Prayer Boot CampExemplo

Step 14: Set up Accountability.

You’ve been working to establish some new habits. Now it’s time to get some accountability to ensure that you keep praying once you finish this reading plan. 

If you’re not part of a church community, find one today. There are online and brick and mortar churches across the world; pastors and volunteers love to see others growing in their faith. Reach out and learn about opportunities to build relationships and find accountability.

If you want to create your own community, consider inviting 1-2 friends to pray.

But, be aware of some prayer group tendencies. 

Have you ever been in a group where people take turns asking others to pray for their distant family members? “Great Aunt Karen isn’t doing well”…These type of prayer moments can feel quite burdensome and difficult to remember later. Although it would be inappropriate to do so, we’ve often wanted to say, “We don’t know Aunt Karen, so it will probably be difficult for us to remember to pray for her. But we know you and care for you. How can we pray for you?”

But why do we find it easier to request prayer for others? The reasons may vary, but here are a few we’ve seen.
1) It is less vulnerable to share others’ weakness than to share our own.
2) It makes us feel more spiritual to care for others.
3) We may feel it is selfish to ask prayer for ourselves.

But remember, we are not comparing our prayers to others’ prayers. We are spending time with our Creator. He already knows our needs, and He knows we spend a lot of time thinking about our own worries.

If you begin a prayer group, ask, “How can I pray for you personally?” Spend several minutes discussing life. Share how they can pray for you as well; then take turns praying for one another. Turning on worship music will help keep your mind focused on God. Don’t feel bad if your first few sessions are 20 minutes long with 18 minutes of conversing and 2 minutes of prayer. This is boot camp. Start where you are. It is usually easier to talk than pray. Next time, determine to pray a little more than you did last time. 

God values relationship with us and with other believers. In Acts 2:42, the early church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

Two of the four items mentioned were friendship-based: fellowship (spending time together) and breaking bread (sharing meals). It’s in these contexts that we develop spiritual intimacy that allows us to deepen our confidence in prayer, comparing our prayers less to those around us and leaning in to our relationship with Jesus. That relationship simply becomes important enough to include in our other relationships as well. 

God,
Help us establish accountability, developing spiritual intimacy with other believers as appropriate. We are determined to be people of prayer. We need You.
Amen.