Lubbock PRAYNow

April 2002 Pastors Newsletter

Vol. 4 No. 4 April 2002

Return Summit Registration This Week!

Working to increase prayer and deepen relationships, a Pastors Prayer Summit is scheduled for 29-30 April 2002. This Monday-to-Tuesday event will take place at Floydada Baptist Camp, beginning at 1:00 PM Monday, and conclude with lunch on Tuesday.

For our planning purposes, please register by Monday, April 22, 2002. After this date, call Steve at 787-7551 when you mail in your registration form. Walk-in registrations will also be accepted, but a limited number of beds may be available for walk-in registrants. You may bring your registration and fee to the April pastors prayer meeting this Wednesday.

Registration forms are included with this newsletter. Cost will be $50, which will include one night’s lodging and three meals and snacks. Plan now to attend and call a colleague whom you know would enjoy time away with the Lord; make arrangements to ride together.

Our Spring 2002 summit schedule will allow us to spend large blocks of time in prayer. We have purposely not cluttered the agenda with time to talk about, teach about, or discuss prayer. We want to pray and get better acquainted. We suggest you bring Bibles and notebooks, as there will be time for personal prayer, journaling and hearing from the Lord. Two short presentations will include 1) what Jesus meant by His new commandment for us to love one another, and 2) what prayer leaders wish their pastors knew and/or did to promote the prayer life of the congregation.

April’s Pastors Prayer Meeting

This month we will meet on the 19^th floor of the Metro Tower for prayer. (The Pray Lubbock News page of our website has information about parking around the Metro Tower). Come join with your co-pastors and man your post as gatekeeper guarding the city through prayer.

Lunch will be purchased, Dutch treat, at the Canyon Café, located at the Holiday Inn Towers, 801 Avenue Q. There will be a hot buffet available for $6.95 or other menu items for around $5.00. Our Pray Lubbock vision-sharpening segment will cover the strategy for encouraging and aligning intercessory prayer for the city.

“Pray, Lubbock!” On the Air

“Pray, Lubbock!” is a unique opportunity for fervent, united, strategic prayer over our city. The management of KAMY 90.1 FM has asked Steve to host this 20-minute “prayer meeting” live at 10:07 a.m. Monday through Friday.

So far, each day is seeing about 5 prayer requests called in for personal needs. There is also a focus for prayer for each day that helps us to cover the major issues of prayer concerning our city. Please post this prayer opportunity in power point announcements and bulletins. On this program, listeners become intercessors.

Is it Possible for the Christians in Lubbock to Pray on the Same Page?

One of the outcomes in the opportunity for me to pray each day on the radio is that it has forced me to organize strategic prayer for the city in such a way that every target for prayer and every approach to prayer is covered. The system I have developed is still being fine tuned, but so far, it seems to be simple enough to understand and comprehensive enough to cover all of the needs.

Now we are raising the question, “What would happen if the whole city followed this general guide for prayer and approached God’s throne for the same issues on the same day or week? Scripture proves time and again

that corporate, fervent prayer brings about Kingdom advances. But how would this work?

Each Monday, we pray for school systems. Every Tuesday, prayer is lifted up for businesses and the economy. The body of Christ is prayed for on Wednesdays. Thursday’s prayers focus is on families and individuals. Governments and civic entities are the prayer target for Fridays.

The first week focuses on praying for spiritual freedom in all of the above areas. The second week covers those same areas with prayers for revival of God’s people. The third week targets prayer for the lost in Lubbock in the above areas. The forth week is reserved to pray for God’s destiny in our city in each of those areas. When there is a fifth week of the month, the focus is on seeking God’s presence through praise, worship and testimony. (The place of the Sunday determines the place of the week in the month. For example, the first week of the month is the week that begins with the first Sunday of the month.)

I am currently developing the fifth and final week of this schedule. When it is complete, I will begin to make available to pastors and prayer leaders, this sequence of prayer. Included will be, 1) the specific target each day (i.e. for Mondays, a list of all educational institutions), 2) specific prayer requests for that day (i.e. if it is prayer-for-the-lost week, there will be specific prayer needs suggested for praying for the lost) and, 3) a list of relevant Scriptures for that day’s prayer. This cycle consists of twenty-five unique prayer targets.

Suggestions for distribution I have received are, 1) mail the entire cycle to the pastors so they will have an overview, 2) Send a weekly Email or FAX to congregations describing the next week’s prayer focus and target areas for use in Sunday services, midweek prayer meetings and local church intercessor gatherings, 3) Email the daily prayer list to interested intercessors and local church prayer leaders, 4) Make this prayer information available on the Internet at www.praylubbock.com. I think these are all good suggestions. But, if you have a suggestion as to a good way to insure that your congregation can get on the same page in prayer with the rest of the city, and to increase the frequency and intensity of prayer for our city, please let me know.

Pamela Jerrall, a missionary from Africa has informed me of an immediate opening for a ministry couple to serve as interim Senior pastor of a vibrant interdenominational multi-racial congregation in Nigeria. Support would need to be acquired for travel to and from Nigeria, with additional funds needed monthly. A parsonage, with excellent amenities by local standards and an automobile will be furnished along with some modest support coming from the congregation itself.

Port Harcourt International Church is looking for a married couple, neither partner formerly divorced, with gifts and skills commensurate with shepherding a congregation of about 800. The wife will be developing a children’s ministry and both will be interacting with, and calling to involvement, the large expatriate population of this oil community. Ideally, this couple could go within a month and plan to stay for one year.

For more information, I have placed Pamela’s descriptive letter online. Or, you can call Pamela directly at (806) 792-1675 or (806) 747-9289.

Please make appropriate announcements for your congregation to be aware of the 51^st celebration of the National Day of Prayer. In Lubbock, we will be gathering at the Gazebo at noon for a time of prayer until 1:00 PM. Various Christian leaders from our community will be vocalizing prayer. At the end, small groups will be invited to prayer walk around the Lubbock County Courthouse, the Mahon Federal Building, and the Lubbock Sheriff’s Office and Lubbock County Jail.

We are encouraging citywide, unified, corporate prayer on behalf of the congregations of our city. Here is a suggested list for the next few weeks:

(Congregations have not been selected for Mother’s Day or Memorial Day due to sporadic attendance and scheduling. You may pray for congregations of your choice on these days.

Pray Lubbock Pastors Newsletter is published monthly,

Steve Doles, editor.

Pray Lubbock is located on the 19^th floor of the Metro Tower,

1220 Broadway, Suite 1905A, Lubbock, Texas 79401.

Office hours: Tue. & Thurs. 8:30-5:00

Voice phone: (806) 749-PRAY Office FAX: (806) 749-2533

Steve's mobile: (806) 787-7551 steve@praylubbock.com

Visit our website: www.praylubbock.com

Join Steve for “Pray, Lubbock!” 90.1 FM at 10:07AM weekdays