Prayer Ministry

Everyone at Park Church is a member of the Prayer Team.

We are a House of Prayer and anything that we do effectively as a Church is rooted in prayer.

We can always use more people to serve on our Prayer Facilitation Team. If you have a desire to help encourage or to enable any of the ministries mentioned here (or others that will strengthen our prayer life) just talk to our current Prayer Facilitation Team leader, Roy Miller

Wall of Prayer
Several years ago, many congregations of the Church in Chautauqua County organized to keep prayer flowing twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Park Church committed to praying for twenty four hours on the third Friday of each month. There is something special and powerful about stepping into the constant flow of prayer in the Spirit where believers have agreed to seek God in prayer for their region. At Park we provide the opportunity for members to commit to being a part of this “wall of prayer” each month. A pegboard, where members can place a card on which they indicate the hour during which they will pray, is positioned in the foyer of our building two Sundays prior to the third Friday each month. Members can commit to pray at home or to come to the church building to pray in the prayer room. –Many prayer guide resources are in the prayer room to assist the people who pray there. Resources are also located on the “prayer resource table” in the foyer for people to take home to use.

Prayer Triplets and Small Groups 
“A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”

We, the Church, are called to be a “House of Prayer for the nations.” To build this house well we start with a good “footer” which is for each member of the congregation to yield their lives to the Holy Spirit each and every day. The foundation that is placed on this footer is our daily one-on-one time with God in prayer and the prayerful study of His word. The first floor of this house has rooms for small groups; prayer partners, prayer triplets and groups that meet regularly for Bible study, fellowship, prayer and to engage in mission together.  Married couples are prayer partners. And others may be as well. – Prayer triplets consist of three men (or boys) or three women (or girls) who covenant to meet together weekly (or at least twice a month) to care for each other in their Christian walk. This is a time to ask, “How is it going with your soul?” “What are you struggling with?” “What have you heard from God this week?” “How’s the family?” etc., and to pray regarding all these things. This is also a place to agree in prayer and thanksgiving regarding all the praises and requests on Park’s monthly Prayer and Praise report.

Prayer and Praise Flyer
On the last Sunday of each month, a prayer and praise request form is included in our bulletins. The requests from these forms are collated and put categorically into a flyer that is then distributed in our bulletins on the first Sunday of each month. These flyers serve as guides to prayer that we can use as individuals, and when we pray together as married couples. These should also be used by prayer triplets and in our small groups.

Workshops and Seminars
At least once each year – usually in the spring – we sponsor a half-day or full-day seminar or workshop on prayer that is held at our church building. The target group is all teens and adults of the congregation. Also, the Church from throughout the region is always invited. – Jesus disciples only asked him to teach them one thing. That one thing was how to pray. And Jesus gladly complied. – We do need to be taught how to pray. Prayer is our primary weapon for destroying all the strongholds of satan, it is our primary tool for building the Kingdom of God and it is our only means of drawing on the incomparably great power that is ours to live a holy and righteous life. There are many ways to know about God but it is only in prayer that we can know God. There is no other way.

Resources
Books and audio-visual resources are provided to Park members to help us all learn more about prayer and how to pray. These are available in the Prayer Room. People may use them there in the Prayer Room or borrow them and take them home for a week or less.  

A Prayer Resource table in located in the foyer. All the materials on this table are free for the taking. On this table, you can find prayer guides and some encouraging information to help you in your prayer ministry.  It is a good idea to take a close look at what is on this table at least once a month since new items are routinely added and old items are updated as to their content.

Harp and Bowl
The second floor of our House of Prayer is one big “great room.” This is when and where we gather as a whole congregation to worship and pray. Sunday morning is such a gathering time. Special whole 3 church prayer meetings are also such a time. In the Book of Revelation, we are given a glimpse of heaven where angels are constantly making music (with harps and voices) in praise to God and where the prayers of the saints ascend like a fragrant incense to God and are kept in golden bowls before the altar where God never forgets a single prayer. – Weaving song and prayer together is a blessing to God and to us as we do it. It moves the heart of God.  Every Sunday we experience some of this harp and bowl. 

Special Meetings and Emphasis's
"How wonderful it is when God’s people come together in unity, for there God commands a blessing.”

There are prayer gatherings of various sorts that take place in our region throughout each year. Park people are made aware of these through our monthly news letter (The Heartbeat), the Sunday bulletin, announcements and brochures. These events are the attic and roof of our House of Prayer. And a house is not complete without its top on.  Some examples of such events are: The National Day of Prayer gathering, The Global Day of Prayer Gathering, The Agape Prayer Ministry School, The regional School of Prayer, Regional Concerts of Prayer and regional unity services

Healing Prayer
Jesus went about healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out devils and proclaiming the Kingdom. As he trained the twelve disciples, he sent them out to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils and to proclaim the Kingdom. As his ministry grew, he sent out seventy people, two-by-two, to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils and proclaim the Kingdom. That was the model Jesus set and that was the model he taught. After Easter, before his ascension, Jesus commissioned his disciples to “Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to do everything I have taught you.” Healing prayer is central to the mission of every believer. It is something that we must practice constantly to live in obedience to Jesus. At Park, each Sunday during the time we receive the elements of the Lord’s Supper, everyone is invited to receive anointing and prayer for healing. Sometimes people are healed right away. Sometimes they receive their healing later in the day or in the week. Jesus said to, “Always keep on praying and don’t give up!” It is through persistence that the strongholds of sickness fall and healingcomes. So don’t give up if you are not healed immediately. Just be obedient to do what Jesus said to do.

Prayer Room
At Park Church we have a room that is set aside for prayer. In that room you will find maps on the wall to help you pray with your eyes open for Chautauqua County, for New York State, for the United States and for the nations of the world. You will find Bibles, a Bible concordance to help you search the Scriptures, hymnals so you can sing as you pray, a prayer guide notebook, several prayer-guide cards on the bulletin boards and much more. Outside the room, on the wall in the hallway, there is a dry-eraser board where you can sign up to use the Prayer Room (but you may use the room at anytime as long as nobody else is already using it). Make a habit of using this room on a regular basis. Pray here with your spouse, Pray here on your own. Pray here as you take your turn on the “Prayer Wall.” Pray here with your prayer-triplet. Join others to pray here during the 8:30 worship service for that service (and then go attend the 11:00 o’clock service) or attend the 8:30 service and then join others in the Prayer Room to pray for the 11:00 o’clock service. There is a prayer guide in the room to help pray during the service.

Saturate the Sanctuary
You are invited to pray in the sanctuary starting at 8:00 a.m. each Sunday before the 8:30 service and/or at 10:30 before the eleven o’clock service. Walk among the chairs; pray for all the people who will come; pray for our worship team; pray for our pastor; pray for those who serve in the media booth. Most of all, seek the presence and fullness of God to descend on the gathered congregation. As it is time for the service to begin, join with others in laying hands on our pastor and worship team (as they circle in the front of the sanctuary) and pray for them. – You may continue to pray in the Prayer Room during the service (see above). Or simply continue to pray in the sanctuary as you worship.