“The purpose of prayer ministry is not to make people feel better but to connect them with the Living God.”
—Paul Anderson
We are the Church, believing together in the power of prayer in Jesus’ name! Caregivers and families impacted by disability, mental health concerns, complex medical situations or other challenges need us to lead and serve them in prayer—often and well.
Prayer ministry can be intimidating when the recipients of our caring are faced with complicated circumstances. The truth is, they themselves can be complicated. Nonetheless, Jesus would not want us to hesitate in offering prayer. And nothing is too complicated for God.
I’ve seen many sides of this kind of prayer myself. I am a parent and full-time caregiver to an adult daughter with profound disabilities. I am also a disability ministry leader and pastoral counselor. In addition, I have served for many years on prayer teams in my church. I am not an expert. I have simply had opportunity for very good quality training, reading, and perspective.
My hope is to encourage and empower others to keep praying and to remember our purpose in prayer.
Photo credit: Jack Sharp on Unsplash.com.
NOTE: Portions of the content below are adapted from Prayer Ministry: A Practical Handbook for Training Prayer Ministers by Paul Anderson (2006).
Help people connect with the God who heals, restores, comforts, and encourages.
Listen attentively. Be willing to ask questions (What do you want God to do for you? What is your deepest need today?).
Understand that caregivers will typically need one of the following during prayer:
Reassurance of the Father’s Love — God is near, accessible, gracious, forgiving, faithful, and merciful. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
A Release of the Father’s Power — We are powerless. With God, there is always help.
Declaration of the Father’s Control — Things may be out of control for us, but not for God. He is Lord.
Believe with and for the person receiving ministry that God is unleashing power and purpose in their life and their family.
Make your enthusiasm be a response to the prayer recipient rather than a motivator for them.
Make space for some silence during prayer ministry to allow the person receiving ministry to notice the presence of God. Listen to crying; allow time for tears.
Pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s leading about what is needed — healing, cleansing, fresh perspective, comfort, conviction, repentance, empowerment, revelation of truth and purpose.
Help a caregiver repent when it is clearly needed.
Use your time in prayer ministry as an occasion to bring the caregiver into the presence of the Lord, not as a time for counseling.
Recognize when follow-up counseling may be needed. Your kind and tactful suggestion could be a gift.
Avoid putting your personal expectations on the people you pray for. Let God do the “fixing” and simply call out a blessing on what you see happening.
Hold limitless expectations about what God may do while trusting when He seems slow to respond. (Remember 2 Peter 3:9.)
Pray for healing with respect for the person who is sick or disabled. Life challenges bring shame with them. Remember that illness/disability can be demonic in origin, caused by sin, or given for the glory of God. Encourage the prayer recipient to seek ongoing prayer if healing is not immediate. Resist healing prayer techniques and simply persevere in faith.
Be a student of the Holy Spirit as you give and receive prayer. He will help you learn how to touch people with His love.
Be the initiator in offering prayer. Many weary or hurting people will hesitate to seek prayer for many different reasons. On the other hand, those who are inclined to seek it often will be exceedingly blessed by your proactive outreach. A prayer recipient who was invited to receive prayer may even be more quickly satisfied by shorter prayers than when they had to ask for it.
Maintain strict confidentiality.
Remember, prayer is a process—not an event.
Jesus, quoting from Isaiah, said,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has…sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed…”
Luke 4:18
Lisa Jamieson is a caregiver consultant, pastoral counsellor and author of popular books and Bible studies including Finding Glory in the Thorns and Jesus, Let’s Talk. Lisa and her husband, Larry, live in Minnesota with the youngest of their three grown daughters, Carly, who has Angelman Syndrome. Together, the Jamiesons founded Walk Right In Ministries in 2008, a non-profit organization building faith and community with special needs families.
