Praying Over the Pastor Before a Service

Please consider joining the pre-service prayer around the pastor. Either in Bryan’s office at 6 p.m. Saturday evening, or 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

If you attend the 9:30 am or 11:10 a.m. service, find at least one other person, (Jim Herzberg, Doug Haddan, someone with a Prayer Partner badge or one of our group, anyone who is willing), then find the pastor and just pray around him.

Some suggestions, only, of things to pray for: (some words and ideas are taken from one of Stormy Omartian’s books, some use actual Scripture.)

1.  that God would anoint Bryan with the power of the Holy Spirit, to use Bryan’s voice during the service

2.  for Bryan’s message to touch people’s hearts and be receptive to the message that God wants each person to hear

3.  and Ask God to protect Bryan and his family from the attacks of Satan, establish a wall of protection around him. Make him strong where he is weak.

  1. In Jesus name I command all lying spirits away from Bryan’s mind. He will not entertain confusion but live in clarity of thought.
  2. Help him to be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let his request be made known to You and may Your peace, which surpasses all understanding, guard his heart and mind through Jesus Christ.

Praying in Public

1.  Be prepared. Preparation gives you confidence and diminishes ‘stage fright’ Don’t over-prepare, but at least decide on something specific to pray for.

2.  Be yourself. Don’t try to be more eloquent than you really are. You are talking to God and he knows you better than anyone else. Use simple words and short phrases. Stop talking when you run out of things to say.

3.  Be brief. Your purpose is to share a brief prayer, not to deliver a sermonette, share a Scripture or give a testimony.

4.  Something I picked up on during a prayer session was really helpful to me. One way to indicate that you are finished and that someone else may pray, is to end your prayer with ‘in Jesus name we pray’, just don’t add ‘Amen’. The last person to pray can end the whole prayer session with Amen.

Spoken prayer in front of others can be intimidating, but it is also rewarding. The more you do it, the more comfortable it becomes, and the more personal growth you will experience.