About nine years ago, I began gathering with half a dozen women around the HCF kitchen island every week. It is here that I have learned how to pray—for myself, my family, but most of all for our church. Here I have learned what an honor it is to pray for our pastors and church leadership, and to come into agreement with what God is doing in our land. You can learn how to pray in power and authority over our church, too. Dear sister, your prayers over our church matter.
So how do we pray declarative prayers of truth and power over our church?
First of all, we need to pray in agreement with what our pastors are praying (or words they have received) over our church. This increases the power released when we are praying in unity with our leadership (not just praying what we think needs to be prayed). Yes, we all have the ability to hear the Holy Spirit—but the Holy Spirit has chosen to speak to our leaders, so we need to get on board with that! We need to catch the vision of what God is doing in our church and our community…and that most often comes through what He is speaking to our pastors.
Our pastors are not super-human. They are regular people like you and me. But they have been anointed by God to lead our church, and that is a great responsibility. They need us to support them in unity and in prayer.
One of my favorite verses to declare over our pastors is Ephesians 3:16.
I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.
Second, we need to be in tune with God’s Spirit. We need to ask God to make us so aware of His Spirit moving. We need to come ready to hear and see and speak what He is doing and saying. It does not matter if you are on the “prayer team” or not. This is something that every member of the church should be aiming toward every minute of the day.
This is not about us. It is about stepping in and being part of what God is doing. We as the Church have the responsibility to pray God’s Word and God’s will over our church. We are all part of the team. Our prayers create an atmosphere for God to come in power.
Third: Have faith. Spend time drawing near to God. We need to receive what God says about who we are; then He will deposit into us His heart for people. When we get God’s heart, we are able to pray in confidence His words over our church…His Body. God’s heart is for us. God’s heart is for this community. God’s heart is for this Church. So pray believing—for power, miracles, healing, freedom, and transformation. God wants to move in power in our church!
This post was written by Heather Dillard. To read more about her, click here.
Women's Ministry 
Amen, Heather! Love you, friend!