A couple of weeks ago I shared about the prayer groups I’ve been involved in, praying for my children at school. (You can read that post here.) If you’re keen to be involved in a group like this, but there isn’t one already at your school, here are a few suggestions for how you can get a group started.

Gather like minded parents
In your conversations with other parents begin asking questions to find out who might be interested in joining a group. These will be people who have a faith in Jesus Christ and who value the importance and power of prayer. Share your idea of a prayer group, the reasons why you’d like to pray and ask if they’d like to join in!

Find a suitable time and location
Some schools may be happy to loan your group a corner of the library or a lunch bench. For other schools a nearby cafe or home may be a better place to pray. Choose a flexible, convenient time – after school drop off often works well – and try to suit as many people as possible.

Keep it short
There are a few reasons why it’s helpful to keep your prayer time short. Firstly because it’s important the prayer group remains an encouragement for the parents involved and not a time burden. Secondly, a short and focused prayer time keeps the priority on lifting concerns to God and away from being a chat/gossip section. Thirdly, it makes prayer accessible to those who may not be used to long prayer times and reminds us that God knows what we need before we pray anyway!

Keep prayer time kid friendly!
A lot of parents who drop their kids off at school have younger than school age children in tow. Make sure the prayer time is welcoming for these parents by keeping prayer time short, flexible and informal. Maybe have a bucket of toys available. Allow for interrupted prayers. Make sure parents with young children feel welcome and invite these little one’s to pray too if they feel like it.

Consider the privacy settings
Be deliberate in protecting your prayer time from becoming a gossip hub. This can be avoided by developing a habit of minimal conversation around prayer requests. Feel free to pray about generalised issues or individuals without many specifics. Also work to keep prayer time content contained within prayer time unless specific permission has been given to share elsewhere. Remember, God knows all the details anyway, so we don’t have to talk about them all!

Be as inclusive as possible
If there are people you know who would be pray-ers but can’t make the meeting, consider an online prayer group to supplement the physical one. A closed Facebook group may be a suitable place to invite parents to share praise and prayer points. Some local church ministers or children’s workers may be interested in partnering with you in prayer. And remember to check in with any Christian teachers at your school in case they have specific prayer requests you can bring to God too.

Have you started a prayer group for your school? What were the challenges you faced? What helped make it work?

Penny