The Way as a group, who will facilitate the next session on Mission?

Extra Sessions on Community

PRINTABLE PDF

  • Community