5 Things to Pray for Your Church: Prayers that change things for the life of your church

by Rachel Jones

Overview

We long for God to be working in our church fellowship, and we know we're meant to be praying for our church. But often when it comes to it, we don't quite know what to ask for. Or we feel our requests to God are shallow, repetitive and stuck in a rut.

That's where this little book is designed to help. It will equip you to pray powerful prayers for your church family—prayers that really change things, because they're based on God's word.

Each spread takes a passage of Scripture and suggests 5 things to pray for an aspect of church life. Because when we pray in line with God's priorities as found in his word, our prayers are powerful and effective (James 5 v 16)—and that's a truly thrilling prospect.

Use in your personal devotions, with a friend or as a church.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784980306
Publisher:	The Good Book Company
Publication date:	01/05/2016
Series:	5 Things
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	4.33(w) x 7.01(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Rachel Jones is the author of A Brief Theology of Periods (Yes, Really), Is This It? and several books in the award-winning Five Things to Pray series, and serves as Vice President (Editorial) at The Good Book Company. She helps teach kids at her church, King's Church Chessington, in Surrey, UK.

Table of Contents

Praying that my church would...
1. Remember what we are
2. Be a body growing in maturity
3. Be devoted to one another
4. Love and serve one another
5. Hold to the truth
6. Make known God’s glory
7. Give generously
Praying that I would...
8. Use my gifts well
9. Persevere when I get weary
10. Be who my family need me to be
Praying for people in my church
11. A church leader
12. My small group
13. Children’s work
14. The youth work
15. Not-yet-Christians
16. Mercy ministries
17. The elderly
Praying for the universal church
18. Another church in our area
19. Our mission partner
20. The global church
21. The unreached

Editorial Reviews

I recommend this series to you on basis of the simple fact that they moved me to pray. They both showed me ways to pray for my church and my loved ones and they kindled in my heart a want to pray. These are simple books, with the modest and eternally profound aim to show how the Bible informs our prayers. Rachel Jones manages the difficult work in withdrawing from the picture and leaving the reader to see how simple it is to align our prayers with the will of our listening Father. These books could well be a cause of great blessing for your church and people you love.

John Hindley (Pastor of BroadGrace Church

Rachel has just put together something delightfully simple and useful: taking 21 Bible verses or paragraphs, she has turned each into sets of five short guided intercessions for the church and published it as a little 90-page paperback. The spread of biblical material means there’s a good balanced diet of praise, thanksgiving, confession, and supplication.

Tom Woolford

I really liked this book. I liked it’s variety. … Most of all I liked that because all the examples of prayers to pray are taken from God’s Word, using this book leads you to pray for the things that God actually wants to you to pray.Here’s a book worth placing in the hands of every church member.

Dan Green

Five Things is a brilliantly simple but hugely effective means of stimulating your prayer life for church, mission, family and friends. Accessible and attractive, with lots of Scripture to focus prayer, it will be a great tool for churches to help members to pray regularly and creatively

Trevor Archer (London Director

For those of us who often struggle to know what to pray for our church and for the people we love, these books are brilliant at giving us lots of really helpful, specific things to pray that are straight from God's word. With a mixture of praise, confession, thanksgiving and petition the prayers are repeatedly focussed on what it looks like to live in the light of eternity in the various different situations that are highlighted. Starting with scripture really helpfully ensures that we are not praying merely for changed circumstances, as we can tend to do, but rather for changed hearts that bring honour and glory to God.

Andrea Trevenna (Women’s worker at St Nicholas Sevenoaks

The Puritan William Gurnall once said: ‘Prayer is nothing but the promise reversed or God’s word turned inside out and formed into an argument and retorted back again upon God by faith.’ It sounds great. But what does it look like in practice? 5 Things to Pray for the People You Love and 5 Things to Pray for Your Church answer that question. They’ll walk you through using God’s word in prayer. And praying God’s word is my number one tip to help people invigorate their prayer life. So read these books and invigorate your prayers.

Tim Chester (Crosslands Training; Author of Enjoying God)

If you feel like your prayer life could do with a bit of support, a bit of inspiration or input, then you’ve only got the price of a pint to lose: get this book and give it a go. I’d imagine it would also be great to give away to a church small group, or perhaps to some of the leaders in your church as they consider what it looks like to partner in prayer for the church.

Robin Ham

Five Things is a brilliantly simple but hugely effective means of stimulating your prayer life for church, mission, family and friends. Accessible and attractive, with lots of Scripture to focus prayer, it will be a great tool for churches to help members to pray regularly and creatively

Trevor Archer (Director of Training FIEC)

I recommend this series to you on basis of the simple fact that they moved me to pray. They both showed me ways to pray for my church and my loved ones and they kindled in my heart a want to pray. These are simple books, with the modest and eternally profound aim to show how the Bible informs our prayers. Rachel Jones manages the difficult work in withdrawing from the picture and leaving the reader to see how simple it is to align our prayers with the will of our listening Father. These books could well be a cause of great blessing for your church and people you love.

John Hindley (pastor of BroadGrace Church

The Puritan William Gurnall once said: ‘Prayer is nothing but the promise reversed or God’s word turned inside out and formed into an argument and retorted back again upon God by faith.’ It sounds great. But what does it look like in practice? 5 Things to Pray for the People You Love and 5 Things to Pray for Your Church answer that question. They’ll walk you through using God’s word in prayer. And praying God’s word is my number one tip to help people invigorate their prayer life. So read these books and invigorate your prayers.

Tim Chester (Author)

Five Things is a brilliantly simple but hugely effective means of stimulating your prayer life for church, mission, family and friends. Accessible and attractive, with lots of Scripture to focus prayer, it will be a great tool for churches to help members to pray regularly and creatively

Trevor Archer (FIEC Training Director)

For those of us who often struggle to know what to pray for our church and for the people we love, these books are brilliant at giving us lots of really helpful, specific things to pray that are straight from God's word. With a mixture of praise, confession, thanksgiving and petition the prayers are repeatedly focussed on what it looks like to live in the light of eternity in the various different situations that are highlighted. Starting with scripture really helpfully ensures that we are not praying merely for changed circumstances, as we can tend to do, but rather for changed hearts that bring honour and glory to God.

Andrea Trevenna (Associate Minister for Women

The Puritan William Gurnall once said: ‘Prayer is nothing but the promise reversed or God’s word turned inside out and formed into an argument and retorted back again upon God by faith.’ It sounds great. But what does it look like in practice? 5 Things to Pray for the People You Love and 5 Things to Pray for Your Church answer that question. They’ll walk you through using God’s word in prayer. And praying God’s word is my number one tip to help people invigorate their prayer life. So read these books and invigorate your prayers.

Tim Chester (Pastor of Grace Church

I recommend this series to you on basis of the simple fact that they moved me to pray. They both showed me ways to pray for my church and my loved ones and they kindled in my heart a want to pray. These are simple books, with the modest and eternally profound aim to show how the Bible informs our prayers. Rachel Jones manages the difficult work in withdrawing from the picture and leaving the reader to see how simple it is to align our prayers with the will of our listening Father. These books could well be a cause of great blessing for your church and people you love.

John Hindley (Pastor of BroadGrace church