In 1 Timothy 2:1, Paul tells Timothy, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.” Paul is essentially saying, I’ve got a lot of things I’m going to tell you, but the very first thing is that prayer needs to be a priority. We believe in the priority of Prayer First.Praying with healthy desperation is important individually, as families, as churches and certainly in Converge MSC. From 21 Days of Prayer books written by our President Gary Rohrmayer, our 2nd Tuesday Zoom prayer meetings, to praying regularly for our churches and pastors, prayer is a critical, first priority for our movement.
One of the ways that we serve our churches in the area of prayer is through Prayer First Weekends. The purpose of these weekends is to help raise the temperature of prayer within your church. These weekends can be catered to your setting and needs, and involve teaching on the issues of prayer along with “practicing” what we are learning, preaching on the issues of prayer, and finally, a concert of prayer where we pray for God’s transformational work in our lives personally, our churches and communities. Several churches have experienced the benefits of a Prayer First weekend, and we have seen God move in some really remarkable ways.
Recently, Springbrook Church in Huntley, Illinois participated in a Prayer First Weekend. Pastor Richard Wollard shared, “We had come through a significant staff change over the previous year. The Prayer First weekend catalyzed our church at the end of that challenging period of time. We got great feedback from the workshops, and the concert of prayer the last night was really powerful. Even long after the weekend, people continue to talk about that night. The Prayer First Weekend has given us a new passion for prayer, invigorated our prayer team, and given us a passion to pray for unchurched neighbors in a deeper way. We can’t wait to see how God will continue to move as we increase our priority on prayer.”
If you would like to consider a Prayer First Weekend at your church, contact Bryan Moak at bryan@convergemidamerica.org.