Before it Begins, Pray for your eGroup

Phillippians 1:8-10 says, "God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.  And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ..."

The success of any eGroup starts with the leader.  Successful eGroup Leaders don't have to be great teachers, lecturers, or expositors of Scripture.  Great leaders are those who spend an inordinate amount of time praying for their leadership and their eGroup members.  Great leaders are those who are constantly asking God for wisdom, discernment, and an open heart for their eGroup.

So, as you are beginning your eGroup, it is so important for you to begin to build a foundation of prayer for your eGroup.  You must understand that God has led you into this role and He has anointed your leadership in this season.  Your role now becomes on of walking in the leadership that God has placed inside of you.  The first step in walking in that role is to lean more and more into God through prayer.  And, when we say prayer, we mean praying for your role, praying for your impact on the lives of your members, praying for the connections being made within the eGroup, and praying for the life change that takes place in our eGroups.  You are not just praying for your leadership - you are praying for God's impact on you and on your people.

Here are some practical ideas as you build a foundation of prayer for your eGroup:

1. Specific Prayer Time:  Dedicate a specific time each week to pray for your eGroup leadership and for wisdom and discernment in the words you speak, actions you take, and love you show to your members.  Ask God for conviction in any pertinent areas of your life.
2. Discernment:  Ask God for enlightenment in the areas of generosity and honor that may impact your leadership.
3. Psalms/Proverbs:  Read six to eight chapters in Psalms or Proverbs and ask God to speak to you through these specific teachings.
4. Your Members:  Pray for the specific members of the eGroup by name.  Follow up the prayer with a note of encouragement to the member, either via email or text.
5. Pray Scripture out loud: Many passages in the Bible are prayers addressed to God. (For example: The Psalms or the prayers sprinkled throughout Paul's letters.) Some of these passages can be assigned to group members before the prayer time, which they can read from their Bible.  Or, another suggestion is to "pray your way through" a chapter or book of the Bible. Read one section at a time, and then allow God to speak to you via prayer.
6. A.C.T.S.: Pray through the "Acts of Prayer" in one sitting.
   1. Adoration: Open up with only prayers of praise.
   2. Confession: Pray only prayers of confession and forgiveness.
   3. Thanksgiving: Prayers of thanks for God?s blessings and answered prayer.
   4. Supplication: Intercession and petition?asking God to intercede in your life.

These are just some practical action steps to pray for your leadership and for your eGroup members.  As we go along, we will introduce prayer activities during the eGroup sessions.

As you begin your leadership, you must understand the importance of prayer in your leadership and the role it will play in the success of your eGroup.

What are you the most excited about as you begin your eGroup leadership?  Make a list.  Then, pray through this list specifically.  Repeat the same process for those things that worry you the most about leading your eGroup.

Is prayer typically the first thing that you do in your preparation for a leadership role (eGroup leadership or not)?  Why or why not?  What steps can you take to ensure that you begin each leadership role by praying for God's hand of provision?

Who do you know that has a healthy and vibrate prayer life?  What can you learn from them regarding prayer?  How and when are you going to reach out to them to learn from their experiences?