Prayer Ministry

Prayer Ministry

What is Prayer Ministry?

Prayer ministry is a fervent prayer of faith on behalf of another person. The Prayer Minister will expect the unexpected and entrust a prayer in the name of Jesus into the loving hands of God our Father in Heaven. The person being prayed with will offer an intention for the ministry team and the prayer ministers will lift this intention heavenwards, expecting in faith that heaven will respond. The prayer ministers will draw upon their faith, experience and training, following appropriate safeguarding principles, and the response of God our Father is always received, often in unexpected ways.

“Pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful”; James 5:16

Are "Laying on of Hands" and Prayer Ministry Similar?

During prayer ministry the Prayer Ministers will normally ask to lay their hands on the shoulders of the person being prayed for. In the time of Jesus, the laying on of hands was associated healing the sick, however after His ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the church at Pentecost, the laying on of hands became associated with the receiving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14–19).

In prayer ministry today, Prayer Ministers will remain open to receive the presence, power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. For those being prayed with this may be a new experience, for some it will be an awakening of the Spirit given to them at their baptism and confirmation. The presence of the Holy Spirit and invocation of God our Father, in the name of Jesus makes the act of prayer ministry trinitarian. The transformative power of the Holy Spirit and His anointing releases the ministry from the physical realm into the supernatural where in faith, Heaven responds in often unexpected ways. God our Father, knowing us as well as He does, will always give us good gifts and never what we don’t need.

 

What is the Impact of Prayer Ministry?

“All good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…”; James 1:17

We have found that Prayer Ministry results in an authentic and tangible encounter with the person of Jesus and can lead to both an answer to the prayer being offered, but also often delivers many other benefits stemming from a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. These typically include a deepening of prayer life, a renewed love for scripture, greater involvement in parish activities and a more confident outward faith. These signs are synonymous with the ‘grace of baptism of the Holy Spirit’ that Pope Francis has commissioned CHARIS to share with all the faithful in the Catholic church.

What does the CDSC propose for Laying on of Hands Prayer Ministry in A&B?

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”; John 14:12-14

The A&B CDSC has a mission statement that is for us to encourage an “living and personal relationship with Jesus” and a key element of our vision is to share with all the grace of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Offering prayer ministry is a wonderful way to do this. The Arundel and Brighton CDSC is working to train a team of trusted prayer ministers who can offer prayer ministry during our events. However our intention is to then bring prayer ministry into the day to day life of parishes across A&B. This is inspired by the writings of Cardinal Suenens, who wrote in The Charismatic Renewal (theological and pastoral guidelines) in 1974 that “the charisms are ministries that belong to the day to day life of the local church” and; “the Spirit is given to all at initiation, and every local church (and the universal Church) should be open to the full spectrum of the gifts”.

To realise this we aim to slowly increase the number of trusted, trained and experienced prayer ministers across all areas of our diocese so that prayers for healing through laying on of hands is avaliable across many parishes across our Diocese. Obviously with a ministry working with potentially vulnerable people it is vital that appropriate safeguarding is in place and ministers will be appropriately selected for this ministry and they will be trained and supported by prayer ministry guidelines, policy and safeguarding training to ensure awareness and safety for everyone who takes part while enabling this ministry in the diocese.