OUR COMMITMENT AT NORTHLAKE CHURCH
CULTIVATING A CULTURE OF PRAYER
GROWING INTO A FLOURISHING COMMUNITY
THE VALUE OF PRAYER
At Northlake, five values express and strengthen our vision to “Love Jesus, Bring Hope.” Prayer, Discipleship, Authenticity, Kingdom and Generosity are the practices we hold dear. Prayer must be the foundation of all we do. Prayer is beyond just requesting things from God. We define prayer as intimacy with God that leads to fulfilling His purposes. Consequently, prayer expresses our relationship with God because he is worthy, and we are needy. Prayer fuels our mission of being Christ’s witness locally and globally.
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In the Gospels, there are numerous times Jesus modeled and instructed his disciples to pray. Jesus expected His followers to pray. We see the pattern of the first church in the Book of Acts. The Church began in a prayer meeting in Acts 1:14 “All these were continually united in prayer.”
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Prayer was a regular part of their daily ministry (Acts 2:42-47; 3:1; 6:4). Thirty-two times prayer is mentioned in the Book of Acts.
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Studies show that only 5% of churches in America have a culture of prayer. It is the missing ingredient in the church today. We desire to be a praying church, not merely one that prays. A praying church has a culture of prayer. This translates into the church's habits, language, and everyday life.
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The Bible clearly teaches the necessity of personal and corporate prayer. Praying together was the practice of the New Testament Church. There is more demonstrated and taught in praying together than in private prayer. Thus, we include praying together as a regular part of our gatherings.
PRAYING THROUGHOUT THE CHURCH FAMILY
We believe that every age group should pray. Students pray together when they gather and with the greater church family. Our children will experience praying together when they meet. In our Resource Center, we have an excellent book entitled “Emma Learns to Pray” that parents can obtain to teach their children to pray in a meaningful way.
Our D-Groups gather regularly and include prayer as part of each meeting. One of the most helpful practices for a married couple is praying together. In our gift bags for each couple who visits our church is a copy of the book “21 Days of Prayer for Couples.” It is a helpful tool for couples to begin the habit of praying together. The book is also available for any couple in our church. We also recommend the book “21 Days of Transforming Prayer”, to enhance one’s prayer life.
OPPURTUNITIES TO PRAY TOGETHER
LEARNING MORE ABOUT PRAYER
Throughout the calendar year, we will offer different training settings to our church family. These may take place on a Friday evening and Saturday morning.
We believe meaningful prayer begins with Scripture. We call this time scripture-fed, Spirit-led worship-based prayer. Much can be taught about prayer but learning to pray comes by experience.
In our teaching sessions, we will pray because experience is necessary with information.
MORE THAN OPENING & CLOSING PRAYER
One will observe that we have more than an invocation and benediction in our services. There will be several times in each service when we pray. Sometimes, we ask people to pray together if they are comfortable.
We instruct them to pray in short sentences or thoughts so that no one is intimidated by long prayers, giving more people the opportunity to pray. But, of course, we encourage people to pray by themselves if they are more comfortable.
We believe a worship service should be more than just listening and watching. Worship is participatory.
SHARE YOUR HEART WITH NORTH LAKE CHURCH
JOIN THE PRAYER TEAM
Our prayer team is composed of people in our church who desire to pray over our weekly requests, pray with people, and be part of the prayer room during the service. Instructions are provided for those who join the team.
You may email Dennis@mynorthlake.com or call the office if you desire to be part of the prayer team. We provide regular training times to be on the prayer team.