No pastor or group of ministry leaders would (or should!) ever deny the importance of corporate prayer in the life of a church community. The problem is, if asked what corporate prayer looks like at a particular church, most leaders would say it is relegated to a weekly corporate prayer meeting (if they even have that!) This is not a criticism, it is just what I know to be most church's reality.

At theMOVEMENT, we are aiming to create a culture of corporate prayer.

We are striving to develop an atmosphere of corporate humility, dependence, and desperation for the hand of God to move in us and through us in only the way that He can. We are on the road to weaving corporate prayer into the very fabric of our organization.

I will, very likely, write a post in the future about why corporate prayer is imperative, but the purpose of this post is to share with you a few of the ways how we are pursuing this:

1. Monday is our pre-determined day of corporate prayer and fasting. An encouraging video is sent out each Monday morning to the congregation to motivate our corporate prayer efforts and provide direction in regards to the corporate prayer focus for the week.

2. Monday is also the day of our corporate prayer meeting. (I am obviously not against a corporate prayer meeting, but a meeting alone will not create a culture.) During this meeting, there is a time of brief teaching, equipping us to pray more effectively, and a time of both private and corporate prayer.

3. We have developed a list of 10 Corporate Prayers that we will unite ourselves around and contend for until God answers. These prayers include:

* Uproot Sin
* Increase Awe
* Renew Oakland
* Spirit Fall
* Save Souls
* Enlarge Territory
* Guard Unity
* Burden Hearts
* Supply Needs
* Send Laborers

4. We pray one of these corporate prayers in our Sunday service prior to the preaching of the message.

5. We pray one of these corporate prayers in our midweek groups upon the conclusion of that evening's meal and discussion.

6. We pray one of these corporate prayers in our team meetings every time they gather either to serve on Sundays or to prepare for the future.

7. We encourage that one of these corporate prayers be prayed in our one-on-one discipleship relationships upon the conclusion of each discipleship meeting.

8. We pray at least one of these corporate prayers at our membership gatherings that we hold once a trimester.

9. We pray at least one of these corporate prayers in our pastoral team meetings each time we gather.

10. We pray at least one of these corporate prayers in our staff meetings each time we gather.

10 corporate prayers. 10 different ways we are pursuing creating a culture of corporate prayer. There are, very likely, many more ways in which this can be done, but we can't wait to see how God honors our efforts to consistently posture ourselves in humility, as a community, before Him!