You can think of prayer groups the way many churches would think of “small groups” in that our desire is to see people grow in their love and knowledge of God through his Word and building real relationships with other Christians. But our “small groups” have a special focus, and that is prayer. We recognize that praying together with other Christians is not always easy to incorporate consistently into your life, and yet we know from God’s Word it’s essential. At Calvary we have a deep conviction that God has called us to pray ultimately in order to glorify him, and we know that obedience is always glorifying to God. But we also have a deep conviction that God commands us to pray for our own good. So as Christians we want to be wise in being obedient to God and to bring glory to His name while also being wise enough to do the things that he calls us to as we recognize they are also for our own good.
Purpose
Deepen & Grow Your Prayer Life
Our desire for these groups is that you would use these as a spring board to foster a vibrant and healthy prayer life in your own personal and family life. Our hope for these groups is that you would widen and deepen your understanding of all of the different aspects of prayer God has called us to pray about in His Word.
Dive Deeper Into The Sermons
We also want use the start of our nights together to take a little time to dive deeper into the sermon from the previous Sunday. Together as a group we will practice and model what it looks like to unpack a sermon. We’ll look at how to actively listen and engage with sermons. We’ll practice testing what we hear against God’s Word and we’ll also practice applying the text to our lives when the pastor doesn’t choose an example that week that hits home for us. And finally we’ll practice how to pray about what we have heard.
Engage In Biblical Community
We want to live as Christians together. We aren’t asking you to be best friends forever with everyone in your group (although that certainly does happen). But we want to build authentic, Christian, relationships where we know each other, care for each other and pray for each other.
These Groups Are For Everyone
We also want you to know that these groups are for people at every stage in their prayer life. You may already have a strong and vibrant prayer life. We want you to come knowing that it is always a blessing to gather with other believers and pray and that there is always more to learn. You may know very little about prayer outside of praying at meals and bedtimes, you may even feel intimidated to pray out loud. We want you to know you are so welcome as well. There is a place for everyone in these groups.
Structure
Content
We will spend time at the start and at the end of each night hanging out & checking in with one another. Then we will spend approximately 30mins studying in greater depth the sermon from the previous Sunday and 45mins in prayer that will be led around a variety of topics from God’s Word.
Time Commitment
6:30pm - 8pm. Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday
or 2:00 - 3:30 pm on Tuesday afternoons
Schedule Cadence
We will be starting Prayer Groups up again the week of October 15th, 2023. Prayer groups will meet every other week from October - March.
Available TIMES
We will have options on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday Nights. We will be meeting in homes and the goal of these groups is to be multi generational.
We will also have a Tuesday Afternoon group that will meet at the church from 2:00 - 3:30 pm
Children
Children are not only welcomed but encouraged to attend these nights. Babies are welcome to join the parents in prayer and the younger children will be provided a space to play in another room such as a basement with the other children who will be attending. Parents, please don’t worry if the kids make noise or need you, they are just as important to Calvary as any other age group and your group will have plenty of grace for them.