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.