Pour Out your spirit: Common Rule

October 3, 2021: Listening Prayer, Week 2

Through the Fall we are taking time to explore listening prayer, personal ministry, and the gifts of the Spirit in our Home Churches. We want to make space in our gatherings for the Spirit of God to flow through individuals sharing testimonies and prophetic words as well as personal struggles and confessions. As we trust the spontaneous leadership of the Holy Spirit we are excited to see how He fills us with power and leads us to love.

This Week’s Topic: Listening Prayer

Anchor Verse: Ephesians 4:16 “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

The Goals: 

1. Grow in confidence that I hear God’s voice.
2. Grow in vulnerability by giving my piece and humbly receiving from others.
3. Enjoy the reflection of God I see in my friends and family.

Announcements:

• Sign-up to serve with Kids Ministry once within the next 12 months HERE.
• October Prayer guide HERE. 
• Next All Navah Gathering, Oct 10th at 4pm.

Giving:

• Set-up your new giving account by downloading the mobile app HERE,
• By following the ‘give’ tab on app/website,
• Or text the word GIVE to 8337261069.
• Cancel any recurring giving set up with the old provider (aware3) contact us at hello@navahchurchkc.com if you need help with this.

Worship: Two Options:

1. Refer to the Navah Songs of the Season (Autumn 2021). These lyrics reflect the season we’re in as a body. Any one of them can springboard you into worship and response. You may want to create your own playlist.  
2. Ask someone from your Home Church to come with a song to play or a scripture to use for lectio divina.  Ideally you’d ask before the meeting so there’s time to prepare, but a spontaneous ask is OK too.  Ex. “Does anyone have a worship song that’s been impacting them lately, or a scripture they’re ruminating on?”

Kids (time varies): Teaching & Worship - be sure to send these resources to parents afterward so they can talk with their kids about what was discussed at Home Church throughout the week!

• Recommendation for Home Churches with a wide age-range of kids: Engage the older kids by asking them to lead.  There are many ways they can lead using this resource through teaching, worship, question asking, etc. It's a great opportunity for the older kiddos to learn new skills and for the younger kids to stay engaged and learn from the "big kids" :)

Small Group Exercise (30 min): These next few weeks our primary work is to listen to the Holy Spirit and make space for Him to lead through the gifts within your Home Church as each member does their part.  

Settle your Hearts - Consider opening the time with a centering prayer. This can be a way of setting our attention on Jesus as we prepare to wait on Him.

• Hands up and open (receiving posture) - Father, we welcome you to be with us this morning and fill our time with your presence. Be at home in our midst. 
• Palms facing down and open (releasing posture) - We take a minute to acknowledge our worries, burdens, and responsibilities and release them to you for the next hour. We lay them down now. We receive this time as a holy pause from our regular activities. 
• Palms up and facing out (bless posture) - Jesus, we acknowledge your love for humanity and make ourselves available to be a blessing to others. Our hearts, minds, and spirits are open to love those around us.

Listening Prayer - A time to wait on the Lord and share back. This may include ministry to one another, testimonies, confession, worship, intercession, etc.

• Begin in Silence - Pray a simple prayer of releasing anxiety and asking the Lord for help to be still
• Make an Invitation - Ex.  “Lord, as we invite you to reveal yourself to us. Pour out your Spirit upon us.” If you need more direction consider asking a more specific questions. Ex. “Lord, you have been speaking to our body about joy. Come and teach us what it is to be joyful in you.” 

He may show up in various forms:

• A scripture that comes to mind
• A picture that pops in your imagination 
• A story from the week when God revealed himself
• A person in the room who is in need of ministry

After a few minutes, invite people to share what they’re thinking and hearing. Allow the unraveling of conversation, prayer, and worship to take place. Be aware that some may be more comfortable with this exercise than others, be gentle and make space for the more timid.  

• Look for opportunities to pray for, honor, celebrate, or grieve with others.

Debrief (20 min) - Debriefing your listening prayer time can be as valuable as the prayer itself. What did you learn? How did God meet you?

Examples of questions include (but don’t be limited by these): 

• Was there a theme that arose? In summary, what was God accomplishing in the group today? 
• Was there ever a time you were aware of God’s presence? What was going on? How did others experience that moment? 
• What did you learn from the experience? 
• Share any moments of feeling edified or strengthened.
• Was there a moment you felt vulnerable? How did you handle that? 

Feedback: If you would like to share a testimony from your time we would love to hear it. You can share an audio message on the Home Church Leaders WhatsApp or email katielee.egli@gmail.com with testimonies, prophetic words, or cool insights.