WOCC ACCESS Prayer Ministry Saturday, June 6, 2007

WOCC ACCESS Prayer Ministry

Minutes - Saturday, November 17, 2007

Meeting opened up with prayer by Sister Monica High at approximately 9:10 am.

Pastor Gee began by saying that it was such a blessing to be able to pray and that there are two reasons that prayer works so powerfully.

1. The power is in the word of God So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it (Isaiah 55:11). We believe in the word to transcend everything. When God’s word goes out, it will not return empty but it will accomplish what God sends it out to do. There is complete opposition to it in the world, which is exemplified by sickness, lack, hopelessness, etc. It often surrounds. We need some word in the morning to cleanse us so that the world doesn't seep in on us. We wash everyday to get clean. We need to use the word in the same way. If we don't, we may wind up in a place we don't want to be.

2. God has given us authority and power Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them (Mark 11:24). We have authority! But are we acting on it? There is much in this world that makes us believe we don't have authority, but we do. We need to study our authority and take control and rule over the earth. Pastor Gee doesn't see a lot of this happening so we are going to do a lot of talking about that. The Lord has put us in charge. We are humble BUT we are in authority. The best thing we can do is pray for people.

We are going to start studying the Bible Prayer Study Course by Kenneth E. Hagin. It gives a lot of information about how we should pray. Afterall, we want results!

Pastor Gee then reviewed the status of some of the previous Prayer Ministry action items and solicited for involvement from the membership. He is not as interested in being over this group as he is in empowering us to take authority. He wants to see authority exercised in this group.

 Action: Consider adding something additional to the Ministry name. Perhaps rename it to – ACCESS and RESULTS Prayer Ministry. (June 9)

The Prayer Ministry is officially being renamed to Access/Results Prayer Ministry.

 One of Pastor Gee’s pet peeves is praying to get results – effective, fervent prayer. Action: We are going to keep a record of our prayer requests including dates when the prayers are answered. We need to see measurable results. We need to know our prayers are being answered. (May 12)

We were urged from the beginning to keep a record of our prayer requests and some people are keeping records. We want everybody to keep a record. Since some people are not record keepers, Sister Nora Thornton volunteered to record for people if they prefer not to do it themselves. Separating requests into categories was also suggested and may help. Sister Nora will get together with Evangelist Murphy and review the prayer request template, which is available on the blog at http://woccprayerministry.blogspot.com/search/label/Prayer%20Journal%20Template.  Action: We want success stories. As part of our original action items, plans are to post some streaming video of people’s prayer testimonies on the blog. Brother Roy and Sister Cherise Lyons will help with this. Brother James Murphy has also volunteered to help. (August 4)

 Status: In process. The Lyons and the Murphys are coordinating this. They have a process in place and a volunteer subject, but they need a video recorder to do some pre-testing, in an attempt to establish something self-sufficient outside the WOCC Audiovisual Ministry. There is a feature on the blog for posting videos.

 Someone will be needed to handle the Web and email prayer requests. Action: Please let Pastor Gee know if you are interested. (May 12)

We need a person to be responsible for tending the email for prayer requests. Sister Monica High volunteered. Evangelist Murphy will give her the information for the Prayer Ministry email account.

Note: Evangelist Murphy has been filling in the gap with the requests she has personally received. Some of the team members have been very responsive and happy to receive them and seem to be really motivated to be interactive in this area. Best of all, we have been seeing results from this corporate prayer!

 Action: Volunteers solicited to help Pastor Gee with his book. Sister Paula Simon and Evangelist Murphy volunteered. (June 16)

Sisters Patricia Moore and Lakeisha Blake volunteered. Evangelist Murphy will set up a meeting after the holidays for the group to meet with Pastor Gee to begin work on this .

 Pastor Gee mentioned that maybe we could include some “Prayer Tips” in the church bulletin. Action: Please let Pastor Gee know if you want to be responsible for this. Team members were encouraged to send ideas. (May 12)

Sisters Lakeisha Blake, Paula Simon, Patricia Moore, and Mother Vivian Geter volunteered. These prayer tips should be sound and focus on the word of God. They should be succinct – like having a “sermon in a second,” because we will only have 2 or 3 lines to work with in the bulletin. Pastor Gee would like to see something initiated in a couple of weeks. Evangelist Murphy is available to help with the formatting if needed. The blog is another place to consider for distribution because of the space limitations in the church bulletin.

Pastor Gee mentioned that he would like for us to establish some fellowship time together – maybe go to breakfast sometime after our Saturday Prayer Ministry meetings.

The question was asked - Is there a time when we are going to be praying? Pastor Gee encouraged us to pray at the times already established: Wednesday evening at 7:00 pm and Sunday morning at 7:15 am.

Pastor Gee also suggested that it would be a good idea for the Prayer Ministry Team to meet with the Economic Development Ministry. Along these cooperative lines, Evangelist Murphy reminded us about Brother Torain’s suggestion that we have a representative from every ministry in the church on the Prayer Team, since prayer is a core element of any ministry. Action Item: Please let Evangelist Murphy know if you are involved in other ministries in the church.

Our next meeting is scheduled for December 1, 2007.

Closing prayer by Brother Bernard Torain at approximately 9:40 am.

Recorded by Evangelist Beverly Murphy [email protected]