Prayer & Prophetic Ministries

Daily Calendar | PLOW Team | Prayer Times | Corporate Prayer

Would you like to keep up with what's happening in the AVC prayer ministry? All we need is your name and email address, and we'll keep you informed!

If you have received any emails from the prayer ministry, you are already signed up!

Click here to sign up!

If you would like to join the Ministry Team (those who pray with others at the conclusion of our services), you will need to take Introductory Ministry Team training. Email me if you'd like to know when the next training session is.

We are always in need of people to serve in a wide variety of areas in support of prayer and prophetic ministries, including administration, graphics, communications, and much more. Let me know if you're available to serve, how much time you'd like to invest, and what kind of thing you'd like to do. There's a place for you no matter what your gifts, talents, schedule, and experience are!

Prayer & Prophetic Calendar

Sundays

Every week: 10:00 - 10:15am -- "20:20" (pre-service prayer) [Prayer Room]

1st Sundays: 9:00 - 10:00am -- Prayer for Lost Friends & Family [Prayer Room]

2nd Sundays: 8:30 - 10:00am -- Prophetic Roundtable [Great Room]

3rd Sundays: 9:00 - 10:00am -- Prayer for Missions [Prayer Room]

4th Sundays: 9:00 - 10:00am -- Prayer for Leaders [Prayer Room]

5th Sundays 9:00 - 10:00am -- Prayer for Revival [Prayer Room]

Mondays

Off on Mondays for summer : -- Kingdom Prayer classes [Great Room]

Tuesdays

Every week: 7:30 - 9:00pm -- Men's Dias Prayer Group [Roswell] contact: Nilton Dias, 404-660-7841

Wednesdays in July 7:30-9:00pm Catch the Fire for Prayer- Transformations Videos

First Fridays

Except July 4th at 7:30pm -- Vertical Church [Auditorium]

PLOW team -- Pray, Listen, Overcome, Watch

The PLOW team is made up of those who feel that God has called them to pray for the AVC for at least one hour per week. The acronym speaks for itself--praying, overcoming in prayer, and listening to and watching what the Father is saying and doing. To plow is to prepare the soil for seeds to be sown.

We have two kinds of plows in the PLOW team:

• Yeoman PLOW (cultivation of one's own land) -- prayer for AVC family and friends
• Chisel PLOW (deep tillage) -- prayer shield for AVC pastoral leaders & current church planters

Yeoman PLOW:

"Let my prayer be set before You as incense" (Psalm 141:2)

Prayer for AVC family & friends. We pray over the prayer requests that come in to the church via Sunday services, connect cards, the church office, emails, and the website. Our desire is to lift up people before the Father in prayer, and that they would connect with God and with others in the body of Christ. Prayer requests include prayer for healing, finances, salvation, special deliveries (expectant mothers), etc.

We pray over all who serve as prayer warriors or leaders in prayer. We need each other!

We pray over each AVC-sponsored event, covering leaders & participants in prayer.

Members of this team received the weekly "Set!" newsletter (not available on the website). They also receive urgent prayer requests via an email prayer chain.

Chisel PLOW:

"They held his hands up - one on one side, one on the other - so that his hands remained steady till sunset." (Exodus 17:12)

Prayer shield for AVC Pastoral Leaders & Leadership Council. Just as Aaron and Hur  held up Moses' arms "so that his hands remained steady" during the Exodus 17 battle, the PLOW team "holds up the arms" of our leaders in prayer. Quoting John Maxwell, "Aaron and Hur were committed and aggressive prayer partners, ready to jump in and help their leader be all that God intended him to be. They saw the need; they seized the moment; they shared in the victory." This is teamwork!

Members of this team received the monthly "Steady!" newsletter (not available on the website). Click here for more information.

Orchard PLOW:

"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow." (1 Corinthians 3:6)

Prayer for Atlanta-area church plants: We cover in prayer Atlanta-area churches who have made a commitment to church planting, through the Church Planters Roundtable ministry (website coming soon).

Prayer for other Vineyard prayer ministries: We cover in prayer other Vineyard congregations' prayer ministries who have expressed a desire for their church to grow in prayer, through the VineyardPrayer ministry (www.vineyardprayer.com).

Members of this team received the monthly "Saturate!" newsletter (not available on the website).

Responsibilities:

Because of the quantity of prayer requests and the private nature of many of the prayer requests, we welcome people to join the PLOW team who:

• feel that God has called them to pray for the AVC
• can keep all prayer requests confidential
• will make a 12 month commitment to the PLOW team (we ask for recommitments and new commitments at the beginning of each new year)

Contact us if you would like to join the PLOW team. Please specify which of the 3 plow types you would like to commit to (Yeoman, Chisel, Orchard).

Prayer Times

Prayer for Lost Friends & Family [1st Sundays, 9:00 - 10:00am, Prayer Room]

Come join with others in praying for our lost friends & family, and receive a tool that will help you to pray strategically and effectively for those you know who have yet to receive Jesus as Lord & Savior.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)

Prayer for Missions [3rd Sundays, 9:00 - 10:00am, Prayer Room]

Please join us as we pray for missions, with a different focus each month, such as praying for Muslims in Atlanta, praying for AVC-supported missionaries, or praying for people sent out on short-term outreach ministry trips.

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone." (1 Timothy 2:1)

Prayer for Leaders [4th Sundays 9:00-10:00am Prayer Room]

Please join us as we lift up each of the AVC Leaders.  "But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction,  and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work." (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13)

Prayer for Revival [5th Sundays 9:00-10:00am Prayer Room]

This is a time of repentance, focusing on prayers of salvation and deliverance. Our theme Scripture is from Revelation 3:1 - 3: "I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent."

Vertical Church [1st Fridays 7:30pm resuming April 4, 2008, Auditorium]

Putting out a welcome mat for the Holy Spirit . . . this is our "main event" worship-driven prayer time.  Vertical Church exists to provide a time and place for the Atlanta Vineyard community to touch the heart of the Father, seek the face of Jesus, and hear the voice of the Spirit, through corporate worship and prayer.  We begin with worship and prayer, and continue with worship and prayer! It's all about Him!  A group of instrumentalists and singers lead in musical worship, and a microphone is available for anyone who wants to pray, share a Scripture, prophetic word, dream, or vision.  This time has been described as "wasting an evening on God."  No two Vertical Church services are the same, as we seek to be Spirit-led and go with the flow of where the Lord leads us.  Periodically, we invite other area churches (through Unite!) to join us at Vertical Church in praying for the body of Christ and city of Atlanta.

The Vertical Church leadership team consists of Nancy Penton, Dena Gaddie, John and Sally Hendry, Marie Middleton, Chip Hogsed, and Justin Lubbe.

20:20 (formerly known as pre-service prayer) [Sundays, 10:00 - 10:15am, Prayer Room]

The purpose of our pre-service prayer meetings is to put out a welcome mat for the Holy Spirit on behalf of all those who will attend services that day. In welcoming Him, we want to ask Him to:

• Put in us a hunger for God's Word
• Reveal the Word to us
• Help us to worship in freedom, celebrating who He is and what He's done
• Anoint the preaching / teaching and musical worship (in all services)
• Demonstrate His kingdom with signs and wonders
• Do His work in us so He can do His work through us
• Draw the un-churched to worship
  

These are just suggestions, not a formula! It's good to have an idea where we're going, though--the focus of our pre-service prayer meetings is prayer for services. When our prayers are focused, they are more effective.

For more information, please e-mail Nancy Penton.

Men's Dias Prayer Group [Tuesdays, 7:30 - 9:00pm, Roswell]

This is a time where men get together to pray and build relationships with one another.

Nilton Dias leads this prayer time, and all men are welcome. 404-660-7841

Prayer at the Norcross Co-op [on hold]

Come to the Norcross Co-op on the first Tuesday of each month, and you'll have the opportunity to both pray for others and put your faith into action!

The Norcross Co-op is an organization of 20+ participating churches serving families and individuals in Norcross and the surrounding area, providing assistance with food, personal items, clothing, infant supplies, and financial assistance towards rent, utilities, prescription drugs, and gasoline vouchers.

From the church, turn right out of the church parking lot onto Jimmy Carter Blvd. Turn left onto Buford Hwy.Turn right at the third light onto Mitchell Rd. The Norcross Cooperative Ministry is less than a mile down on the right. For more information, check out their website.

Contact: Luane Thomson, 770-274-1010 ext 23

Bless the Building [on hold]

This prayer time is for all ages. We pray for God's presence and power to fill every part of the building . . . lay hands on each seat in the auditorium, pray over children's rooms, prayerwalk the office areas, etc. God has given us stewardship over our facility, and we believe God wants to use every part of it for His glory. Everyone is welcome--this is an ideal prayer group for children or anyone who likes to move around while you pray!

Acts 4:31 -- "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."

This group is currently on hold . . . if you would like to pray over the building regularly, please let me know!

What is Corporate Prayer?

The chief quality that corporate prayer has over other kinds of prayer is agreement. Jesus said, "If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven." (Matt 18:19) The Message puts it, "When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action." Leviticus 26:8 says that "Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand," implying that the more pray-ers, the more agreement, and the more power. As the saying goes, "No prayer, no power; little prayer, little power; much prayer, much power!" Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." He's waiting for us to call out to Him!

Common misconceptions about corporate prayer:

• I have no contribution to make
  • We are a body--every part is needed, and everyone has a contribution to make! We can all pray--it is simply conversation with God. We pour out our hearts to Him; He speaks to us. Jesus promised that we would do even greater things than He did, if we have faith in Him (John 14:12). Even a tiny amount of faith is enough (mustard seed)!
• I don't know how to pray in public
  • The best way to learn how to pray in public and become comfortable with it is to just do it! We grow in our understanding of corporate prayer by being around others who pray.
    

Principles for corporate prayer meetings:

• Submit to God
  • Come prepared to pray
  • Wait and listen to the Lord
  • Be humble
• Submit to one another
• Make others feel welcome
• Be in unity
• Go with the flow of the Holy Spirit (avoid jumping around from topic to topic)
• Be brief, allowing others to participate
• Mutually support one another (e.g. verbal agreement)
• Pray
  • Invite the Holy Spirit to empower us
  • Ask God to make His Kingdom evident
  • Pray Scriptures
  • Pray what the Lord reveals to you (dreams, visions, words, pictures, impressions, etc.)
  • Keep prayers vertical (directed towards God, not others)
  • Avoid preaching at people through prayer
  • Be concrete & specific
  • Personalize your prayers
• Believe
  • Believe that God hears and answers!