When women from Christ Community Presbyterian Church (CCPC) in Lakeland, FL come to their first women’s Bible study gathering of the year, they each get a blank notecard on which to write 3 prayer requests for the semester: a personal request, a request related her work (be it in the C-suite or the garden), and one request in an area of weariness or hopelessness. The women leave the cards at study and update them along the way, using them to pray for one another over the course of the semester. At the end, leaders ask for testimonies of how God has been at work.
Women’s Bible study gathering at Christ Community Presbyterian Church in Lakeland, FL
“It’s been amazing to see how God has used this practice to build our faith,” shares Women’s Ministry Director Creigh Brown. “Consistently praying for the things on our cards has opened our eyes and helped us to pay attention to the work God is doing in our lives. The women’s Bible study at Trinity Lakeland, our ‘mother church,’ uses prayer cards too, and it has been fun to share tools and ideas over the years.”
“Consistently praying for the things on our cards has opened our eyes and helped us to pay attention to the work God is doing in our lives.”
“Our church hosted one of the earliest A Praying Life Seminars,” Creigh continues, “so there’s a sense in which seeJesus’ approach to prayer has shaped us at the DNA level. Our pastor will say in the midst of a sermon, ‘If this is something you’re struggling with, I’d encourage you to start a prayer card on it.’”
Of course, the power of prayer cards is less in the form of the card than in the way the practice helps us pay attention to what the Spirit is doing in response to our prayers and see stories of God’s faithfulness.
Creigh shares, “A fairly quiet woman who had never used prayer cards before became a part of the study. As she saw God answering prayers in the group, she shared with her husband at home. This couple, who had never consistently prayed together before, started keeping prayer cards at the dinner table so that they could pray together in a consistent way.”
Some stories are simple and delightful: “A young woman longed to get pregnant, so we prayed before Christmas break that she could have a baby. What a joy it was for the women who were praying with her to celebrate when she returned to in January, pregnant with twins!"
Amy Starkes, Women’s Ministry Assistant Director for Prayer and Discipleship recalls, “In A Praying Church, Paul Miller mentions that image of the soldier using the radio to ask for firepower in a particular location on the ground in a war. I’ve used that metaphor countless times when I share with the women about prayer. And I’ve come to see how the Spirit does the heavy lifting when we pray. The question really is: ‘Where do we need the explosion of all the goodness that God is in our lives and communities?’”
The question really is: "Where do we need the explosion of all the goodness that God is in our lives and communities?”
Recently, CCPC began shortening their worship service on the first Sunday of the month in order to have some time to gather the whole body in corporate prayer. “People are free to go, but welcome to stay,” shares Creigh. “We have a one-page guide we pass out – sort of a giant prayer card for current needs in and around the community – and people gather in groups to pray. But it’s not unusual even on an ordinary Sunday morning to see two people talking and then pivoting briefly into prayer for one another.”
In his forward to A Praying Church, Dane Ortland notes that the book is not so much about prayer as it is, “a book about God, and how we move through life as a church as if he is actually there.” At CCPC, prayer cards are helping people begin to move through life more confident that he truly is there.
If you’d like to move through the next semester of Bible study or community group with more of an awareness of how God is at work in your church, Christ Community Presbyterian Church’s women’s ministry invites you to download their sample card tool here.
