Be Sensitive as You Lead (Praying for Rain! United Prayer)

Maintain sensitivity to the fact that some participants are not so comfortable approaching God in prayer. They may never have experienced the power of hours spent in their own private prayer closet, and they certainly may not be accustomed to group prayer. A leader who offers long, perfectly developed prayers may intimidate some group members who feel they are not as eloquent. Pray as the Holy Spirit leads, but keep your words simple. Recognize the level of the other participants and begin there.
People may also be intimidated by the length of the prayer time. Those who are new to this united prayer
format often worry that the time will drag; they cannot imagine praying for a whole hour. However, as we
progress through the four themes, and as people are encouraged to keep individual prayers short and concise (rather than allowing the lengthy sermon-like prayers that go on and on), time usually goes quickly.
In fact, most participants will find that a whole hour of prayer can seem like just 20 minutes. The testimony
of many is, “I’ve never prayed this long before, but the time went so quickly. This is powerful!