Operation World Leaders Resources: 10 Simple Ideas to Help You Lead Your Church in Prayer for the Nations.
Prayer is important and God calls us to pray for the nations, but there are so many needs. How to start? What can you do that will authentically fit into your church community? What is sustainable long-term; rather than just a short fad? The resource Operation World Enhanced eBook CD/ DVD and Wall Map has been developed to help with these very questions. Now here are some ideas to help you get started:
Idea 1: Using the PowerPoint presentations on the Operation World DVD, you can highlight on the monitors or screens in your church one of the countries from that week or the country for that Sunday. If you don't have projectors in your church, you can simply read a few of the prayer challenges during the service. This can become a tradition that your community of worship expects each Sunday.
Idea 2: As a leader in the church involved in various meetings, make sure to open up your time with prayer for the country of the day. It is amazing how lifting our eyes beyond our own circumstances allows us to approach the matters of the day with perspective and humility.
Idea 3: Have you had a Family Service at your church? If you have gathered all ages together into one service you know how rewarding that time can be. Why don't you take one of those times and design it around prayer for the various parts of the world? Use the tools on the Operation World DVD to resource your event.
Idea 4: If your church has a key anniversary it celebrates, then integrate a global focus into that celebration. Find the country that coincides with the day your building was dedicated or on the day the church was founded and adopt that country in a special way. You might plan a short term mission trip to that location or you can support a missionary going to that country.
Idea 5: Do you have bulletin boards in your entryway or community room? That is a great place to display the Operation World Wall Map and highlight key countries where your church is reaching out.
Idea 6: Many churches have displays that show the location and information related to the missionaries they support. If you have something like that, consider printing out the country profile that matches where they work, laminating it and displaying it near their picture or latest prayer letter.
Idea 7: Consider listing in your bulletin the countries that people can pray for during the upcoming week along with a link to the Operation World Web site to get more information on that day.
Idea 8: Prayer is already going on in your church. One simple way to incorporate prayer for the nations is to identify the prayer warriors, prayer email lists and other prayer ministries and then provide them with a copy of the Operation World CD/DVD/Book so they can resource people in the church through their ongoing efforts.
Idea 9: If you have a computer in your church library, consider putting the Operation World CD or DVD on that computer as a reference for anyone who wants to interact with the extended data, video, presentations and other features. Make sure to put a sign near the computer so people know that it is available.
Idea 10: Because small groups are so integral to churches today, take the time to think through how prayer for the nations can connect in with your small group studies. But don't over-strategize. This might be a great time to challenge each group to come up with a unique way of praying for the nations.
Blessings as you lead your church in prayer!