Prayer is the power behind the cell church. Prayer should never be categorized as a program. It’s beyond that. I believe prayer and missions provide the air that the church breathes. All of the growing cell churches I studied made prayer their priority. They emphasized prayer both in the cell and in the celebration. These churches organized morning prayer meetings, half-night prayer meetings, all night prayer meetings, or other types of organized prayer.

A few weeks ago, I ate lunch with David and Ty King, the pastors at York Alliance Church in York, PA. Ty King is passionate about prayer and has done an excellent job of promoting prayer at York Alliance. She asked me if I could give her advice about prayer in the cell church. My answer was to check out the prayer ministry at Cypress Creek Church (pastor Rob Campbell, also a board member at JCG).

I’ll never forget my prayer experiences at Cypress Creek Chuch. As we sat in the prayer room on Saturday night, I felt as if I could touch heaven. Six other pastors and I were at Rob’s church in Wimberley, Texas, with approximately seven prayer warriors surrounding us. We were sitting in the middle, and they formed a half-circle around us. With pencil and paper in hand, these intercessors wrote down what God was showing them in preparation of their prayer for us.
The prayer warriors asked each of us to share our particular needs and prayer requests. They asked questions in order to make sure they knew how to pray specifically. And then the prayer time began. These warriors intermingled Scripture and prophecy in their prayers over us. The atmosphere was filled with God’s presence, and I practically floated away.

I’ve taken two groups of pastors to Cypress Creek Church. Both times, I came away energized by the power of God through prayer. When this church was first started in 1994, the very first person they hired was Cecilia Belvin, the pastor of prayer. Cecilia has developed likeminded prayer warriors at CCC. Today, Cypress Creek Church has one of the most vital prayer ministries I have ever encountered. God has blessed this church abundantly because they’ve placed Him first.

Here at Wellspring we have a weekly Wedneday evening prayer meeting and a once per month half-night prayer meeting. Of course, the cells engage in regular prayer as well.

What prayer strategies are you using in your church?

BTW, you can purchase Cecilia Belvin’s excellent book on prayer and find out how to receive coaching on prayer at http://www.ceciliabelvin.com/
Joel