At the Recovery Course we have, from the beginning, believed that everything we do should be undergirded with prayer.  

From that very first hope, idea, of establishing a Recovery Course start praying for everything and everyone needed and there are plenty of needs: both at the initial stage and throughout the course.  It is very helpful to have a designated Prayer Co-ordinator to lead this task and below are some suggestions that might be helpful for such a person.

In planning pray for:

• Local Christian support from other churches

• Suitable venue

• Team leaders who are reformed addicts and know the journey to be taken

• Person to oversee the catering and a supporting team

• Your guests: people needing to hear about and come on the course

Seek the support of local churches and the local Christian community asking for people willing to intercede for the establishment of the proposed course, and to continue to intercede for the people attending, your guests, once the course starts.

Establish a prayer network from:

• Your own church and prayer group

• Other churches and their prayer groups

• Individual Christians known to you

Communicate with network via weekly emails

• Start by describing stage of course reached.

• Pray for what guests are experiencing at this stage

• Pray for help and guidance for them from the Holy Spirit

• Always encourage prayer for protection of leadership team

• Any practical requests e.g. need for transport or cooks, etc.

• Any anonymised, specific requests from guests

The sample emails on the website relate to each week of the course.  These enable your intercessors to understand what your guests are being asked to consider in their lives each week  and to pray more effectively.

Prayers before the first meeting can include:

• The welcome is planned and warm  

• Guests are placed in the group that is right for them

No-one kept away by external events:

• Work commitments

• Travel problems

• Sickness -themselves or family

No-one kept away by negative thoughts:

• ‘My addiction is not serious’

• ‘I can control this myself’

• ‘I am too ashamed to admit it’

Prayer at the meeting venue itself

• Pray through the room where meeting held

• Ensure also that the Leader, group leaders and any speakers pray together

It is also good to try to find people, among your intercessors, who are willing to come along to some, or all meetings, and pray in a nearby room throughout the duration of the meeting. Prayer at the time and location of the meeting can be powerful.

Prayer during the evening [in a nearby room]

Pray for          

• Speakers, including those giving testimonies

• The particular issues of that evening’s session

• Each guest [there may be a register of attendance with first names only]

• Any issues that have arisen in conversation with guests [NB confidentiality!]

Claim             

• Promises in the Bible for the guests

Pray with       

• Anyone who comes in for individual prayer

Pray

• The personal prayers guests write in books given to each group [see below]

Guests can be informed that there are people praying for them in the building and invited to go out for individual, personal prayer if they wish and this has proved to be very helpful.  Again remember confidentiality and do not seek out guests should you meet them outside the meeting in any other forum.

Prayer for Individuals on the Course

Apart from offering guests the opportunity of ‘in person’ prayer in a nearby room, it is good to give each group a book from perhaps the fourth meeting, onwards, in which group members may write any personal prayer requests which can be prayed by the intercessors via the emails.

In writing down the prayer requests they are actually praying themselves and learning the habit of prayer which hopefully will remain with them for a lifetime.

Books:

• Books are made available to write individual prayer requests

Groups

• Prayer is encouraged within the groups for one another

These prayers are anonymised [confidentiality] and forwarded in the emails

Spiritual Battle

There is a spiritual battle.  Do not underestimate the intensity of this.  Prayer is the only answer.  Pray for everyone involved in any way in the Recovery Course.