Entering the Circle

by Michael Sove

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." John 17:20-21 (my emphasis)

The will of the Trinity is that we should be invited into the fellowship of the Trinity. What a beautiful picture to have as you gather with your cell group. Many times we talk about recognizing Christ in our midst, but what about recognizing us in "Their Midst?" The Father Son and Holy Spirit.

Dallas Willard writes these words:

“God’s aim in human history is an inclusive community of loving persons with Himself included as it’s primary sustainer and most glorious inhabitant.” Dallas Willard

As I gather with my cell I'm always trying to heighten our awareness of whose presence we're in. I do this in a number of ways...

• Begin with prayer addressing the members of the Trinity, acknowledging their presence, inviting their work in us and through us.
• By spending quality time in worship, praying and singing and expressing love directly to God.
• Allowing time for listening and responding, asking people if they heard anything from God that they would like to share.
• By not responding quickly to a need but by pausing and asking God for direction for ministry.

As we enter the circle of the fellowship of the Trinity, lives are transformed, bodies are healed, marriages restored and dreams are realized. Come to the cell gathering looking for God's movement in your midst and you won't be disappointed.

What practical ideas would you add to my list to heighten awareness of the presence of God as you gather with your cell?

Michael

Prayer: The Pathway to the Spirit-filled Life

Prayer: The Pathway to a Spirit-filled Life
by Michael Sove

As leaders we need to hear the call to the Spirit-filled life.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 (NIV)

Not only must we hear the call but must heed the call to the Spirit-filled life.

“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Eph 5:18 (NIV)

At Allen we believe prayer is the pathway to a Spirit-filled life. We ask all our pastors and cell leaders to participate in “Soul Switch.” This is an on-going 40 day period of commitment, where each of us agrees to pray for 30 minutes and read for at least 15 minutes daily. As we do this we ask God to crucify our self-focus and our self-confidence.

Prayer must become a meeting with God. We don’t like to use the word quiet time, as this meeting with God is far more than quiet. In order to meet God, your soul must thirst for God. We believe that when you approach God you must have “intense intentionality.”

Psalm 42:1-2 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (NIV)

Prayer also becomes important in the destruction of strongholds (areas of persistent disobedience that we refuse to destroy but rather try to justify). In order to remain Spirit-filled, you must attack the strongholds. We encourage each other to C.A.B daily. (Confess your sin, Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you, Believe that you have been filled)

James 4:7 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (NIV)

Do you want to have a strong cell church that impacts nations for the Glory of God? Then grow Christians to become Spirit-filled Believers. Put them on the pathway of prayer. It begins with you, passes through the leaders and spreads to the others.

Comments?

Michael

This week we've been talking about how we can integrate prayer in the cell. Brother Lawrence coined the phrase, "Practicing the Presence of God." If a cell recognizes "Christ in the midst" prayer will be spontaneous and can happen at any point in the cell gathering, rather than being relegated to a specific time and place, or just a closing exercise.

Cell members who are in tune with God and listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit will be ready to pray at any point in the gathering. Right in the middle of a discussion, we've stopped and had a person who was welling up with tears sit in a chair so others could gather around and pray for and with them.

This week I wanted to draw your attention to two things we do in our cells that really allow us to get specific in prayer beyond just being ready to pray as led by the Spirit at any point in the gathering.

First: During our weekly breakout time for discipleship. We break into two's or three's, men with men and women with women. We use the following questions to share transparently and hold each other accountable.

Life Transformation Questions (For use in groups of three/two)

#1 How have you done this week in meeting the Lord through prayer and reading His Word?

#2 What do you hope to do differently as a result of this week’s passage/message?

#3 Do you have a need to confess any sin?

#4 Who are you praying for to receive Christ? What is the next step you need to take in this relationship?

#5 How can we pray for you? (Burdens, Hopes…)

As you can see any honest sharing on any of these questions can lead to specific prayer. We try to give at least one half hour to this breakout time.

Second: During our mission focus at the end of cell. All our cells have adopted international pastors for prayer and ministry. We want each of our cells to have a heart for the nations. So at the end of each cell gathering we come back together after the discipleship time and we pray specifically for one of the needs of our international pastor that we have adopted as a cell.

God has provided many blessings to these pastors as people's hearts have softened through prayer and God has directed them to meet the needs they were praying for. God loves to answer prayer specifically, so make sure there are opportunities to share specific requests as you gather the next time.

From Passive to Purposeful Prayer

As I write this first blog for the JCG Group, here is a little bit about me. I’m the Cell Pastor (Champion) at Allen Memorial in Salisbury, Maryland. We are a church of 450-500 adults in the process of transitioning to be a “Spirit-filled cell church that impacts the world for Christ.” We currently have 25 cell groups. I have a heart for the nations and will often share thoughts from those I am mentoring on the front lines, as well as from my own experiences in the trenches.

“Pastors and churches have to get uncomfortable enough to say, ‘We are not New Testament Christians if we don’t have a prayer life.’ This conviction makes us squirm a little, but how else will there be a breakthrough with God?” (Jim Cymbala – Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire – Zondervan, 1997, p.50)


Prayer must be at the core of our Christian life and our community life. Prayer is to be the heartbeat of our life as Christ followers and our life together as the church gathered. Prayer becomes not only the foundation of the cell church but the atmosphere it lives, moves and breathes in.

When we understand this we will move away from passive praying, which is to pray only when one has time or feels like praying, to passionate, purposeful and persistent praying. At Allen, the first step we have taken to strengthen our prayer base is to establish a weekly prayer initiative called “FaceDown.” Each Wednesday from 6 am until 8 pm our prayer room at our church facility is open for people to gather and pray together for the objective and needs of our church. All staff have a shift in the prayer room and are committed to this time of prayer. We have a long way to go to become a praying church.

In talking with Pastor Munawar from Pakistan, he gathers believers to pray three times a day for an hour as well as 5-8 pm on Saturday for fasting prayer. This is also the regular practice of Pastor Suresh from India to hold fasting prayer on Saturday for three hours. He also said he encourages his cell leaders to daily prayer and once a week fasting prayer as he sees this as the key to revival. Once a month they call the whole church to three days of prayer and fasting as well.

What prayer practices do you have when it comes to the church as a whole? Michael