Praying and Ministry

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Praying and Ministry
When we think of God or believing in God we often think that going to church is what it takes to be a Christian. A priest will give his blessings and then we continue our week.

Unfortunately becomming a Christian has nothing to do with the church as an organisation or its priests that hand out Gods blessings. Becomming a Christian is a personal commitment guided by The Holy Spirit by the Grace of God and the Mercy of Jesus. This small study will learn you how to handle the tools God provides us with by His Holy Spirit.

What is praying ?
Praying is your personal contact with God; having a conversation with God lead by The Holy Spirit of God (1 Cor 12:1-12).

Gifts to us from the Holy Spirit are:

Mercy gifts: directly from God Himself

Serving gifts: gifts to serve others only

Revealing gifts: show the presence of the Holy Spirit

Working gifts: enableing Power of God

What does the word "ministry" mean ?
Ministry is a holy service lead by The Spirit of God to serve others by:

Prayers

Laying on hands by "ministers"

Encouraging

Informal education

Sacraments given by "ministers"

Why "ministry" is important…?
God promised us that He would send His Spirit when two people ore more are gathered in His Name. That Holy Spirit of God can do exactly the same as what Jesus could when He was on Earth with us. Jesus healed people, drove away demons, tought men and women how to pray and showed them the ways all men should go by obeing Gods Commandments in Love, Truth and Justice.

The Holy Spirit of God can still do all that now through our prayer and faith in God. All the gifts of The Holy Spirit to us should be put to good use, also lead by His Spirit. We do need a strong religious life according to His Commandments and the trust in Him and Him only for using the gifts to His will.

Preperations for ministry
Before you start with ministry you should keep in mind, that you:

strengthen your daily-self with solid every-day prayers, faith in God and in His Love

ask for forgiveness of your own transgressions

know that every Christian receives his authority, position and gifts through Jesus victory at the cross; we are all children of God.

take care of personal hygiene (deodorant, brushing teeth, clothing etc.)

What is important in praying for others ?

Gender: Men pray for men, women pray for women. Unless two people or more pray for one person. Then it is allowed for a man to pray for a woman only when a man and a woman pray for a woman. Never two men for one woman.

Making contact with the one you pray for;

Ask for her of his name

Ask why she or he came forward

Ask what he or she wants you to pray for

etc.

Take care that you listen to the answers to your questions; try to put the answers into the prayer as well as the questions. Also try to listen to The Voice of His Spirit trying to counsel you (images, visions, bible-texts etc.) and also try to put His input in your prayers.

Praying together
When you pray together it is important to ask for someones permission, as well as the permissions to lay your hand on someone. The correct procedure to take place is (biblically) as follows:

Ministers or preachers invite people to come forward for ministry

Ministers attend to people that come forward

Ministers make contact and ask for permission to pray and lay on hands

Together or in small groups both minister and "asker" pray

Minister gives the blessing of God when The Spirit gives His Consent.

Making contact during prayer
Make contact with one hand only. Only use your hand an don't try it with your feeth, mouth or whatever.

If appropriate touch the ill part of the one you pray for. For instance: a leg that causes pain, an arm that is injured, a head full of pain etc. But never touch someone at a place which is not appropriate in common daily life.

Ask the person you pray for to relax, to focus on God by prayer, to think of God and to put his trust in God and The Holy Spirit.

Minister: don't be afraid to put your trust in Gods Holy Spirit. Use the images, visions and other inspirations you perceive to decide the direction of your prayer.

Praying for….?

Fulfillment with the Holy Spirit

The presence of The Holy Spirit

The Fruit of the Spirit or strengthening of the present fruit of The Spirit

New strength for your work for God

etc.

When you ask for certain things in your prayers you really have to trust in getting what you asked for (one way or the other). Therefor a minister should observe whether any changes occur during the prayer like:

Speaking in tongue
The facial expression
Crying
Curing of the body
Walking "on clouths"
Changing attitude
Receiving of gifts from The Holy Spirit
etc.

God wants to give us what we need, but we do have to recognize that He gave us something. Wouldn't you thank the person that gave you a gift on your birthday ?

Praying for healing
Diseases come forth from the fall. Healing comes from Jesus' deliverant work at the cross (Jes. 53:4-5)

Methods that are used are:

Laying on hands

Anointing with oil

Straight telling and punishment

Simple prayer

The gift of prophecy can reveal (remember: secrecy !):

Hidden transgressions
The origin of diseases (f.e. not being able to forgive yourself or others)
The influence of demons (bad angels)

Results of the prayer can be, that somone wil be healed (in full or partly) by The Holy Spirit of God. But it can also be, that Gods Spirit only started a proces of healing. And of course it can also be that The Spirit decides to change others things first before He starts with healing…

Praying for people that are possessed by demons:

never should take place with one minister, but by two or more ministers !!!

never should be done with laying on hands!!!!

Praying for forgiveness (for yourself or for others)

It is important that you realize that Jesus forgives everyone that asks Him for forgiveness, but you really need to:

Feel guilty of your transgressions

Feel that you want to change your ways

Feel you need His forgiveness (so ask it yourself !)

Now one can forgive someone the transgressions of someone else. No priest, no minister noone can do that. Only he or she that committed the transgressions can ask the forgiveness of Jesus !

When Gods Spirit reveales transgressions to you try to let the person you pray for know and help him/her pray in that direction (asking forgiveness for certain transgressions).

When The Spirit allows you, you can always give Gods Blessings at the the of the prayer-session !

Praying as a reaction to evil/demonic forces
Satan and his demons, the fallen angels, can take the place in human beings that belongs to The Holy Spirit of God (every human is a child of God !). Satan is a thief, a murderer and a cheat. Death and decay comes from him (John 10:10).

The gift of distinction can reveal his presence to you. Never tell the persons in front of you of what you see, but ask other ministers to pray together for this person.

Jesus has given His followers the authority by His Holy Spirit to exorcise demons (1 Joh 3:8 , Marc 16:17).

Pray with authority (!)
I bind every evil spirit in the name of Jesus and I command you to be quiet. I invite the Holy Spirit of God to come and fill you with His peace. In Jesus name, AMEN.

DO NOT lay on hands!

Praying for guidance
Sometimes a person has personal problems and he or she doesn't know which steps he or she should take. This person can be desperate, but trust in God and want to ask Him for guidance.

The decision to take steps is always a decision of the person only. God gave every human being the freedom of choice (and actions).

The prayer should be focused on:

Faith and trust in God

Asking for strengthening your faith

Asking for Gods guidance (in matters)

Bless the person after the prayer with Gods Love, Peace, Guidance and Joy.
(To bless = saying good things about)

After the prayer something should be visible. As a minister you should always look for changes.

This course was put together by Dick Westerkamp and given at Youth For Christ in Driebergen - The Netherlands. Designed and edited for this webpage by Hein Kuipers dd. 23 October 2002

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