Praying Pam

As I was blogging on the one of the intercessory types, I read an interesting comment: "When a pastor falls, part of the blame is sha red with the congregation because we are the prayer shields for our leaders ." from the book " Intercessors" by T. Femrite , E. Alves , K.Kaufman Wow! Did someone actually have the guts to say that out loud ? To print it in a book?! Awesome! The reality is, they're right! We are called to pray for those in authority. The problem is, so many of us think that someone else is doing it, so we don't have to! But what if no one is praying !?! What if everyone thinks the other guy is praying for the pastor and his family, and in reality, no one is? What then? Think about it! Are we surprised at the burn out rates for pastors? What about the divorce rates among the clergy? They are on the rise. What can we do about it? PRAY! Yup...it's that easy - pray! Not leave it up to anyone else to pray for the pastor or leader in our lif

Sorry I haven't updated this recently. I'm on Sabbatical - which means a 'rest' - until Sept. 1. Once I'm back from this time of rest..and renewing vision , I'll be updating the blog again. In the mean time...I'd really like to know if anyone is finding this helpful - so if you haven't left a comment, I'd love to hear some. *Are there points about a Prayer Shield that I still need to cover? Also...if you are regular reader, I'd love your prayers on my behalf. I am finding that going into this sabbatical I'm being approached by alot more leaders - some of businesses, others of churches and still others of ministries of influence around the world - to set up prayer shields for them. I need strategy from the Lord, as to how to do this. I'm running out of my own 'pool' of intercessors, and I can see the need is greater than I can do . What's the Lord saying? And what does He what me to do? Is there a better way to try to organ

I am what you would call a ' Big God' person. By that I mean, that I don't focus on the enemy when I pray - I focus on God. I don't go looking for demons under every bush or rock, and I don't see the demonic everywhere and in every situation. BUT....and here's the BUT.....I have been reminded in the last ten years or so, that I can't be naive. We ARE in a war. We DO have an enemy, and that enemy's goal is to kill, steal and destroy everything he can in my relationships : with God and with others! So....in order to defeat this foe, I have to understand his tactics. Yes, warfare is inevitable. As a leader, I have to be aware that am going to be 'contended for'. As a leader, I can't let false humility lead me into dangerous traps: eg . " Oh, who am I to ask people to pray for me." or better yet, ' I'm nothing special - just little ' ol me'! No way! We have to understand 'who' we are and fight accordingly.

II Chron .23:6b...." all the rest are to guard what God has assigned to them." ICor.7:17...' retain the place the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him." The Message says: " And don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there." Defining the assignment means being able to break it down into the following categories: 1. What 2. Who 3. Why 4. Where 5. How I am going to start with the basic areas that actually train intercessors in their prayer assignments. Remember, we never start off on a Prayer Shield, we have, through obedience, learned to pray with what first, is right in our hand - right in front of us! It is through learning to pray for, and cover those in our immediate areas of influence and responsibility, that we gradually take on more assignments from God to pray for those among - specifically leaders. Bu

Maturing in intercession means being trustworthy with the secrets of God and with the confidences of those in authority you are called to pray for. As Tommi Femrite says: " We are to be like vaults where God can hide his private thoughts, knowing that they will only be released at His discretion." We also need to continually work on not taking our own worth or value from the words that we get on behalf of those we are praying for! Part of our faithfulness gets tested when we continue to get words for aleaders, without encouragement. That is somethign that leaders need to work on, absolutely no doubt of that, BUT the real issue for many of us on a prayer shield, is to remember 'why' we are doing what we are doing. Is if for 'man'? Or have we felt called by God? As intercessors called to pray for leaders, we need to be known for our faithfulness, our loyalty and our ability to keep a confidence. Leader's who do not feel safe with their intercessors,

Looking for Intercessors Hey! Any Intercessors out there, looking for opportunities to pray? I am looking for intercessors who are feeling called to partner in prayer, on behalf of others. Intercessors who are able to be confidential and trusted with prayer issues for leaders and those who are currently influencing for the Kingdom of God in their fields. If you've been looking for an opportunity to actually function as part of a team that is praying for businesses....or perhaps pastors & leaders....or missionaries - contact me.I have a list of people that are requesting to be paired up with Intercessors for prayer support, but my pool of intercessors is currently empty - they are all out on assignments and maxed out ! If you've been following this blog, and feeling like you'd like to find some other ways to be a part of praying for people/businesses, then let me know.I had hoped to have a down loadable form for intercessors to fill out, but my techie buddie is in Tai

TRUST: (n) reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence. One of the biggest issues that seems to come up, time and time again when trying to establish a prayer shield, whether for the leader or the prayer person, is the issue of trust. Once trust has been broken, it's hard to recover - but recover we must! Without trust, the whole point of a prayer shield falls apart. Let me explain...... If a leader doesn't trust prayer people, then either they won't really share what they need prayer for, or they won't receive what the prayer people have heard from the Lord. If prayer person doesn't trust leaders, then they won't submit what they are hearing from the Lord on their behalf, and thereby rob them of an opportunity to be encouraged or alerted to things, by the Lord thru them! Either way.....broken trust, left unhealed, will ultimately cause a lack of functionality in a prayer shield. Now..I know there will b

I love working on, and teaching on Prayer Shields . Why? Well...I think they are a type of symbol of the Body. A group of people, working together on behalf of anothers benefit! We don't always feel like we are personally getting something out of praying for someone else, but then, the Word tells us that if one part of the Body hurts, the whole Body hurts - so it goes to reason, that when one part of the Body gets healed, or breaks through or is able to rejoice again, that the whole Body must, somehow, someway, also be reaping the benefits! I love knowing I've been a part of team, who has helped 'dig someone else out' from under their circumstances or warfare! It's a great feeling. In order to be a really good prayer shield tho, there are a number of things that have to working right - or ' fitly joined together'. The first one is TRUST. A leader has got to trust us (his prayer people) with his requests - whether those requests are needs, wants or just iss

The second (most common) barrier to establishing a Prayer Shield is 'offense' or wounding in a leader by prayer people. Are you surprised? Don't be! The enemy has used offense since the Garden to manipulate situations and people, to do what is most beneficial to him, and hurtful to them. We will always be offered the opportunity for offense or hurt, but it's how we chose to deal with it that will determine it's finale effect on our lives and ministries. Over the years, as I've spoken to many pastors and church leaders, their biggest issue is often trusting prayer ( or prophetic) people! If there are any past issues with prayer people who have used their gift of prayer to manipulate/intimidate , judge or gossip about a leader, those unhealed wounds will cause a leader to feel insecure and uneasy when approached about setting up a prayer shield. The first thought is that they can't trust their real needs to those that are offering to pray, because they mi

One of the most common barriers to actually establishing a Prayer Shield for a leader, is often the 'leader'. Most leaders struggle with feeling inadequate about even asking for something like this, because they don't believe they deserve it..or are doing anything important enough that merits it. The other most common barrier is 'past experiences' either with intercessors or with prayer, that the leader needs healing from. Now...let me explain. (I'll do this in two parts..and today just blog on the first barrier....) 1. False humility - " I'm not important enough to actually ask people to be committing time to pray for me." Perhaps the hardest thing for those that are doing the jobs they do, because love to 'serve' others, is to actually believe that they deserve a prayer shield. I don't know how many times I've heard people say that they can understand why ' this person' or ' that person' needs prayer shield (

Hi Pam, I was wondering how to begin to co-ordinate a shield for my pastor. How would I approach potential prayers on behalf of the leader? Thanks Kristen Great question Kristen...and thanks for asking! Right now, I co-ordinate 8 prayer shields. In the newest ones that I've taken on, the Leader knows that I am overseeing it with the idea that within 3 - 6 months, we will identify someone on the prayer shield who could take over as Co- ordinator . Then I approach that person, ask them to pray about it...and if they say 'yes', then I will mentor them into the role. How do I do that? Well, remember, for at least 6 months they've been receiving email prayer requests and have been a part of a 'team' or a prayer shield. Now, I also begin to involve them in how to edit emails, gather all the input..and also stir the team up when needed. After a couple of months of the 'two' of us working side by side....I then send an email out to the 'team' ( after c

When a leader decides to step out and ask for Prayer it's like 'drawing a line in the sand' and saying ' That's enough!' When a leader asks for prayer, it can also be a humbling experience because it's often hard for many of us to ask for the very thing we need. There is always the lie of the enemy too, that says , ' Who am I, to be asking for a prayer shield? I'm not important. ' Well, if you are influencing for the Kingdom of God, if you are doing what God's asked of you, and taking ground for the Kingdom - who are you not to ask for prayer coverage ?!! Ask yourself who has benefited for hundreds of years, by convincing leaders ( whether in the church field or the business community), that they are 'not important enough' to be calling for prayer coverage? We all know the answer - the enemy! The time has come to realise that asking for prayer, is actually two fold: 1. it's an act of humilty ( because it is humbling isn'

The most common question I get asked is, "How does it work?" or " How would I use a Prayer Shield?" Many leaders would like to have intercessors praying for them, but they don’t know how to mobilize them, or after they have mobilized them, how to communicate with them. Hopefully training up someone to take on the role of Co-ordinator will help you in that, but you still need to know how to work with your co-ordinator so that he/she can get your prayer requests out to your team. Please make sure you feel comfortable with your co-ordinator editing your requests – sometime less is more! REMEMBER : These should be intercessors that you can TRUST with details. If you'd be worried about 'them' knowing details – then they are not the ones to ask. Your personal Prayer Shield needs to be ones you feel confident in. KEEP IT SIMPLE - requests that can be kept to one page, so that your Intercessors can keep it in their bible, or on their fridge - this helps th

It's important for you to realise that there are many different types of prayer partners/intercessors. Just as there are many different styles of prayer! It's important as you are looking at possibly working with a prayer shield, that you know the difference between the different 'callings' on Intercessors. While there are often references to 'pastors' in much of this, all my information is applicable to leaders in any sphere of influence: business, goverment, education, media etc. Once again, if you are taking ground for the Kingdom, in whatever sphere of influence that the Lord has given you - it's more than likely that you need to consider working with a prayer Shield. Different Types of Prayer Partners While we are specifically looking at Prayer Shields, I want to explain the difference between what a Prayer Shield is, and other types of Prayer Partner's you, as a leader, may have. 1.. Priority One – Personal Prayer Shield: This is what we are ai

There are times you need to add to your prayer shield list. Here are several indicators that you do not have enough prayer coverage and need to mobilize more intercessors. 1.You and/or your family are getting hit with physical or mental anguish on a regular basis. 2. Your intercessors indicate that they are being attacked on a regular basis, or are losing quite a bit of sleep keeping you covered in prayer. *Since they are the ‘heat absorbers’ for the fiery darts coming at you, this indicates that the warfare has been stepped up and you need to add more strength to the prayer coverage. 3.The situations in your life do change when you are under attack, but only after long laborious battles. You need more intercession to pierce the darkness coming against you. 4.Your responsibilities have increased and/or your sphere of influence has increased. eg. Public ministry, regional or international traveling, speaking engagements etc. Many ministries or leaders in business, make a fatal mist

GETTING STARTED 1.ASK…the first step is to pray and ask the Lord to show you those that pray on your behalf. 2.SEEK…make a list of or make note of, those whom you feel might pray for you on a regular basis. (Notice that some people will say to you at church “I’m praying for you.” but what does that mean? It can be the Christian version of “ We should do lunch sometime!” ) Take time to ask some of them what they are hearing from the Lord when they are praying for you. Make note of the ones you get a 'sense' are really on track with you spiritually and whose hearing seems to be clear and sharp. If you are in ministry , God has already set aside some who are praying for you. Mobilizing them for effective intercession is usually a simple matter of recognizing what God has already done. 3.KNOCK….Now you can ask those who you feel God has brought to your heart, if they would be willing to be contacted to be a part of to be your personal intercessors or prayer shield OR your Prayer S